Chapter 8

Good music is as necessary to the prosperity of a ball as good wine to the excellence of a dinner. No hostess should tax her friends for this part of the entertainment. It is the most injudicious economy imaginable. Ladies who would prefer to dance are tied to the pianoforte; and as few amateurs have been trained in the art of playing dance music with that strict attention to time and accent which is absolutely necessary to the comfort of the dancers, a total and general discontent is sure to be the result. To play dance music thoroughly well is a branch of the art which requires considerable practice. It is as different from every other kind of playing as whale fishing is from fly fishing. Those who give private balls will do well ever to bear this in mind, and to provide skilled musicians for the evening. For a small party, a piano and cornopean make a very pleasant combination. Unless where several instruments are engaged we do not recommend the introduction of the violin: although in some respects the finest of all solo instruments, it is apt to sound thin and shrill when employed on mere inexpressive dance tunes, and played by a mere dance player.

Invitations to a ball should be issued in the name of the lady of the house, and written on small note paper of the best quality. Elegant printed forms, some of them printed in gold or silver, are to be had at every stationer's by those who prefer them. The paper may be gilt-edged, but not coloured. The sealing-wax used should be of some delicate hue.

An invitation to a ball should be sent out at least ten days before the evening appointed. A fortnight, three weeks, and even a month may be allowed in the way of notice.

Not more than two or three days should be permitted to elapse before you reply to an invitation of this kind. The reply should always be addressed to the lady of the house, and should be couched in the same person as the invitation. The following are the forms generally in use:--

Mrs. Molyneux requests the honour of Captain Hamilton's company at an evening party, on Monday, March the 11th instant.

_Dancing will begin at Nine o'clock_.

Thursday, March 1st.

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Captain Hamilton has much pleasure in accepting Mrs. Molyneux's polite invitation for Monday evening, March the 11th instant.

Friday, March 2nd.

The old form of "presenting compliments" is now out of fashion.

If Mrs. Molyneux writes to Captain Hamilton in the first person, as "My dear Sir," he is bound in etiquette to reply "My dear Madam."

The lady who gives a ball[A] should endeavour to secure an equal number of dancers of both sexes. Many private parties are spoiled by the preponderance of young ladies, some of whom never get partners at all, unless they dance with each other.

A room should in all cases be provided for the accommodation of the ladies. In this room there ought to be several looking-glasses; attendants to assist the fair visitors in the arrangement of their hair and dress; and some place in which the cloaks and shawls can be laid in order, and found at a moment's notice. It is well to affix tickets to the cloaks, giving a duplicate at the same time to each lady, as at the public theatres and concert-rooms. Needles and thread should also be at hand, to repair any little accident incurred in dancing.

Another room should be devoted to refreshments, and kept amply supplied with coffee, lemonade, ices, wine and biscuits during the evening. Where this cannot be arranged, the refreshments should be handed round between the dances.

The question of supper is one which so entirely depends on the means of those who give a ball or evening party, that very little can be said upon it in a treatise of this description. Where money is no object, it is of course always preferable to have the whole supper, "with all appliances and means to boot," sent in from some first-rate house. It spares all trouble whether to the entertainers or their servants, and relieves the hostess of every anxiety. Where circumstances render such a course imprudent, we would only observe that a home-provided supper, however simple, should be good of its kind, and abundant in quantity. Dancers are generally hungry people, and feel themselves much aggrieved if the supply of sandwiches proves unequal to the demand. Great inconvenience is often experienced by the difficulty of procuring cabs at the close of an evening party. Gentlemen who have been dancing, and are unprepared for walking, object to go home on foot, or seek vehicles for their wives and daughters. Female servants who have been in attendance upon the visitors during a whole evening ought not to be sent out. If even men-servants are kept, they may find it difficult to procure as many cabs as are necessary. The best thing that the giver of a private ball can do under these circumstances, is to engage a policeman with a lantern to attend on the pavement during the evening, and to give notice during the morning at a neighbouring cab-stand, so as to ensure a sufficient number of vehicles at the time when they are likely to be required.

[Footnote A: It will be understood that we use the word "ball" to signify a private party, where there is dancing, as well as a public ball.]

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II.--BALL-ROOM TOILETTE.

LADIES.

The style of a lady's dress is a matter so entirely dependent on age, means and fashion, that we can offer but little advice upon it. Fashion is so variable, that statements which are true of it to-day may be false a month hence. Respecting no institution of modern society is it so difficult to pronounce half a dozen permanent rules.

We may perhaps be permitted to suggest the following leading principles; but we do so with diffidence. Rich colours harmonize with rich brunette complexions and dark hair. Delicate colours are the most suitable for delicate and fragile styles of beauty. Very young ladies are never so suitably attired as in white. Ladies who dance should wear dresses of light and diaphanous materials, such as _tulle_, gauze, crape, net, &c., over coloured silk slips. Silk dresses are not suitable for dancing. A married lady who dances only a few quadrilles may wear _a decolletée_ silk dress with propriety.

Very stout persons should never wear white. It has the effect of adding to the bulk of the figure.

Black and scarlet, or black and violet, are worn in mourning.

A lady in deep mourning should not dance at all.

However fashionable it may be to wear very long dresses, those ladies who go to a ball with the intention of dancing and enjoying the dance, should cause their dresses to be made short enough to clear the ground. We would ask them whether it is not better to accept this slight deviation from an absurd fashion, than to appear for three parts of the evening in a torn and pinned-up skirt?

Well-made shoes, whatever their colour or material, and faultless gloves, are indispensable to the effect of a ball-room toilette.

Much jewellery is out of place in a ball-room. Beautiful flowers, whether natural or artificial, are the loveliest ornaments that a lady can wear on these occasions.

GENTLEMEN.

A black suit, thin enamelled boots, a white neckcloth, and white or delicate grey gloves, are the chief points of a gentleman's ball-room toilette. He may wear an embroidered shirt; and his waistcoat may be of silk. White waistcoats are no longer fashionable. Much display of jewellery is no proof of good taste. A handsome watch-chain, with, perhaps, the addition of a few costly trifles suspended to it, and a set of shirt-studs, are the only adornments of this kind that a gentleman should wear. The studs should be small, but good.[A]

A gentleman's dress is necessarily so simple that it admits of no compromise in point of quality and style. The material should be the best that money can procure, and the fashion unexceptionable. So much of the outward man depends on his tailor, that we would urge no gentleman to economise in this matter.

[Footnote A: See "Etiquette for Gentlemen," Sec. VII.]

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III.--ETIQUETTE OF THE BALL-ROOM.[A]

On entering the ball-room, the visitor should at once seek the lady of the house, and pay his respects to her. Having done this, he may exchange salutations with such friends and acquaintances as may be in the room.

If the ball be a public one, and a gentleman desires to dance with any lady to whom he is a stranger, he must apply to the master of the ceremonies for an introduction.

Even in private balls, no gentleman can invite a lady to dance without a previous introduction. This introduction should be effected through the lady of the house, or a member of her family.

No lady should accept an invitation to dance from a gentleman to whom she has not been introduced. In case any gentleman should commit the error of so inviting her, she should not excuse herself on the plea of a previous engagement, or of fatigue, as to do so would imply that she did not herself attach due importance to the necessary ceremony of introduction. Her best reply would be to the effect that she would have much pleasure in accepting his invitation, if he would procure an introduction to her. This observation may be taken as applying only to public balls. At a private party the host and hostess are sufficient guarantees for the respectability of their guests; and, although a gentleman would show a singular want of knowledge of the laws of society in acting as we have supposed, the lady who should reply to him as if he were merely an impertinent stranger in a public assembly-room, would be implying an affront to her entertainers. The mere fact of being assembled together under the roof of a mutual friend, is in itself a kind of general introduction of the guests to each other.

An introduction given for the mere purpose of enabling a lady and gentleman to go through a dance together, does not constitute an acquaintanceship. The lady is at liberty to pass the gentleman in the park the next day without recognition.

No gentleman should venture to bow to a lady upon the strength of a ball-room introduction, unless she does him the honour to recognize him first. If he commits this solecism he must not be surprised to find that she does not return his salutation.

No gentleman should accept an invitation to a ball if he does not dance. When ladies are present who would be pleased to receive an invitation, those gentleman who hold themselves aloof are guilty, not only of a negative, but a positive act of neglect.

To attempt to dance without a knowledge of dancing is not only to make one's self ridiculous, but one's partner also. No lady or gentleman has the right to place a partner in this absurd position.

Never forget a ball-room engagement. To do so is to commit an unpardonable offence against good breeding.

It is not necessary that a lady or gentleman should be acquainted with the _steps_, in order to walk gracefully and easily through a quadrille. An easy carriage and a knowledge of the figure is all that is requisite. A round dance, however, should on no account be attempted without a thorough knowledge of the steps, and some previous practice.

No person who has not a good ear for time and tune need hope to dance well.

At the conclusion of a dance, the gentleman bows to his partner, and either promenades with her round the room, or takes her to a seat. Where a room is set apart for refreshments, he offers to conduct her thither. At a public hall no gentleman would, of course, permit a lady to pay for refreshments.

No lady should accept refreshments from a stranger at a public ball; for she would thereby lay herself under a pecuniary obligation. For these she must rely on her father, brothers, or old friends.

Good taste forbids that a lady and gentleman should dance too frequently together at either a public or private ball. Engaged persons should be careful not to commit this conspicuous solecism.

Engagements for one dance should not be made while the present dance is yet in progress.

If a lady happens to forget a previous engagement, and stand up with another partner, the gentleman whom she has thus slighted is bound to believe that she has acted from mere inadvertence, and should by no means suffer his pride to master his good temper. To cause a disagreeable scene in a private ball-room is to affront your host and hostess, and to make yourself absurd. In a public room it is no less reprehensible. Always remember that good breeding and good temper (or the appearance of good temper) are inseparably connected.

Young gentlemen are earnestly advised not to limit their conversation to remarks on the weather and the heat of the room. It is, to a certain extent, incumbent on them to do something more than dance when they invite a lady to join a quadrille. If it be only upon the news of the day, a gentleman should be able to offer at least three or four observations to his partner in the course of a long half-hour.

Gentlemen who dance cannot be too careful not to injure the dresses of the ladies who do them the honour to stand up with them. The young men of the present day are singularly careless in this respect; and when they have torn a lady's delicate skirt, appear to think the mischief they have done scarcely worth the trouble of an apology.

A gentleman conducts his last partner to the supper-room, and, having waited upon her while there, re-conducts her to the ball-room. Never attempt to take a place in a dance which has been previously engaged.

Withdraw from a private ball-room as quietly as possible, so that your departure may not be observed by others, and cause the party to break up. If you meet the lady of the house on her way out, take your leave of her in such a manner that her other guests may not suppose you are doing so; but do not seek her out for that purpose.

Never be seen without gloves in a ball-room, though it were only for a few moments. Those who dance much and are particularly _soigné_ in matters relating to the toilette, take a second pair of gloves to replace the first when soiled.

A thoughtful hostess will never introduce a bad dancer to a good one, because she has no right to punish one friend in order to oblige another.

It is not customary for married persons to dance together in society.

[Footnote A: See "Etiquette for Ladies," and "Etiquette for Gentlemen," Sec. IX.]

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IV.--THE QUADRILLE.

The Quadrille is the most universal, as it is certainly the most sociable, of all fashionable dances. It admits of pleasant conversation, frequent interchange of partners, and is adapted to every age. The young or old, the ponderous _paterfamilias_ or his sylph-like daughter, may with equal propriety take part in its easy and elegant figures. Even an occasional blunder is of less consequence in this dance than in many others; for each personage is in some degree free as to his own movements, not being compelled by the continual embrace of his partner to dance either better or worse than he may find convenient.

People now generally walk through a quadrille. Nothing more than a perfect knowledge of the figure, a graceful demeanour, and a correct ear for the time of the music are requisite to enable any one to take a creditable part in this dance. Steps are quite gone out of fashion: even the _chassé_ has been given up for some time past.

A quadrille must always consist of five parts. If a variation be made in the fourth figure, by the substitution of _Pastorale_ for _Trenise_, the latter must then be omitted; or _vice-versâ_. As soon as a gentleman has engaged his partner for the quadrille, he should endeavour to secure as his _vis-à-vis_ some friend or acquaintance; and should then lead his partner to the top of the quadrille, provided that post of honour be still vacant. He will place the lady always at his right hand.

Quadrille music is divided into eight bars for each part of the figure; two steps should be taken in every bar; every movement thus invariably consists of eight or of four steps.

It is well not to learn too many new figures; the memory is liable to become confused amongst them; besides which, it is doubtful whether your partner, or your _vis-à-vis_, is as learned in the matter as yourself. Masters are extremely fond of inventing and teaching new figures; but you will do well to confine your attention to a few simple and universally received sets, which you will find quite sufficient for your purpose. We begin with the oldest and most common, the

FIRST SET OF QUADRILLES.

First Figure.--Le Pantalon.

The couples at the top and bottom of the quadrille cross to each other's places in eight steps, occupying four bars of the time; then re-cross immediately to their own places, which completes the movement of eight bars. This is called the _Chaine Anglaise_. The gentleman always keeps to the right of _vis-à-vis_ lady in crossing, thus placing her _inside_.

Set to partners, or _balances_; turn your partners. (This occupies the second eight bars.) Ladies, chain, or _chaine des dames_. (Eight bars more.) Each couple crosses to opposite couple's place, gentleman giving his hand to his partner: this is called half-promenade. Couples recross right and left to their places, without giving hands, which completes another eight bars, and ends the figure.

The side couples repeat what the top and bottom couples have done.

Second Figure.--L'Eté

The ladies in all the top couples, and their _vis-à-vis_ gentlemen, advance four steps, and retire the same, repeating this movement once again, which makes the first eight bars.

Top ladies and _vis-à-vis_ gentlemen cross to each other's places; advance four steps; retreat ditto; cross back towards partners, who set to them as they advance; turn partners; which ends first half of figure.

Second ladies and top _vis-à-vis_ gentlemen execute the same movements. Then side couples begin, the privilege of commencement being conferred on those ladies who stand at the _right_ of the top couples.

This figure is sometimes performed in a different manner, known as double _L'Eté_. Instead of the top lady and _vis-à-vis_ gentleman advancing alone, they advance with partners joining hands; cross and return, as in the single figure. This variation is, however, somewhat out of vogue, except (as will presently be seen) in the last figure of the quadrille, where it is still frequently introduced.

Third Figure--La Poule.

Top lady and _vis-à-vis_ gentleman cross to each other's places, giving right hand in passing; cross back again with left hand. (Eight bars.) The two couples form in a line, and join hands, the left hand of one holding the right hand of his or her neighbour, so that each faces different ways; in this position all four _balancez_, then half promenade with partner to opposite place; top lady and _vis-à-vis_ gentleman advance four steps and retire ditto. (2nd eight bars.) Both top and bottom couples advance together, and retire the same; then re-cross right and left to places. (3rd eight bars.) Second lady and first opposite gentleman repeat figure. Side couples repeat, observing same rule for commencement as in _L'Eté_.

Fourth Figure.--La Trenise.

Top couples join hands, advance four steps and retreat ditto: advance again, gentleman leaving lady at left hand of _vis-à-vis_ gentleman, and retiring alone, (1st eight bars.) Two ladies advance, crossing to opposite side; gentleman advances to meet his partner, _vis-à-vis_ lady returns to hers. (2nd eight bars.) _Balancez_; turn partners to places. (3rd eight bars.) Second couple performs same figure; side couples repeat as before.

If _La Pastorale_ be preferred, it will be performed thus:--Top couple advance and retreat; advance, gentleman leading lady to left hand of _vis-à-vis_ gentleman; he advances with both ladies four steps, retreating ditto; again advancing, he leaves both ladies with first gentleman, retreating alone; top gentleman and both ladies advance and retreat; again advance, joining hands in circle, go half round, half promenade to opposite places, then return right and left to their own. Second couples and side couples repeat as before.

Fifth Figure.--La Finale.

Begin with the _grand rond_ or great round; that is, the whole quadrille; first and second couples and sides join hands all round, advance four steps, and retreat ditto. _L'Eté_ is now sometimes introduced, the _grand rond_ being repeated between each division of the figure. But it gives a greater variety and _brio_ to the quadrille if, after the first _grand rond_, the following figure be performed, the _galop_ step being used throughout. Each gentleman (at top and bottom couples) takes his lady round the waist, as for the _galop_; advance four steps, retreat ditto, advance again, cross to opposite places; advance, retreat, re-cross to own places. Ladies chain; half promenade across; half right and left to places; _grand rond_. Side couples repeat figure. _Grand rond_ between each division and at the conclusion. Bow to your partners, and conduct your lady to seat.

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V.--THE CALEDONIANS.

This quadrille has, within the last few years become more fashionable than formerly. But it is not so frequently danced as the Lancers, still less as the First Set of Quadrilles. Each set can consist only of eight couples, differing in this respect from the simple quadrille, which admits of an indefinite number of couples.

_1st Figure_.--Top and opposite couples hands across; then back again; _balancez_ and turn partners; _chaine des dames_; half promenade across; half right and left to places.

_2nd Figure_.--Top gentleman advances and retreats twice. _Balancez_ to corners and turn, each lady passing to her next neighbour's place. Having changed your partner, all promenade quite round. Second, third, and fourth gentleman repeat same figure; thus all have regained their places.

_3rd Figure_.--Top lady and _vis-à-vis_ gentleman advance and retreat twice.

Top couple join hands and cross over; opposite couple cross likewise, separately, allowing top couple to pass between them; then top couple re-cross to places separately, leaving the second couple (who re-cross with joined hands) inside.

_Balancez_ to corners and turn your neighbour's partner; back to places. All four couples, joining hands in circle, advance and retreat twice. Same figure repeated by second and side couples.

_4th Figure_.--Top lady and _vis-à-vis_ gentleman advance four steps; second lady and her _vis-à-vis_ then do the same; each couple turns partner back to places. Ladies in all four couples move four steps to the right, each taking her neighbour's place; gentlemen then move four steps to the left, each into next neighbour's place. Ladies again to the right; gentlemen again to the left. Promenade round, turn partners to places. Second and side couples repeat in succession.

_5th Figure_.--First couple promenade round inside the quadrille. Four ladies advance, courtesy to each other, and retire; four gentlemen advance, bow, and retire. _Balancez_ and turn partners. Grand chain half way round. All promenade to places, and turn partners. All _chassez croisez_, ladies right, gentlemen left (behind their partners), and back again to places. Second and side couples repeat as before. Promenade all round for _finale_.

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VI.--THE LANCERS.