Historical SourcePublic DomainStep Figures Available
Grammar of the Art of Dancing -- Theoretical and Practical: Lessons in the Arts of Dancing and Dance Writing (Choregraphy) (Friedrich Albert Zorn, Boston / International Publishers, 1920 ed.; translated from the German of Zorn 1887)
Publisher: Friedrich Albert Zorn (1816-1895; Odessa dance master, member Imperial Russian Society of Dancing). Originally published in German as 'Grammatik der Tanzkunst' (Leipzig, J. J. Weber, 1887). This 1920 English edition: International Publishers, Eight Beacon Street, Boston, Massachusetts; printed by The Calkins Press. Translated by a committee of the Boston Society of Dancing Masters. Source: Internet Archive scan from Brigham Young University (Harold B. Lee Library, Provo, Utah; archive.org identifier 'grammarofartofda1920zorn'). Source path: DATA/LIBRARY_OF_DANCE/TXT/1920-Zorn-Grammar_(Arc).txt (~36,096 OCR lines). STRUCTURE: 17 chapters covering theoretical foundations (positions, apportionment of time, beatings, technical steps, choregraphic notation), the contra dance and quadrille (Pantalon, L'Ete, La Poule, La Trenis, La Pastourelle, La Finale, plus pas de galop, opposite circles, the wreath), the Minuet (with separate Lady's part and Gentleman's part), the Gavotte (with separate Lady's and Gentleman's parts), the Star of Four Couples (l'Etoile a Quatre Couples), the Figure of the Waltz-dances (Galop-Waltz, Polka-Waltz, Mazurka-Waltz, Reverse of the Galop a l'envers / a rebours, La Poursuite, the three-step Waltz / Valse a Trois Temps, the two-syllable Waltz / Valse a Deux Temps), and the Mazurka (technical steps Pas de Mazourka et al.). HISTORIC SIGNIFICANCE: Zorn 1887/1920 is the most-comprehensive late-19c German-Russian-American ballroom-dance grammar, comparable in scope and authority to LOC-1859-FERRERO and Cellarius (LOC-1847-CELLARIUS, LOC-1849-CELLARIUS), and serving as the principal Belle-Epoque round-dance technical reference for the post-Castle-era American ballroom-master cohort. Zorn introduces tempo guidance based on metronome experiments (Waltz 66-72 measures per minute), discusses the Strauss / Lanner / Vienna Waltz tempo divergence (Strauss sr. ~72; Lanner ~76; Vienna ~76; tranquil England 66-69; Russia even faster), and codifies the Galop / Polka / Mazurka step vocabularies for the American teaching profession. Zorn's formal choregraphic notation system (his own diagrammatic supplement to Beauchamp-Feuillet) is one of three major late-19c choregraphies alongside Saint-Leon (Stenochoregraphie 1852) and Stepanov (Alphabet des mouvements du corps humain 1892). Has_Step_Detail = Yes: tabulated step-by-step technical descriptions with metronome markings, choregraphic symbols, and special music scores throughout.Year: 1920Family: zornCatalog: local
Dance manual/reference by Friedrich Albert Zorn (1816-1895; Odessa dance master, member Imperial Russian Society of Dancing). Originally published in German as 'Grammatik der Tanzkunst' (Leipzig, J. J. Weber, 1887). This 1920 English edition: International Publishers, Eight Beacon Street, Boston, Massachusetts; printed by The Calkins Press. Translated by a committee of the Boston Society of Dancing Masters. Source: Internet Archive scan from Brigham Young University (Harold B. Lee Library, Provo, Utah; archive.org identifier 'grammarofartofda1920zorn'). Source path: DATA/LIBRARY_OF_DANCE/TXT/1920-Zorn-Grammar_(Arc).txt (~36,096 OCR lines). STRUCTURE: 17 chapters covering theoretical foundations (positions, apportionment of time, beatings, technical steps, choregraphic notation), the contra dance and quadrille (Pantalon, L'Ete, La Poule, La Trenis, La Pastourelle, La Finale, plus pas de galop, opposite circles, the wreath), the Minuet (with separate Lady's part and Gentleman's part), the Gavotte (with separate Lady's and Gentleman's parts), the Star of Four Couples (l'Etoile a Quatre Couples), the Figure of the Waltz-dances (Galop-Waltz, Polka-Waltz, Mazurka-Waltz, Reverse of the Galop a l'envers / a rebours, La Poursuite, the three-step Waltz / Valse a Trois Temps, the two-syllable Waltz / Valse a Deux Temps), and the Mazurka (technical steps Pas de Mazourka et al.). HISTORIC SIGNIFICANCE: Zorn 1887/1920 is the most-comprehensive late-19c German-Russian-American ballroom-dance grammar, comparable in scope and authority to LOC-1859-FERRERO and Cellarius (LOC-1847-CELLARIUS, LOC-1849-CELLARIUS), and serving as the principal Belle-Epoque round-dance technical reference for the post-Castle-era American ballroom-master cohort. Zorn introduces tempo guidance based on metronome experiments (Waltz 66-72 measures per minute), discusses the Strauss / Lanner / Vienna Waltz tempo divergence (Strauss sr. ~72; Lanner ~76; Vienna ~76; tranquil England 66-69; Russia even faster), and codifies the Galop / Polka / Mazurka step vocabularies for the American teaching profession. Zorn's formal choregraphic notation system (his own diagrammatic supplement to Beauchamp-Feuillet) is one of three major late-19c choregraphies alongside Saint-Leon (Stenochoregraphie 1852) and Stepanov (Alphabet des mouvements du corps humain 1892). Has_Step_Detail = Yes: tabulated step-by-step technical descriptions with metronome markings, choregraphic symbols, and special music scores throughout. (1920). Step-by-step detail available. Imported from local collection.