Svarstad, Elizabeth. „Traces of dance and social life: A dance book and its context.”

Svarstad, Elizabeth. „Traces of dance and social life: A dance book and its context.” In Relevance and Marginalisation in Scandinavian and European Performing Arts 1770-1860: Questioning Canons, edited by Randi Margrete Selvik, Svein Gladsø, and Annabella Skagen, 87-101. London: Routledge, 2021.


Abstract:
This chapter [Chapter 5] addresses social dance in a Norwegian context in order to shed some light on dance repertory and the teaching of dance, etiquette and polite manners through analysis of the first dance book published in Norway in 1802 by dancing master Svend H. Walcke. This and similar books are seen not only as sources of dances and dancing techniques, but also sources of aesthetic ideals and correct social behaviour. The author regards the period’s European dance practice as a canon. Continental standards were transmitted to Norway by travelling dancing masters, who taught the social elite in the main cities. She outlines Walcke’s career, publications and teachings and describes the content of the dance book, its main categories (English dances and country dances), steps, figures and terminologies. The minuet being no longer a ballroom dance was still favoured as an educational tool because of its technically demanding qualities and suitability for the teaching of etiquette and polite manners. Through Walcke’s book and other sources, the author illuminates certain aspects of the era’s dance practice and its role in social life in Norway in a wider European context.