The Forbidden Dance

Roseanna White here to introduce a good friend and new member of Colonial American Christian Writers, Dina Sleiman. Dina's first American historical romance just released yesterday (huzzah!), and we are excited to introduce it and its early American setting. As one may be able to tell from the title, Love in Three-Quarter Time, a certain dance is featured in Dina's novel. And she's here to tell us a little bit about it. Take it away, Dina!

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The Forbidden Dance

No, I’m not talking about the tango. In the late 1700s and early 1800s the waltz was considered quite a scandalous dance. It gained popularity on the European continent by around 1780, but was still scorned in respectable circles in England and the United States. It wasn’t until the Prince Regent introduced the waltz at a ball in 1816 that it was accepted in England. As for the newly formed US, all we can say for certain is that it was a standard dance by 1830. 

 

For my new novel, Love in Three-Quarter Time, I assumed that as in all things fashionable, Americans would have followed close on the heels of their British cousins. I showed the waltz being introduced to Charlottesville, Virginia, by a trend-setting plantation matron in 1817. But the waltz of the Regency (or in this case late Federalist) era was quite different than the waltz we know today. It was closely related to the cotillion, and it incorporated a variety of handholds that could, in fact, turn a bit risqué in the wrong company.

Here are just a few lines from a very lengthy poem called “The Waltz,” written by Lord Byron in 1813.

Endearing Waltz! -- to thy more melting tune
Bow Irish jig and ancient rigadoon.
Scotch reels, avaunt! and country-dance, forego
Your future claims to each fantastic toe!
Waltz -- Waltz alone -- both legs and arms demands,
Liberal of feet, and lavish of her hands;
Hands which may freely range in public sight
Where ne'er before --- but --- pray "put out the light."
Methinks the glare of yonder chandelier
Shines much too far --- or I am much too near;
And true, though strange --- Waltz whispers this remark,
"My slippery steps are safest in the dark!"

 

 The waltz of that time was not the gliding Viennese Waltz or the boxy American Waltz we might be familiar with from dance shows today. It began with a side-by-side promenade called “The March,” but then moved into “The Pirouette” section which involved a variety of holds, some of them quite intimate and hip to hip, with hands linked overhead. The dance then moved into the quicker, hopping "Sauteuse" and "Jetté" portions, but always returned to the sensuous pirouettes. Unlike other dances of its time such as cotillions, minuets, reels, gavottes, and country dances which allowed only fleeting contact, the waltz allowed for extended body and eye contact between the partners. These holds allowed ample time for gazing into the partner’s eyes and…shall we say, conversation?

As in Colonial days, dance in the Federalist Era was an essential part of high society life. One’s ability to dance played an essential role in one’s good standing in the community. Little wonder my Mrs. Beaumont was in such a tizzy that her twin daughters were about to be launched into society and she couldn’t secure the best dance instructor in Virginia. And once she did find a suitable teacher, enter my heroine Constance Cavendish, little wonder that Mrs. Beaumont desired to wow her peers by being the first to thpresent the waltz in her area.

Thomas Jefferson, who makes a cameo appearance in my novel as a retired president and resident of Albemarle County, once wrote that dance “is a healthy exercise, elegant and very attractive for young people.” And as Jefferson spent much time in France, I surmise he would have enjoyed a good waltz himself.

I had tons of fun playing with the idea of introducing this “scandalous” dance into the polite society of the planter elite class in Albemarle County, Virginia. I hope you have fun reading about it as well. If you’d like to get a peek at the Regency Era waltz, check out this video. The filming quality is poor, but it’s the only one I could find that shows one of the more questionable holds. 

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In the style of Deeanne Gist, Dina Sleiman explores the world of 1817 Virginia in her novel Love in Three-Quarter Time. When the belle of the ball falls into genteel poverty, the fiery Constance Cavendish must teach the dances she once loved in order to help her family survive. The opportunity of a lifetime might await her in the frontier town of Charlottesville, but the position will require her to instruct the sisters of the plantation owner who jilted her when she needed him most. As Robert Montgomery and Constance make discoveries about one another, will their renewed faith in God help them to face their past and the guilt that threatens to destroy them in time to waltz to a fresh start? http://dinasleiman.com

BERKELEY PLANTATION ~ The Rest of The Story By Janet Grunst

BERKELEY PLANTATION

“The Rest Of The Story”

Front of Berkeley Plantation Mansion

Last month’s post introduced how the 8000 acre parcel that became Berkeley Plantation was acquired, settled, became the official site of the first Thanksgiving in America, and was purchased in the 18^th century by the Harrison family.

William Henry Harrison - Our 9th President

Continuing the legacy at Berkeley Plantation, Benjamin Harrison V married Elizabeth Bassett with whom he had seven children. One son, William Henry Harrison was born at Berkeley Plantation, and though originally pursued a career in medicine he had military aspirations, and gained fame fighting the Indians at the Battle of Tippecanoe in 1811. He later settled in Indiana and became Secretary to the Northwest Territories and its Delegate to Congress. He is probably better known as (until Ronald Reagan) the oldest man to be elected to the Presidency. Though he was our ninth President, it was of short duration. He gave a ninety minute speech at his inauguration on a cold damp day, not adequately dressed for the occasion and with no hat. He caught cold which went into pneumonia and he died thirty-two days later ― the first President to die in office.

Benjamin Harrison - Our 23rd Preisident

Notably, America’s first ten Presidents were guests at Berkeley Plantation. The grandson of William Henry Harrison, Benjamin Harrison also served as our twenty-third President though he never lived at Berkeley as he was from Indiana. 

The Civil War

During the Civil War, Union troops under the command of General George B. McClellan along with 140,000 troops occupied Berkeley Plantation. That is a staggering number, but when you walk the estate’s vast lands it’s easier to imagine.

During the occupation, in the summer of 1862, Abraham Lincoln visited Berkeley Plantation twice to meet with General McClellan and review the troops. That same summer General Daniel Butterfield, a man who had risen through the ranks from Private in the New York State Militia to Major General and Chief of Staff of the Army of the Potomac, was encamped with McClellan at Berkeley. They had come through some very costly and difficult campaigns where many thousands of casualties took place.

Taps

Gen. Daniel Butterfield

One can imagine the chaos on a battlefield where thousands of men are attempting to take direction from their leaders. It was a common practice that Commanders had individualized bugle calls to minimize confusion among their troops. On July 2, 1862, while the troops were bivouacked at Harrison’s Landing at Berkeley, General Butterfield, despondent over the loss of so many men, charged Private Oliver Wilcox Norton, his bugler to alter his particular bugle sound, lengthening some notes and shortening others. The result ― “Taps”, probably the singularly most known and used bugle melody was born. For the past 150 years many have heard and associated those somber twenty-four notes as our national song of remembrance.

During the Civil War the third floor of the mansion served as a hospital and the basement as a prison.

After the Civil War the Harrison family was not able to regain ownership of Berkeley. It passed through several owners and fell into disrepair. Berkeley Plantation was bought in 1907 by a Scotsman, John Jamieson who ironically had served as a drummer boy in the Army under General McClellan. His son, Malcolm and his wife Grace have restored the plantation and mansion and filled it with beautiful 18^th century antiques. Berkeley Plantation is still owned by the Jamieson family. Like many other waterfront Virginia Georgian homes, it has a center hall with the front door facing the drive and the back door facing the river.

Garden Path toward The James River

The Berkeley grounds are extensive and something to behold with its gardens and walkways. A wonderful fragrance emanates from the ten acres of formal terraced boxwood gardens overlooking farmland and extending a quarter mile to the James River. Although this national historic treasure is privately owned, it is open to the public.

Garden Path toward Back of Mansion

Chippendale Gazebo