[HN Gopher] The Pleasure and Communion of Jane Austen's Country ...
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The Pleasure and Communion of Jane Austen's Country Dance
Author : pepys
Score : 60 points
Date : 2023-08-21 22:50 UTC (2 days ago)
(HTM) web link (lithub.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (lithub.com)
| coyotespike wrote:
| > After Jane Austen's death in 1817, the country dance was
| gradually succeeded by the waltz and other "closed couple" dances
| like the quadrille and the polka and--later--the foxtrot and the
| Charleston. A century on, we are rarely offered any such
| lifeline. At parties and weddings, we dance like cups of Jell-o,
| ever-unsure with what to do with our puckered lips and T-Rexified
| hands. Every so often, a DJ may throw us a bone in the form of
| the "Macarena" or the "Cha-Cha-Slide." Yet these dances feel
| curiously disembodied, with each person moving in his or her own
| little bubble, never to interact.
|
| I am happy to say I've recently discovered salsa and am dancing
| several times a week.
|
| Latin dance and West Coast Swing have much younger demographics
| than country dances, are danced worldwide, and in both quite
| sophisticated and in street styles. They fit precisely the
| embodied, highly social, and subtly sensual (or not so subtly in
| the case of bachata) functions the author misses. Can highly
| recommend.
| zwayhowder wrote:
| I met my wife, and most of my closest friends at dances like this
| article describes.
|
| The Scottish Ceilidh, the Irish Ceili and the many Platford and
| Regency style balls hosted by folk clubs and dance groups keep
| these very much alive.
|
| When I travel I always take my dance shoes and find local groups
| to drop in on and am always welcomed with literal open arms.
|
| Sadly in my 40s I am one of the younger attendees of these
| events. Which is a tragedy for those of us who already love the
| culture and those who will never experience it.
| OfSanguineFire wrote:
| Traditional dance today has to compete with the electronic
| dance music scene. Since the latter largely goes back to gay,
| Black clubs of the 1970s and 1980s, it emphasizes "be yourself"
| and "express yourself" values. Not only could you show up as a
| total freak, wearing drag or leather etc., you were celebrated
| and welcomed as royalty of the community for doing so. So,
| electronic dance music has a cachet of racial and LGBT
| acceptance that folk dance just can't compete with when it
| comes to drawing younger generations today.
| zwayhowder wrote:
| Have you ever seen a Morris dancer? If folk clubs will accept
| that...
|
| But seriously, you're right that they don't always look like
| they'd be welcoming. Most folk clubs tend to skew older and
| that often means conservative, though my experience is that
| most of the old folkies now were all young hippies once and
| honestly they are more likely to attend a rally/march than a
| middle aged professional with a full time job and family...
| OfSanguineFire wrote:
| Even if the participants in some folk-dance clubs are
| supposedly tolerant old hippies, they still expect new
| members to be quiet and just learn the moves that are
| taught. Your examples of Scottish Ceilidh, Irish Ceili and
| Platford and Regency dances are all about the traditional
| rules that are passed down, not self-expression. LGBT folks
| can't show up and be out, proud, and loud like they can in
| the electronic dance world. People of color might feel
| distress at being forced into a mold of whiteness.
| Taikonerd wrote:
| I think that people today are also just much more familiar
| with EDM than British folk music. e.g. on the radio, in
| commercials and movies, etc.
| TRiG_Ireland wrote:
| I'd expect that many folk clubs are pretty accepting these
| days. Unfortunately, many others aren't, and it's very
| difficult to know from the outside which is which.
| inkcapmushroom wrote:
| I was big into swing dancing about 5 years ago, which had
| pretty popular followings on the US east coast and also
| abroad. The local events with bands would usually get around
| 50 people, the bigger regional events would have hundreds.
| COVID did a number on the social dance scene though,
| especially since whether an organizer opened up dances again
| and whether they required vaccines and/or masks became a
| political thing. Here's to hoping for more social dancing in
| the future.
| Taikonerd wrote:
| Yes -- there's an English country dance meetup near me. I went
| a couple times... but in my late 30s, I was the youngest person
| in the room by 20 years!
|
| I hope there's some popular movie or TV show that makes it cool
| again, and injects some fresh blood. Otherwise, it's just going
| to die, and that would be a loss.
|
| (There's also a contradance[0] about 30 minutes from me. That
| seems to be having more success attracting young people...?)
|
| [0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contra_dance
| zwayhowder wrote:
| Contra is a great beginners dance that is also fun for
| experienced dancers. It is basically just walking, no fancy
| steps.
|
| A friend of mine used to host Contra dances done to techno
| with nightclub like strobes that were very popular with the
| university students nearby.
| jollyllama wrote:
| Mass culture destroys organic culture
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(page generated 2023-08-23 23:01 UTC)