Dance Articles & Info
How The Phase Rating System Reflects The History Of Modern Round Dancing
By Veronica Mcclure
Aug 10, 2003

How The Phase Rating System Reflects The History Of Modern Round Dancing

by Veronica McClure

The phase rating system has the oldest material -- Waltz and Two Step --in
Phase II mostly for the simple reason that for so many years that's what we
dancers learned first because it was around first. While interesting, this
arrangement is irrelevant to a logical and systematic progression through
the movements and rhythms we use in round dancing. Just because something
is old, does not mean it is easy -- just ask dancers who specialize in
various historic forms of dance!


Nevertheless I believe it is useful to review the history of Round Dancing
with this information about Phase II in mind. Our dance form started with
revivals of 19th century social dance when balls in America, England and
the Continent consisted of group dances and couple dances. In today's
language, that means squares and rounds. The squares were often called
quadrilles and had choreographies which were still linked to the
choreographies of their contra and country dance companions. The couple
dances were known as "round dances." The first round dance was the Waltz
which became a mainstay in polite social dance in the early 1800s. It
constantly turned right face causing the dancers to go round and round and
thus gave rise to the use of the term "round dance" to mean couple dancing.
This usage stuck even after non-turning figures were introduced.

Both Henry Ford (1920s) and Lloyd Shaw (1930s and 40s) based their dance
revivals on 19th century ballroom dances, i.e., 19th century forms of
squares and rounds. Their work became the basis of the first round dancing
as we in the round dance world today know it. They were not inventing
something new and original; they were reviving and altering 19th-century
ballroom forms, and in the process an everyday 19th century term became the
capitalized "Round Dancing."

A major difference between 19th-century social dance and current Round
Dancing is in the footwork, toe lead versus heel lead especially. All
polite social dance (i.e., social dancing at times and places where one put
on one's best manners and behaved properly) for three centuries (1600s,
1700s, 1800s) involved dancing with turned out feet and toe leads. The
larger than usual generational changes accompanying the turn of the 19th
century into the 20th century was caused by the acceptance of black music
and dance and resulted in ragtime. This ended turn out and toe leads for
social dance once and for all. The English even made a point of formally
codifying this in their dance teachers organization in the early 1920s.

However, since the dancing Ford and Shaw were promoting was late
19th-century style, they also promoted turn out and toe lead, although the
toe lead got far more attention than the turnout. Thus the toe lead idea
was promulgated through round dancing long after other dance communities
had abandoned it. (It is common for different forms of the "same" dance to
exist simultaneously in different dance communities -- consider the number
of variations of Jitterbug-lindy- jive-swing that exist simultaneously and
even undergo a variety of revivals and reformations.) Toe versus heel
leads was a point of contention in round dancing in the early days of
Roundalab.

The 19th century origin of modern round dancing is enshrined in Phase II,
for both the waltz and the two-step originated in the 19th century. Most of
the dances in higher phases originated in the 20th century. The tango
originated in the 19th century but it was the Americanized 20th century
form that first made it into modern round dancing via Tango Mannita. The
schottisches and polkas that were part of early modern round dancing are
19th century forms that have been discarded except for an occasional
two-step polka. The English style of waltz introduced in Phase III is a
20th century style. The foxtrot and quickstep and the Latin dances are 20th
century forms that do not exist in Phase II.

In summary, Phase II Waltz and Two-Step are the oldest dance types in Round
Dancing. The Two-Step essentially drops out after Phase II while the waltz
material in Phase III-VI is mostly the newer (i.e., 20th-century) English
(aka "international") style waltz. Thus we have come to the point where
some round dance leaders believe that Phase II Waltz and Two-Step are
irrelevant to Phase III and higher dancing. Because they think this way,
some of them are skipping Phase II altogether and start with Phase III.


I don't think the material in Phase II is irrelevant, but I do think that
the way the phase rating system works now, it equates "older" with
"easier."
I would much rather see the phase rating system treat each rhythm
separately,
with parallel but separate lists of easy (Phase I & II), intermediate
(Phase
III & IV),and advanced (Phase V & VI) material.

Veronica McClure
vmcclure@rounddance.com





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