The Colonial Music Institute^(tm)
Bringing History to Life Through Music

Colonial Social Dancing for Children:
Social Dancing of Washington’s Time arranged for Today’s Young People
by Charles Cyril Hendrickson
Sandy Hook, CT: The Hendrickson Group, 1995
ISBN: 1-877984-20-5
116 pages  *CSD-bk: $19.00

Book and CD (see below):  *CSD-set: $33.00

 

31 longways dances; two cotillions; music with chords; 20 diagrams of steps and figures; quotes and illustrations from period sources

This is a complete instructor’s handbook with graded lesson plans for teaching children the basic steps and figures of country dancing, America’s most popular social dance type during the time of George Washington. Cotillions, ancestor of the modern square dance, and the less known dance types called jigs, reels, and fancy dances, are also included.

Originally conceived as a program for grades 4 through 6, these dances work with pre-school as well as middle-school-age children. The beginning lessons are designed for short, non-voluntary situations and include five no-touch dances. Bows and courtesies are paired with dramatic lessons to teach steps and deportment. Now "everyone, take out a sword. . ." (page 11)

CONTENTS: Away to the Camp, La Belle Catherine, The Brandywine, College Hornpipe, Cyril’s Fancy, Drury Lane, Fancy Dance, Figuring on a Monday, Four-hand Reel, The 14th of October, Fourth of July, Jigs, Lady Adams Fancy, La Fayette, Liberty, Malbrouk, The Merry Go Round, Miss Townsend’s Reel, Money in Both Pockets, Nancy Dawson, October’s Cast, The Pesky Fly, Spirit of France, Three-hand Reel, Tompkin’s Fancy, Twenty-second of February, White Cockade, Yankee Doodle.

Music for the Dances in
Colonial Social Dances for Children
Arranged and played by Frances C. Hendrickson
Sandy Hook, CT: The Hendrickson Group, 1995
CD  *CSD-cd: $16.00

 

“This music is endlessly interesting. Unexpected turns and variants are why we never get tired of listening to them.”  —Joan Sprung, folksinger
 

This is a companion CD set for the book Colonial Social Dances for Children. The music is arranged for teaching the dances in the book and is played on a digital keyboard with sampled sound.

CONTENTS:  Away to the Camp, La Belle Catherine, The Brandywine, College Hornpipe, The 14th of October, Fourth of July, La Fayette, Liberty, Malbrouk, The Merry Go Round, Money in Both Pockets, Nancy Dawson, Spirit of France, Twenty-second of February, White Cockade, Yankee Doodle.