Dance: A Very Social History

by Carol Wallace, Don McDonagh, Jean L. Druesedow

"The Ball nights in Bath are moments snatched from Paradise, rendered bewitching by music, beauty, elegance, fashion, etiquette. . . ." Thus did Charles Dickens in Pickwick Papers describe the magic of a grand ball. Even the names of such dances as the minuet, the quadrille, and the waltz are enough to evoke the image of a resplendently dressed assemblage performing with grace and style. The anticipation that precedes such a great social occasion and the afterglow of recollection are intensified not just by the dance and the music but also by the costumes that are so integral a part of the experience. Dance offers a feast for the eye as well as the ear, for it is in response to the grand ball that costume artists have produced some of their most inspired designs. The collections of The Costume Institute of The Metropolitan Museum of Art are especially rich in clothing made expressly for dancing, from the formal gowns of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries to the mini-dresses of the twentieth. This book was published on the occasion of an exhibition held at the Metropolitan Museum from December 17, 1987 through September 6, 1987. [This book was originally published in 1986 and has gone out of print. This edition is a print-on-demand version of the original book.]

Published by The Metropolitan Museum of Art/Distributed by Yale University Press

Genres: History, Art

128 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 1986

About the author

Carol Wallace, the great-great-granddaughter of Lew Wallace, is the author most recently of a new version of "Ben-Hur." It is the official tie-in of the new major film, releasing in August of 2016.

Carol is also the co-author of "To Marry an English Lord," which was one of the inspirations for "Downton Abbey," and author of the historical novel
"Leaving Van Gogh." Previous titles have included humor, parenting, and social history. In 2006 Wallace received a M.A. in art history from Columbia University. The research for her M.A. thesis provided the foundation for "Leaving van Gogh." A 1977 graduate of Princeton University, Wallace lives in New York.

Reviews

[Lucy]

Covers great balls and dancing parties of Europe, England, and America from the 18th century to the present; the dance steps themselves from the early basse danze of Italy to the twist of contemporary America; the evolution of the ball gown and other costumes designed for dancing; and the way in which dance is depicted in works of art through the centuries. Lots of photos; picture credits and additional information about the pictures are given at the back.
Published in 1986 so it's not up to date, but good for the periods up till then.