RESOURCES FOR OLD TIME DANCING
“From the Adele Saunter to the Zuider Zee Waltz”
Compiled by James Forster
Old Time dancing consists of sequence forms of quick waltzes, tangos, gavottes, foxtrots, two steps, blues, quicksteps, mazurkas, polkas and more, along with set dances for four couples.
THE OLD TIME DANCE SOCIETY www.oldtimedance.co.uk
Is the national organisation for Old Time dancers. Membership is £15.00 couples/£9.50
singles). Members receive six newsletters a year, a club booklet listing old time
dances across the country, and discounts on the price of national Society events.
Contact: The Secretary, 35 Chestnut Garth, Burton Pidsea, E. Yorks, HU12 9DA. e-
DANCE SCRIPTS
Scripts for individual dances are available from the following.
North Star Publishers, PO Box 199, Ilkley, West Yorkshire, LS29 0WS. Tel. 01943 430035. (www.churchfielddanceservices.com).
Can supply any of the 3000 scripts listed in the “Sequence Inventive Dance List” (see Churchfield Dance Services under ‘MUSIC’ below). £1 each plus postage.
Bullen Dancing, The Academy, 99/103 Eastbank St, Southport, PR8 1DG. Tel. 01704544675. (www.bullendancing.co.uk). £1 each plus postage.
Brockbank Lane Script Service, PO Box 368, Carlisle, CA1 9EQ. (www.brockbanklane.com). Their script archive is now only open to subscribers to their script service (£39/year).
British Dance Council charts (highly detailed scripts) for the Championship Dances (22 plus) are available from ISTD, 22/26 Paul Street, London, EC2A 4QE. Tel. 0207 3771577, or International Sales (IDTA), International House, 76 Bennet Road, Brighton, BN2 5JL. Tel. 01273 685652. Individual charts £3.50 including postage. The “Associate pack,” containing nine dances and “A Guide To Theory And Technique” (see below) costs £20 from the ISTD. The 'Licentiate pack' containing seven dances costs £10 from the IDTA.
BOOKS
North Star Publishers (see above) sell two very useful collections of scripts. Each
script is typed and then sized to fit on one side of an A5 page. The books have a
“home-
“66 Old Time Dancing Favourites”: is the single most useful book in print for the Old Time Dancer. £19.95 including postage.
“A Selection Of Modern Sequence And Old Time Dances”: is in fact a new edition of Bill and May Botham‟s “MC’s Handbook of Old Time and Sequence Dances” from 1953. The great majority of the 48 dances included are Old Time. £13.50 including postage.
T.A. Whitworth wrote several books for sequence dancers. His “Learning the Essential Sequence Dances” is weighted towards Modern Sequence but is very useful. It includes full scripts for 16 Old Time dances and abbreviated scripts for another 14. £9.50 including postage. “Modern Sequence Dancing For All” has twelve pages on Old Time technique. £8.50 including postage. From: Mrs C. Whitworth, 60 Dalkeith Road, Harpenden, Herts, AL5 5PW.
His other books include “A History of Sequence Dancing and Script List” and “A Sourcebook
for Sequence Dancers” (£9.50 and £7.00). The “History” is the only book ever written
on the subject. It lists more than 3000 dances from Victorian times onwards with
comments, analysis and mini-
The British Dance Council publish “A Guide To The Theory And Technique Of Sequence Old Time Dancing”. This is a 24 page booklet covering foot positions, holds, technical terms, descriptions of composite figures and music in relation to dancing. It also lists the tempi for the championship dances. £6 including postage from ISTD (see above).
OUT OF PRINT BOOKS
Between the late 1940s and the late 1960s more than twenty books on Old Time Dancing were published (it is worth asking at your Library). These include titles by A. J. Latimer, Victor Silvester, Sydney Thompson, F. J. Mainey, Charles Crathorn and Cecil Ruault.
They largely represent collections of dance scripts, some with advice on technique.
Many of these books can still be found fairly cheaply second hand, especially via
the internet. A fairly complete list of titles, with dates and publication details,
can be had free of charge from James Forster -
The single best second-
The most useful single volume, and one of the easiest to find is “Old Time and Sequence Dancing‟ by Michael Gwynne. Originally published in 1950, it went through several editions and was latterly known as “Sequence Dancing”. The later title is a misnomer however as it almost exclusively deals with Old Time dances. The earlier version is to be preferred: it covers more dances (sixty as opposed to forty) and includes the Set Dances (Lancers, Quadrilles, etc.) that are omitted in the later version.
VIDEOS/DVDs
!NEW! The Classical Sequence Companion. Two disc DVD. Covers technical terms and seventeen Old Time dances. £22.50 including postage from the ISTD (see above).
!NEW! From Savoy Music (see below) four Old Time Dancing DVDs each covering sixteen dances. £18.50 including postage. Discount for Old Time Society members. Also from Savoy Music: Introduction to Old Time Dancing by Ted and Sue Burroughs. Covers 10 popular Old Time Dances. Video £16/DVD £17.50 including postage. Their Introduction to Sequence Dancing includes six Old Time Dances out of a total of ten. There are also companion CDs of music with the same titles containing 20 tracks each and simple dance scripts.
The Instep Series by Ian and Ruth Walker contain three dances per video and mix Old Time and Modern sequence. A few volumes (e.g. 5 and 12) contain three Old Time Dances. Video £17.50/DVD £20 each including postage from Maestro Direct (see below).
Introduction To English Old Time Dancing by Dereck Young. Covers sixteen Championship
dances plus foot positions, hold and etiquette. £43 plus postage from DSI, Unit 4,
The Courtyard, Aurelia Road, Croydon, Surrey, CR0 3BF. www.dancesport-
Tel. 0208 6648188. Or from www.thedancingchannels.com
Observe & Learn Sequence Dancing Videos. Volumes One, Two and Five of this series each cover five Old Time Dances. £17.99 including postage from Tema International (see below).
MUSIC
Crystal Stream Audio, PO Box 700, Buninyong 3357, Victoria, Australia. www.crystream.com.au.
Crystal Stream have produced an excellent three CD series of Harry Davidson recordings from the years 1944–1950. Twenty Australian dollars each plus postage. An order form can be downloaded from their website.
CDs by Harry Davidson, Sydney Thompson, The Dancetime Orchestra, Sydney Bowman, Bryan
Smith and others are available by mail-
!NEW! Savoy have recently issued the Old Time Dancing Silver Anniversary CD which includes some previously unavailable tracks. Old Time Society members can purchase this at the reduced price of £6 including package and postage.
Churchfield Dance Services, PO Box 199, Ilkley, West Yorkshire, LS29 0WS. Tel. 01943 430035. www.churchfielddanceservices.com
Churchfield also produce “The Sequence Inventive Dance List”. 3000 winning dances since 1925 listed alphabetically by title, by arranger and by competition and year. Purchasers can obtain scripts at the reduced rate of 75p plus postage. £8.50 including postage.
Maestro Direct, PO Box 2255, Mitcham, Surrey, CR4 3BG.
Tel. 0208 6872008. www.maestrorecords.com
Tema International, 151 Nork Way, Banstead, Surrey, SM7 1HR. Tel. 01737 219607. Tema International Ltd
C&D Dance Records, 145 Chestnut Avenue, Eastleigh, Hants, SO50 5BB. Tel. 0238 0614476. www.freewebs.com/candddance
Dance And Listen Ltd, 1 Queens Road, Fleet, Hants, GU52 7LA.
Tel. 01252 629740. www.danceandlisten.com
SKIRTS
Full Circle pleated skirts for Old Time Dancing are available from Javid Fashions,
75 Coronation Street, Blackpool, FY1 4PD, Phone: 01253 622965. It is also worth checking
e-
Corrections or additions to this list are always welcome.
Corrections or additions are always welcome email
James Forster
(Prices were correct at time of compilation but may have changed since.)
