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"Cotillion Party at Whitney Hall! In Shelburne Falls, Friday Dec 17th, 1858"
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Summary and Objective
After viewing a document relating to popular dance c.1858, and learning a dance from the period, students will understand that dancing to live music was an important part of American life.
Teaching Plan
Step 1.
Show students the document, “Cotillon Party at Whitney Hall! . . .” Discuss the vocabulary of “cotillon”(sic) and “prompter”. Discuss why some of the poster is printed, and the rest is handwritten. Discuss the meaning of the line, “Citizens . .invited . . .with ladies.”
Step 2.
Read the liner notes to The Music of John Taggart by the New Hampshire Fiddlers Union, written by Randy Miller and found on this site:
http://www.taggartfamily.org/FilmMusicOfJohnTaggart.htm
Compare and contrast how contemporary families spend leisure time with the dancing activity described here.
Step 3.
Teach a traditional dance: Sweets of May.
Directions and music can be found in a CD/book "Chimes of Dunkirk",
by the New England Dancing Masters.
It is available at http://www.cdss.org/sales/children.html, http://www.dancingmasters.com/, and many other places.
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