[Dixielandjazz] The Kensington Crawl

[Stephen G Barbone]

As Ivor Jones said, the "Crawl" dance may have been "invented" in  
Hollywood for Elvis Presley in the 1950s, however there were much  
earlier crawl dances. Note this quote from the New York Times,  
September 20, 1885. It is from an Article entitled:

"The Kensington Crawl; The Sighs of the Old Dancing Professor. How he  
Opened His Heart and Told The Gilded Youth of How They Danced in The  
Good Old Days."

The writer describes a dance professor's conversation, in September  
1885, with a young man at dance about how the European Gentry Danced  
during the 18th Century. The professor bemoans the current (1885)  
state of dancing as rude, when compared to the classic dancing of the  
past and tries to convince the youth  that today's dances are crude.  
(sound familiar? <very big grin>)

A quote from the body of the article reads: "The professor hated  
innovation. Most old men do. He loathed the latest waltz imported from  
the shores of Albion, and entitled 'The Kensington crawl', with a deep  
and bitter loathing, and the fact that he was comparatively alone in  
this sentiment preyed upon his peace of mind."

Then after describing the beauty of old European dances, from the  
English Country Dances of the mid 1700s, to German and Polish Dances  
the professor in the final paragraph says.

"Your fancy is too exuberant, was the solemn rejoinder. Check it, or  
it may lead you into trouble. But he spoke to air only. The golden  
youth had vanished with a satin-clad fairy, and with a shudder the old  
gentlemen saw that he was dancing the Kensington crawl."

The article is fun  to read (like what's new?) and may be seen (PDF) at:

http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?_r=1&res=9903E0DA153FE533A25753C2A96F9C94649FD7CF

Cheers,
Steve Barbone
www.myspace.com/barbonestreetjazzband