How To Put On & Make Successful The Country Dance Party
This 16-page booklet is credited to Beth Tolman, though it's safe to assume that Ralph Page (her co-author of The Country Dance Book, published in 1937) had a hand in part of the text. It's a simple guide that encourages folks to hold small dance parties:
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You'll have lots of fun giving a country dance party, whether it is held in your kitchen (where the old kitchen junkets really took place), in your front parlor, out on your side porch, or in your barn trimmed with the sweet smell of hay and harness. In any case, wherever you hold your country dance party, you can be sure that the cash outlay will be next to nothing and the fun dividends will run very high.
As in the old days, country dance parties are come-as-you-are affairs-all that is needed is a clear space, moderately smooth floor (paraffin and corn meal are a great help), music, a caller, a spot of something to eat and drink, and eight or more pairs of eager feet. That's all."
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The booklet suggests a minimum of four couples (for quadrilles); six couples will allow the program to include the "contrys," and eight couples means two sets of quadrilles with no one sitting out. Subsequent sections describe what to look for in musicians and callers, and offers suggestions for refreshments.
The bulk of the book is devoted to calls for dances, a mix of contra dances, several plain quadrilles, each with three figures, and a Virginia Reel. A glossary describes common terms used in New England dancing.
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"When you start looking for a caller, don't be discouraged if there is nobody in your neighborhood who has had actual calling experience. Experience will come, but the basic gifts which a caller should have are born in a person and cannot be acquired. We list them as these: first and foremost, the ability to get along with people, to be patient in teaching and to be able to take a joke; and, almost as important, the showman, master-of-ceremonies type of personality (you'd do well to consider the village cut-up or show-off-he's just the type! ), with the ability to keep things moving; and, as necessary as the two qualities just mentioned, if not more so, is a penetrating voice like Popeye, the Sailor's. Although not every caller sings his calls, the chap who does, is most popular. In any event, the style is a kind of chant, rather than just the shouted direction. In this booklet there are some singing calls given for quadrilles, which can easily be learned; the contrys are usually a bit more dignified, although lots of good callers we've known have made up little fancy curly-cues as the figures progress. This is something that must be felt rather than taught by rule, so that is why we stress the importance of getting the right man for the job, and avoiding the serious, dignified, "silent" man, who may be an excellent hardware storekeeper, but certainly would lack what it takes to make a good dance-master."
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Two Related Items also offer tips for throwing a party. It's interesting to compare the styles of the three publications and the dances they suggest.
Subjects: Northern / New England
Tags: Beth Tolman, party, quadrille, Ralph Page
Item Relations
| This Item | is related to | Item: Hires Throws a Square Dance |
| This Item | is related to | Item: Square Dance Party handbooks |
| Item: Ralph Page – Swing Your Partners | is related to | This Item |
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This 16-page booklet is credited to Beth Tolman, though it's safe to assume that Ralph Page (her co-author of The Country Dance Book, published in 1937) had a hand in part of the text. It's a simple guide that encourages folks to hold small dance parties:
---
You'll have lots of fun giving a country dance party, whether it is held in your kitchen (where the old kitchen junkets really took place), in your front parlor, out on your side porch, or in your barn trimmed with the sweet smell of hay and harness. In any case, wherever you hold your country dance party, you can be sure that the cash outlay will be next to nothing and the fun dividends will run very high.
As in the old days, country dance parties are come-as-you-are affairs-all that is needed is a clear space, moderately smooth floor (paraffin and corn meal are a great help), music, a caller, a spot of something to eat and drink, and eight or more pairs of eager feet. That's all."
---
The booklet suggests a minimum of four couples (for quadrilles); six couples will allow the program to include the "contrys," and eight couples means two sets of quadrilles with no one sitting out. Subsequent sections describe what to look for in musicians and callers, and offers suggestions for refreshments.
The bulk of the book is devoted to calls for dances, a mix of contra dances, several plain quadrilles, each with three figures, and a Virginia Reel. A glossary describes common terms used in New England dancing.
---
"When you start looking for a caller, don't be discouraged if there is nobody in your neighborhood who has had actual calling experience. Experience will come, but the basic gifts which a caller should have are born in a person and cannot be acquired. We list them as these: first and foremost, the ability to get along with people, to be patient in teaching and to be able to take a joke; and, almost as important, the showman, master-of-ceremonies type of personality (you'd do well to consider the village cut-up or show-off-he's just the type! ), with the ability to keep things moving; and, as necessary as the two qualities just mentioned, if not more so, is a penetrating voice like Popeye, the Sailor's. Although not every caller sings his calls, the chap who does, is most popular. In any event, the style is a kind of chant, rather than just the shouted direction. In this booklet there are some singing calls given for quadrilles, which can easily be learned; the contrys are usually a bit more dignified, although lots of good callers we've known have made up little fancy curly-cues as the figures progress. This is something that must be felt rather than taught by rule, so that is why we stress the importance of getting the right man for the job, and avoiding the serious, dignified, "silent" man, who may be an excellent hardware storekeeper, but certainly would lack what it takes to make a good dance-master."
---
Two Related Items also offer tips for throwing a party. It's interesting to compare the styles of the three publications and the dances they suggest.