Vintage Eras - Vintage Music and Dance

VINTAGE DANCE and MUSIC
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Vintage Eras

VINTAGE ERAS
This chart shows my own personal view of what "Vintage Eras" are.
      my loose definition is =  "any music or dance that is not "contemporary" and has a recognizable style."

A "vintage dance" era has a style of movement, a style of music, a style of dress (costume) and a style of manners that "match" and somehow hints or suggests a particular period of historial time and place.

The actual dates of the "Era's" (so-called vintages) are also loosely determined.
Some of the eras we use are listed below. (Other people will undoubtedly name them differently.)
Samples of the vintage music that matches the dances.
Name of Era
Dates
Comments
Dance Title                 Music Title               (Composer, if known)
Ancient
10,000 B.C. or earlier and up to present day in some places.
From "early man" to modern people.
Ceremonial.
Often spiritual, religious, social status.
Male and females often have separate ceremonies.
Moon Dance? Sun Dance? Rain Dance
Harvest? Midwinter?
Royal, Relgious and other Elites celebrations.
Belly dancing. We know they had musical instruments from archeological evidence, including instruments and cave paintings.
Folk Dance
1500 onwards
(esp. 1800-1900's). Very "nationalistic" since about 1800.
Not true partner dances
(Dancers mixed during a named dance)
People danced in Formatioins of Lines/Circles/Squares
Sir Roger de Coverely (later to become the Virginia Reel, and othersl)
Virginia Reel.            - traditional reels
Circle Dances.           - traditional reels, jigs, horn[pipes, waltzes
"Regency" (E.C.D.)
1750 - 1820
Still not true partner dancing.
Dancers mixed during dance
Still in formations. New formations were Quadrille and Cotillions.
Duke of Kent's Waltz.  - Duke of Kent's Waltz   trad.
Spanish Waltz               - Contradance     (Beethoven)
                                      - Cinderella Waltz  (Rossini)
                                     - Landler, Opus 606 #1 (Mozart)
Varsovienne                  - Varsoviana         trad.
Quadrilles (Squares)       - The Lancers 5th Fig (Danish)
"Victorian"
1815 - 1900
(before Q. Victoria's reign)
True partner dancing begins!
Dancers stay with a partner for an entire tune! This was not always popular, so some mixed dances were re-introduced. (Quadrilles etc)
Some dances were "free-style" others were "Sequences."
"Leading and Following" starts.
Rotary Waltz & Polka are hits
Many other dance forms start up.
Quadrilles continue        - Waltz Cotillion
(they are more "social") - Lancers 5th (U.K.) (Finke-Linke)
Waltz "Allemande"      - Viennese "Landler" (Lanner)
Rotary Waltz            - Strauss (etc)
Polka                         - Bohemian National Polka (Strauss)
Galop                          - Veto Galop ("Make Peace")
    plus Gavotte / Mazurka / Redowa / and other dances
"Romantic"
(includes Victorian)


(Ragtime
Early Jazz.
Swing,
Rock & Roll)
1890's - 1950's"Everybody Danced" just for social fun.
Close hold, cheek-to-cheek,
Many partners. It was almost rude to monopolise a partner.
Men loved dancing but there were never enough of them for the women - so the women often danced together.
"Taxi-Dances" existed. (Don't ask)

"Salon Orchestras" - large or small
"Big Band" - Glen Miller etc (1940's)
Rock & Roll Bands (electronic)

Radio and then T.V.  helped the spread of new dances and bands.



Waltz    (always popular)
Two-Step (1890's)             - many
Cake Walk (1890')              - several
Tango        (1890's)
Rumba        (1890's)
One Step (1912 revival)         - Too Much Mustard
Shim-Sham  (1910's) Solo (like a line dance)
The Toddle       (1920's)
The Charleston (1920's)
The Shag   (early 1920's)
Lindy Hop (and Jitterbug and "Jive") (Late 1920's)
Blues (fast & slow) (1910's and later)
Balboa (1940's)
West Coast Swing (late 1930's)
Swing       (1930's)
Rock & Roll (Jive) (1950's)_
Old Time
Sequence Dances
1901 - 1958
(+1958 - now)
Often called "Old Time Dancing" it was a hold over from the dances of the Victorian era. Over 4,000 dances exists!
A mere sampling is to the right ----->
After 1958 the holds became more reliant on the modern "frame" an d lots of Latin dances with arm and hip movement became popular. It was no longer "Old Time." (in my opinion)
Veleta (Waltz)            - Veleta      (Smith)
Destiny Waltz           - Destiny Waltz (Baynes)
Hesitation Waltz      - Merry Widow (Lehar)
La Rinka (waltz)        - La Rinka (Hurndall)
Yearning Saunter    (smooth foxtrot) Yearning (N. Moret)            -
Square Tango           -  many traditional tango tunes
Palais Glide  (novelty) - Poor Little Angeline (Gross)
Barn Dance (Schottische) - The Trout (Schubert) / Gavotte (??)
Swedish Masquerade   - traditional (slow march / fast waltz / fast jig)


One Step / Tango / Shag / Lindy Hop / Blues / Swing / Charleston / Balboa / W.C.S.Charelston
Shim Sham
The Toddle               - The Toddle
Lindy Hop (& various forms of "jive") - many tunes suitable
Blues
                             many dances & tunes available                            
Mid 20th Century
after 1940'sJive & Latin; also many fads
We tend to just continue social dancing - mostly jive / Lindy
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