Towards a Waltz Aesthetic
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ABSTRACT Title of Document: HOW THE WALTZ HAS WON: TOWARDS A WALTZ AESTHETIC Christopher Tremewan Martin, Ph.D., 2010 Directed By: Dr. Faedra Carpenter, Department of Theatre and Performance Studies This dissertation examines the development of ballroom dancing aesthetics between 1860 and 1915, focusing on the appropriation, neutralization, and commodification of African American somatic performance by various European American agents/actors. The study suggests that the waltz, a dance form that was in decline at the beginning of the twentieth century, became a vital component of European American strategies to safely encapsulate certain elements of African American aesthetics while eliminating others. This negotiation of African American aesthetics into European American performance is presented as a part of a broader discourse concerned with the maintenance of white hegemony during this period. The work is grounded in the field theory best articulated by Pierre Bourdieu, and the critical race theories of Michal Omi and Howard Winant. From Bourdieu the work draws upon three key terms: habitus, codes of perception, and hexis. Taken together these terms provide the structure for contextualizing the choices made by dancers, dancing teachers, and social reformers who were concerned with modifying ballroom dance forms that had been influenced by African American aesthetics. Omi and Winant‘s work provide a matrix for understanding the choices of these diverse individuals and organizations as a racial project embedded in a discourse of white hegemony that, even at its most progressive, sought to maintain the hegemony of white, European American culture. HOW THE WALTZ HAS WON: TOWARDS A WALTZ AESTHETIC By Christopher Tremewan Martin Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of the University of Maryland, College Park, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy 2010 Advisory Committee: Professor Faedra Carpenter, Chair Professor Heather Nathans Professor J. Ellen Gainor Professor Karen Bradley Professor Nancy Struna © Copyright by Christopher Tremewan Martin 2010 Dedication For Mary. Without whose love and support none of this would have been possible. ii Acknowledgements I must begin by thanking Ellen Gainor, who persuaded me that an itinerant ballroom dancing teacher might be able to make the transition to academia. I am deeply thankful for the time you gave so generously to a complete stranger, as well as of your continued interest in and support of my work. My family has been tremendously supportive of my academic work, and I cannot thank them enough. Despite upheavals and trauma, you have always been there for me. My mother, Dolores Tremewan Martin, has been an inspiration and a pillar of strength. My wife, Mary, and son, Jesse, have been both patient and understanding of the travails that accompany the path to the Ph.D. I love you all. I would not have come to Maryland without the wonderful people at Florida State University‘s Department of Dance. John Perpener, who guided my Master‘s Thesis, thank you for your patience with my struggles. Thank you to Sally Sommers for teaching me how to write, and Tricia Young your unfailing support and advice. And grudging but sincere thanks to the dance faculty who told me no, Chris, you cannot have an MFA – I certainly wouldn‘t have gotten my Ph.D. without you! Thank you, Antony, and indeed, no hard feelings. The faculty at the University of Maryland has been uniformly, fully fabulous. Faedra Carpenter, for first believing in me, and then giving me so much tremendous help and advice in guiding this work to completion. Heather Nathans, for encouraging and supporting me, and putting up with my wit (such as it is). You truly are a role model. Catherine Schuler, whose keen eye and insight into the structure of iii writing have taught me so much. Laurie Frederick Meer and Frank Hildy, for the feedback and support during the rough drafts. Thanks also to my peers at Maryland: Aaron Tobiason, for epic support of both the academic and technical variety. The inimitable Douglas A. Jones, Jr., for pushing me to aspire to excellence in scholarship. Paul Dunford, you rascal you, for demanding intellectual honesty. Michelle Granshaw, AnnMarie Saunders, Larry Zoll, Matthew Shifflett, and all my other fellow travelers. Many thanks for the conversations that clarified and confounded. I have learned about the history and practice of ballroom dancing from more teachers than I can count. Two people, however, gave me opportunities to learn and grow without which I certainly would not have begun this project. The first was Gwenethe Walshe, who gave me a job in London in 1990, when I was a baby ballroom teacher. Gwenethe was a legend in the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dance, and helped to shape the way in which Latin dancing was performed and taught. Gwenethe passed away in 2006, but her kind spirit and love of dance and music lives on in the countless lives she touched. The second was Diane Lachtrupp, who gave me a job in New York City in 1996. Another wonderful teacher, dancer, and mentor, Diane founded Stepping Out Studios, where I spent many years as a teacher and manager. Diane believed that good dancing and good business could go hand in hand, and that you did not have to sacrifice one for the other. iv Table of Contents Dedication ......................................................................................................... ii Acknowledgements .......................................................................................... iii Table of Contents .............................................................................................. v List of Illustrations .......................................................................................... vii Introduction ....................................................................................................... 1 Parameters ............................................................................................... 19 Chapter Summaries ................................................................................. 23 Chapter 1: A Constellation of Cakewalks ....................................................... 27 ―Everyone take their places, and . Cakewalk!‖ ................................... 30 Towards an Early African American Aesthetic ...................................... 37 Visual Representations............................................................................ 42 Cakewalks in the Minstrel Show ............................................................ 47 Cakewalking Elites ................................................................................. 54 The Power of Hegemonic Performance .................................................. 59 Chapter 2: The Most Curious Organization We Ever Heard Of ..................... 64 Allen Dodworth and the Nineteenth Century Dancing Master ............... 66 The American Society of Professors of Dance ....................................... 81 The Waltz Hold: Changes and Challenges ............................................. 90 Chapter 3: Ragtime: The ―Doom of the Two Step‖ ........................................ 99 Social Dance on Film, 1895 – 1907: Part I ........................................... 104 v Social Dance on Film 1895 – 1907: Part II........................................... 122 Ragtime Music as American Music ...................................................... 126 Ragtime Dance Develops ...................................................................... 128 ―They Fell Over Their Own Feet!‖ ....................................................... 136 Chapter 4: The Waltz Aesthetic Emergent ................................................... 139 Turkey Trotting, Bunny Hugging, and Grizzly Bearing ....................... 143 Elisabeth Marbury ................................................................................. 159 Vernon and Irene Castle........................................................................ 162 Marbury and the Castles ....................................................................... 167 Marbury, Castles, and the Waltz Aesthetic ........................................... 173 Chapter 5: The Waltz Aesthetic Ascendant ................................................. 178 Modern Dancing ................................................................................... 180 Castles‘ Performance and the Waltz Aesthetic ..................................... 194 The Whirlwind Tour ............................................................................. 202 Memory, the Castles, and the Waltz Aesthetic ..................................... 212 Conclusion: The Waltz Aesthetic: A Racial Project ..................................... 223 Advancing the Waltz Aesthetic ............................................................ 238 Bibliography ................................................................................................. 245 Internet Resources ................................................................................. 257 Newspaper Articles Consulted .............................................................. 257 vi List of Illustrations Figure Page 1. Very Particular Notice 25 2. Primrose and West‘s Big Minstrels 27 3. Uncle Tom‘s Cabin Cakewalk 28 4. An Amalgamation Waltz 37 5. The Miscegenation Ball 38 6. New Year‘s Contraband Ball 43 7. Cake Walk 48 8. Mrs. Wilkins Teaching an Igorot Boy the Cakewalk 52 9. The Proper