From the Ballroom to Hell: Grace and Folly in Nineteenth-Century Dance (Paperback)

by Elizabeth Aldrich (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
"Dancing and etiquette are inseparable," wrote one 19th-century dancing master quoted in this scholarly glimpse into ballrooms past. Newly moneyed Americans of that era craved guidance on how to comport themselves, and publishers responded with scores of manuals on etiquette, fashion and dance instruction. As dance historian Aldrich demonstrates through more than 100 excerpts from these guides, balls and dance offer a key to understanding the social aspirations of the period. These volumes gave unflinching advice, from injunctions against nose-picking to the proper way to lead a partner through the quadrilles. In a brief historical essay, Aldrich dissolves the veneer of naivete from these admonitions, placing them in the context of a society in which woman's role had become centered on domestic affairs and in which the ballroom was the showcase for one's social accomplishments. But while Aldrich supplies quotations at length, her attenuated analysis of these mores and of the dances themselves--from the initially notorious waltz to the "German," whose figures offered a strange representation of relations between the sexes--fails to illuminate their underlying ethos. Illustrated.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Description
As this work makes clear, even the most civilized among us do not know how to behave ourselves in public. This work should be of interest to dancers and dance historians interested in accurately reproducing 19th-century dance scenes and the surrounding social mechanisms.

Product Details

• Paperback: 225 pages
• Publisher: Northwestern University Press (December 15, 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0810109131
• ISBN-13: 978-0810109131
• Product Dimensions: 11 x 8.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #843,143 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A Superb ettiquitte manual, March 24, 2000

By	yardoftin "mailcoach" (Attica, KS USA) - See all my reviews

This book does indeed give the reeder a close look at the society and ettiquitte of this period. Since I was researching the Regency when I purchased it I was a little disapointed to find that it's focus is primarily the latter part of the nineteenth century (1830-1890), and is based primarily on American publications of ettiquitte manuals. I was delighted to discover a wealth of information about everything from dance steps to party preperation to elaborate flirting rituals that can be caried out with parasols and gloves. It certainly says everything Emily Post might have at that time as well as providing a vivid picture of society in a bygone era. A must have for anyone enamored of the Victorian era and usefull still though slightly less relavent for Regency fanatics.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Bits and Snippits, April 11, 2000

By	Cris Goodwin (USA) - See all my reviews

Consists primarily of bits and snippits from Victorian American etiquette manuals. Some insights into high society life and how it changed through the course of the 19th century can be drawn, keeping in mind these were the suggested forms of behavior not necessarily what was actually done. There is plenty to read between the lines. Some sheet music in included along with some dance steps. There are also recipes for makeup and concoctions for cleaning. Fashion descriptions are fairly superficial, but adequate. Over all, I'm glad I bought it.