The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #144234   Message #3334154
Posted By: Crowhugger
05-Apr-12 - 03:09 PM
Thread Name: Dance: 19th c. Canadian Waltz question
Subject: Dance: 19th c. Canadian Waltz question
While combing through sheet music at the National Archives of Canada I came across the following (alert: the clicky is a PDF download) Waltz Lancers. What I'm wondering about relates to the calls shown on the score. In my very limited dance education I hadn't experienced the waltz as a round or square dance, but that's what it appears to be here, for example one of the calls says "swing opposite lady with right hand." Was it common to dance the waltz this way? Was it a style unique to Canada or Montreal, or the US northeast? Would it have been round, square, or either?

Also I wondered if those who know about dance can guess what are the missing words in the instructions below the title on page 1.

Thanks for any help!