An American Ballroom Companion: Dance Instruction Manuals, ca. 1490-1920

In a hurry? Save or print these Collection Connections as a single file.

Go directly to the collection, An American Ballroom Companion: Dance Instruction Manuals, ca. 1490-1920, in American Memory, or view a Summary of Resources related to the collection.

An American Ballroom Companion, ca. 1490-1920, contains over two hundred dance manuals from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. These materials provide information on the art form's history and its growing popularity in conjunction with the rise of the American middle class. Topics represented in this collection include the use of dancing manuals in teaching physical education and etiquette, and opposition to dancing in the form of legislation and anti-dance literature.

1. Anti-dance Literature

Illustration from "Balli di ieri e balli d'oggi," 1922.

From the early days of the American colonies to the early days of rock and roll, dancing has often been associated with immoral thoughts and actions. Many religious leaders throughout United States history have opposed dancing on moral grounds. A search on antidance yields a number of pamphlets condemning ballroom dancing for the feelings and actions it incites. One early example of anti-dance literature comes from Jacob Ide's 1818 sermon, "The Nature and Tendency of Balls," in which Ide criticizes the expenses associated with balls and dancing's "tendency to excite a vague, indiscriminate love of company" (page 15).

A more direct accusation of the corrupting influence of dancing appears in Reverend George Heckmann's "Dancing as a Christian Amusement." This 1879 treatise proclaims, "dancing is one of the propelling forces which plunge men and women down to profligacy, ruin and death," (page 24). Heckmann acknowledges that he has not danced himself but he knows that his criticism of dancing is accurate because it is based on observation and common truths:

I know it from confessions made to me. I believe it from my knowledge of our poor, passionate nature . . . I know it from remarks made and eyes feeding upon the forms of those in the dance whom we would never have looked upon but with purity, respect and honor . . . I know it from the reason many have given . . . for the intense love they have for the dance.

page 25

One member of the anti-dance movement, however, had a great deal of personal experience with dance as an instructor. T.A. Faulkner's descriptions of the evils associated with dancing in "From the Ball-Room to Hell" (1892) and "The Lure of the Dance" (1916) feature accounts of former students who were "ruined" by dance. One example from his second pamphlet reads:

She had also met the fate many others do on the way home from some dance, where their character is weakened by coming in close contact with the opposite sex while dancing . . . With a look of reproach . . . she said: "Mr. Faulkner, when you close your dancing school and stop the business which is sending so many girls by swift stages on the straight road to Hell, . . . then, sir . . . have you the right to ask me to reform. . . ." page 11

From the Cover of "From the Ball-Room to Hell," 1892.

• What accusations do the writers of anti-dance literature make against dancing?
• What definitions of morality are these accusations based upon?
• Why do you think that people who opposed dancing associated so many dark emotions and situations with it?
• What other sorts of social activities have been disparaged for being immoral in the United States during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries?
• Why do you think that dance is so often associated with questions of morality?
• What are the similarities and differences between the accounts of religious leaders who did not participate in dancing and that of Faulkner who was a dance instructor? What kinds of language do these religious leaders use? What are their specific objections to dancing? What motivates their objections? How does each person's background affect your evaluation of his arguments?

2. Dance Hall Legislation in the Flapper Era

Photograph from "Balli di ieri e balli d'oggi," 1922.

As anti-dance literature attests, dance halls were often sites for public drunkenness and lewd behavior. A search on dance hall yields accounts of incorrigible behavior and various attempts by local governments to control these venues in the early twentieth century. "The Public Dance Halls of Chicago" (1917) notes that most dancers conducted themselves well until around 11 p.m. when revelers began to show the effects of alcohol: Men and women become intoxicated and dance indecently such dances as "Walkin' the Dog," . . . "The Stationary Wiggle," etc . . . It is not uncommon at certain dances to see between twenty and twenty-five couples between the ages of sixteen and twenty years, very much intoxicated. At one dance the investigator saw four young boys sitting at a table with forty-eight bottles of beer between them; page 4

Such occurrences throughout the country prompted many cities to introduce laws restricting the events in and around dance halls. "Dance Halls. Ordinances Governing the Conduct of Public Dances and Dance Halls, City of Buffalo" feature the Common Council’s 1914 requirements to license these venues, maintaining the right for any police officer to shut down a dance "whenever any indecent or immoral act is committed, or whenever any disorder of a gross, violent or vulgar character takes place therein, with the knowledge or consent of the owner or lessee, or his agent, or other person in charge of the dance,"(page 5). A 1929 federal study, "Public Dance Halls, Their Regulation and Place in the Recreation of Adolescents," noted a steady increase in such local legislation since 1914. This growing effort "may be attributed to the fuller recognition of the social factors involved in this type of amusement . . . or . . . it may be the direct result of conditions arising out of the demand for excitement and the consequent increase in the number of dance halls following the war years," (page 9).

From the Cover of "Dance Halls. Ordinances governing the conduct of public dances and dance halls, city of Buffalo," 1914.

Although the Eighteenth Amendment of the Constitution banned the sale and transport of alcohol in the United States in 1920 (and was not repealed until 1933), this 1929 study described various state penalties for public intoxication at dance halls:

Illinois makes it unlawful for any known . . . intoxicated person to be present in a public dance hall. Wisconsin specifically prohibits the presence of intoxicated persons or the use of intoxicating liquors in the dance hall or on the premises, whether the hall be licensed or not under provisions of any local or county regulation. Ohio prohibits the presence of intoxicated persons or the use of intoxicating liquors. In Oregon, as a condition in the applicant's bond, no intoxicating liquors are allowed in or about the dance hall.

page 8

• Why do you think that the demand for dance halls increased after World War I?
• Why do you think that riotous behavior was a common occurrence in dance halls?
• How do the incidents described in these studies compare to those chronicled in the anti-dance literature?
• Do you think that local legislation of dance halls was adequate to control such events?
• What other ways might be used to deal with lewd behavior and public drunkenness?
• How effective would you expect the anti-dance literature to have been in controlling the "evils" of dancing? How would you have reacted to such literature?
• Why do you think that local governments were interested in prohibiting alcohol even in the midst of a federal ban on alcohol?

3. Instruction Books for the Rising Middle Class

From the Cover of "How to Dance," 1878.

The interest in ballroom dancing grew with the middle-class population of the late-nineteenth century. Many books in this collection targeted this growing audience, offering an opportunity for people to learn how to dance without having to take private lessons. "How to Dance" (1878) announced that it offered a solution for people who were too bashful, too poor, or too busy to have private dance instruction: "For the benefit of that large class, we have gotten up this book, at a great expense of labor and money" (page 3). In addition to explanations of popular dances, guides such as "Instruction for the Masses" (1868) and "Beadle’s Dime Ball-Room Companion and Guide to Dancing" (1868) included rules of etiquette and other social lessons. In a discussion on etiquette, "Beadle’s Dime Ball-Room Companion" explains that society is on its best behavior in the ballroom: "Every thing there is regulated according to the strictest code of good-breeding . . . it is indispensable that the etiquette of the ball-room should be thoroughly mastered," (page 5).

This guide and others such as "The Dancer’s Guide and Ball-Room Companion" (1875) also include a glossary of dancing terms to guide novices through the "always bewildering [instructions that] are often rendered . . . in French," (page 26). "The Perfect Art of Modern Dancing" (1894), on the other hand, was part of a series written specifically for women that focused on the benefit of learning proper homemaking skills. (Other titles in the "Perfect Art" series included lessons on canning and preserving food and on nursing and nourishing invalids.) Other books on the market did not disguise the anxiety surrounding proper behavior in the form of dance instruction. Mrs. John Sherwood’s "Manners and Social Usages" (1887) focused solely on the proper behavior that would help to alleviate middle-class concerns:

From the Cover of "The Way to Dance," 1890.

There is no country where there are so many people asking what is "proper to do," or, indeed, where there are so many genuinely anxious to do the proper thing, as in the vast conglomerate which we call the United States of America. The newness of our country is perpetually renewed by the sudden making of fortunes, and by the absence of a hereditary, reigning set. There is no aristocracy here which has the right and title to set the fashions.

page 3

• What is the appeal of these books to a middle-class audience?
• What are the benefits of a person learning to dance in his or her own home? Can you think of any potential problems with this sort of instruction? What else do these books offer the middle class?
• How did a glossary of French dancing terms contribute to the edification of the middle class?
• How do these books characterize their audience in terms of money, time, or culture?
• What other forms of instruction were offered to the middle class?
• Can you think of any contemporary books or guides that offer similar services?

4. It Takes Two Cultures to Tango: The European Influence on American Dance

In teaching the steps and etiquette of ballroom dancing, several instructors emphasized its European origins. The 1848 manual, "Powell's Art of Dancing," claims that American dancing only improved in large cities in the first half of the eighteenth century while Europeans dramatically developed their art: "Who that has ever visited many of the European countries but must remember with delight the perfect ease, beauty and grace which the people of that country have arrived at, while we become disgusted with the awkward attempts of persons in this country who try to dance" (page 7).

This sense of European superiority also influenced American dance innovations. Professor Brooks’ "The Ball-Room Monitor" (1866) speculates that dances originating in the United States were often endowed with European names and histories to give them a sense of authenticity (page 5):

According to such representations, there is nothing can be stamped with the imprint of Christian civilization on its frontispiece, but that which is imported from Paris or London. I, for one, will stand up in defence of our native inventive genius against the world. Our people are equally as able, and in many things far surpassing those foreign gems of aristocracy, in producing almost everything that is grand, useful, or beautiful, in the arts and sciences.

page 6

• If Powell is correct, why do you think that dance in the United States only improved in large cities?
• Why do you think that dances migrated from France to England and, finally, to the United States?
• What does the name and origin of a dance have to do with its performance or popularity? Why do you think that many Americans sought "foreign gems of aristocracy" in ballroom dancing?
• Do you agree with Frank Clendenen that Americans tend to be in a hurry? Why or why not?
• Why do you think that so many Americans felt that Europeans were more culturally advanced?
• Do you think that it is possible for one country to be culturally superior to another?
• How does this sense of American inferiority relate to the statement in Mrs. Sherwood’s etiquette book, "Manners and Social Usages," that "[t]here is no aristocracy here which has the right and title to set the fashions"? Who does "set the fashions" in the United States?

5. American Contributions to the History of Dance

Although Europeans were considered the originators of dance culture, a number of innovations took place in the United States. One example is featured in "Jig, Clog, and Breakdown Dancing Made Easy" (1873) when the author proclaims, "Jig Dancing is peculiarly an American institution and had its origin among the slaves of the southern plantations," (page 1). The complex rhythmic patterns of jig dancing were a precursor to the influences of ragtime at the end of the nineteenth century. As the Special Presentation, "Western Social Dance: An Overview of the Collection," explains, "Ragtime had become a popular American style of music . . . that flourished between 1890 and World War I . . . [and] . . . ushered in an era of expressive ballroom dancing, with dances that did not need formal training but which encouraged individualism," (page 7).

From the Cover of "Jig, Clog, and Breakdown Dancing Made Easy," 1873.

The growing interest in these dances prompted Albert Newman to proclaim in "Dances of Today" (1914) that it was an era in which a rebirth of dance (and the human heart) was occurring: "And youth was reborn in the hearts and bodies and minds of men and women of all ages, and the transformation wrought is marvelous--in nothing so much as in the near elimination of non-dancers," (page 16).

A search on modern dance produces Newman’s guide and other works such as Mr. and Mrs. Vernon Castle’s "Modern Dancing" (1914) and Caroline Walker’s "The Modern Dances, How to Dance Them" (1916).  These manuals provide directions and diagrams for ragtime-era dances while this collection’s Video Library contains examples of dances such as "The Castle Walk" and "The Maxixe."

• How do these ragtime-era dances differ from their European predecessors?
• Do you think that these dances could have originated somewhere other than the United States?
• What is distinctly American about ragtime dance?
• Why do you think that these dances appealed to people who were otherwise "non-dancers"?
• Why do you think that ragtime-era dances "did not need formal training but . . . encouraged individualism"?
• How do you think that ragtime-era dances influenced future dance?