On May 12 1920, over 200 dance teachers from across Britain met at the Grafton Galleries in London to discuss the current state of condition of ballroom dancing in Europe. The migration of American Jazz music and the dances that it propogated were causing concern to the professional dancers of the day. The meeting was called by Dancing Times editor, Philip Richardson. In his History of ballroom dancing, Richardson writes:
It seemed highly desirable to me, as editor of 'The Dancing Times,' that something should be done to call a halt to freakish dancing before it became something worse.
The idea for the meeting was actually the result of a letter from American dancer Monsieur Maurel.
Dear Mr. Richardson,
Since being in London I have been wondering whether or not it would be possible for me to carry out some arrangements of the same sort as I carried out in New York. I was very anxious in some way to standardize ballroom dancing, so that the same standard should prevail in all good class dancing places and ballrooms. In order to do this I got together the other leading dancing teachers of New York, and we held a conference, and came to mutual agreement how the foxtrot, two-step, waltz, and tango should be danced correctly, so as to avoid the ungraceful and undignified forms of dancing, which were gradually creeping into both public and private dances. Would it be possible to arrange to do something of the sort here?
To make a long story short, as a result of this meeting three dances were approved by a committee who reported back in October 1920. The One-Step, the Foxtrot, and the Tango were approved with several patterns in each dance. The complete abolishment was suggested for particularly upsetting movements such as the "Shimmy," a vigorous shaking of the hips and shoulders that can be traced back to American performers such as the dancing of Gilda Gray, songs sung by Mae West, and dance performances of the Zigfield Follies.
A multitude of dance societies in Europe proposed the concern of a lack of uniformity in the standardization of these approved dances. As a result, by 1924 the ballroom branch of the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing (ISTD) was formed. This advent for this branch had been the suggestion of Victor Silvester, who would later be the president of the ballroom branch of ISTD from 1945 to 1958. (Silvester had been the first champion of the first World Standard Ballroom Championship in 1922, with partner Phyllis Clarke.) Within a year of the creation of the ballroom branch of ISTD, a syllabus for ballroom dancing had been created that included knowledge of music, carriage of the body, and four dances. Silvester would work a little more than ten years afterwards to create the definitive charts and terminology that would define the "English Style," (now known as International Style) of ballroom dancing.
With a standardization of the popular ballroom dances came the need for music to dance to. Not limited to just dancing, Silvester, also a musician, became increasingly annoyed at the inconsistent music available for public dancing, especially Jazz. With most commoners unable to afford dance lessons, many club visitors simply sat and drank, providing an encouraging "armchair" audience for musicians who enjoyed the freedoms that Jazz music allowed. By July 1929, the desired tempos for ballroom dance music had been established by the ISDT. However, musicians and recording studios were reluctant to record music for such a (supposed) limited dance audience, stating that strict tempo songs were the worst sellers and uninteresting to listen to compared to Jazz.
To remedy this, Silvester put together his own dance band and set out to record his own music, labeled as "strict tempo." Beginning in 1935, Silvester and his dance band recorded strict tempo dance music that has sold more than 75 million copies to date. Starting in 1937, his Silvester and his Orchestra was featured in more than 6500 broadcasts for BBC, including 130 during the war. He broadcasted the Victor Silvester Television Dancing Club for 17 years. The success of the ballroom branch of the ISTD and of the International Style of ballroom dancing, was directly linked to the success of Silvester and his strict tempo music, which can now be attested to by the worldwide popularity today of the International Style and of strict tempo music to dance to.
Today in Orlando, there are several highly qualified and talented ballroom instructors who are not only certified with the American Style, but have also become certified in the International Style through the ISTD. Two in particular are also Examiners, those who can certify instructors. Mandy Ball, the Examination Director for the USISDT branch, and Miriam Ellis, one of only 6 appointed ISTD Examiners in the US, are both Orlando residents and provide the city and its ballroom professionals and amateurs with direct instruction in the standards set by Victor Silvester and those who worked with him to codify and standardize the International Style.
Resource:
Cresswell, Tim
2006 "You cannot shake that shimmie here:" producing mobility on the dance floor. Institute of Geography and Earth Sciences, University of Wales. Edward Arnold Publishers Ltd.
Comments
Dear Sir! Is it possible to get one of the broadcasts of Victor silvester? Regards. Bob Vorontsov
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