The Forbidden Dance
about the tango. In the late 1700s and early 1800s the waltz was
considered quite a scandalous dance. It gained popularity on the
European continent by around 1780, but was still scorned in
respectable circles in England and the United States. It wasn’t
until the Prince Regent introduced the waltz at a ball in 1816 that
it was accepted in England. As for the newly formed US, all we can
say for certain is that it was a standard dance by 1830.
in Three-Quarter Time, I assumed that as in
all things fashionable, Americans would have followed close on the
heels of their British cousins. I showed the waltz being introduced
to Charlottesville, Virginia, by a trend-setting plantation matron in
1817. But the waltz of the Regency (or in this case late Federalist)
era was quite different than the waltz we know today. It was closely
related to the cotillion, and it incorporated a variety of handholds
that could, in fact, turn a bit risqué in the wrong company.
from a very lengthy poem called “The Waltz,” written by Lord
Byron in 1813.
Endearing
Waltz! — to thy more melting tune
Bow
Irish jig and ancient rigadoon.
Scotch
reels, avaunt! and country-dance, forego
Your
future claims to each fantastic toe!
Waltz
— Waltz alone — both legs and arms demands,
Liberal
of feet, and lavish of her hands;
Hands
which may freely range in public sight
Where
ne’er before — but — pray “put out the light.”
Methinks
the glare of yonder chandelier
Shines
much too far — or I am much too near;
And
true, though strange — Waltz whispers this remark,
“My
slippery steps are safest in the dark!”
In the style of Deeanne Gist, Dina
Sleiman explores the world of 1817 Virginia in her novel Love in
Three-Quarter Time. When the belle of the ball falls into genteel
poverty, the fiery Constance Cavendish must teach the dances she once
loved in order to help her family survive. The opportunity of a
lifetime might await her in the frontier town of Charlottesville, but
the position will require her to instruct the sisters of the
plantation owner who jilted her when she needed him most. As Robert
Montgomery and Constance make discoveries about one another, will
their renewed faith in God help them to face their past and the guilt
that threatens to destroy them in time to waltz to a fresh start?
http://dinasleiman.com
Roseanna M. White is a bestselling, Christy Award winning author who has long claimed that words are the air she breathes. When not writing fiction, she’s homeschooling her two kids, editing, designing book covers, and pretending her house will clean itself. Roseanna is the author of a slew of historical novels that span several continents and thousands of years. Spies and war and mayhem always seem to find their way into her books…to offset her real life, which is blessedly ordinary.