Past Performances
Swing presentation at the Rock and
Roll Hall of Fame for the Nestlé Company
Renée
Camus and
Alex
Bradley are proud to have been invited to perform at
the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
in Cleveland, Ohio, in a private event for the Nestlé Company. The
performance was September 23, 2004, and
Alex and Renée presented "It
Don't Mean a Thing if it Ain't Got That Swing: The Evolution and
Development of Swing Dance." The program was a
shortened version of the lecture/demonstration they had created for
presentation at the Society for American Music's annual conference,
held in March 2004 in Cleveland. This 20-minute program was a quick
jaunt through the history of swing,
featuring choreographies of Lindy Hop, St. Louis Shag, West Coast
Swing, the Twist and other 1960s fad dances, and the Hustle.
Scandinavian
Candlelight Holiday Dance and LuciaFest
Centuries' artistic director Renee Camus taught at the annual
Scandinavian Candlelight Holiday
Dance and LuciaFest at the Cherry Hill Conference Center in College
Park, MD on December 7, 2003. The evening started at 7pm with Renee's
workshop in basic schottische. Participants enthusiastically
participated in the workshop and the dancing that followed, which
included waltzes, hambos, polkas, schottisches and various Scandinavian
turning dances under
candlelight with live music provided by Peascods Gathering. The evening
celebrated Lucia and the Festival of Lights, including the Swedish
tradition of an eldest daughter playing the part of Lucia, wearing
white robes and a crown of lit candles, who distributes cookies to the
guests.
WASBE Festival in
Jönköping, Sweden
Via videotape, Centuries
performed the demonstration portion of Play Something We Can Dance To: Band Music
and the Dance, at the bi-annual World Association for Symphonic
Bands and Ensembles (WASBE)
conference in Jönköping, Sweden! Highly respected
musicologist (and father to Renee) Raoul Camus presented the paper on
July 1, 2003, illustrated by a videotape of Renee, Alex, and other
Centuries dancers showing brief examples of dances such as Viennese
waltz, Boston waltz, quadrille, mazurka, one-step, cakewalk, fox-trot,
and others. The paper was again well received among the musicians and
scholars in attendance. (For a more complete description of Play Something We
Can Dance To and our
other
programs please visit Our
Repertoire page.)
The Second Annual
"Speakeasy Murder Mystery" at His
Lordship's Kindness
Centuries returned for
another Murder Mystery at the unfortunate Mr. Richards' place.
Everytime he has a party someone dies! This time the not-so-innocent
victim was the financier Theodore Morebucks, who's heart finally gives
out when his pills conveniently disappear, along with a priceless
broach! The event included three Ragtime and 1920s dances demonstrated
by Centuries dancers, and a workshop in Ragtime dance, taught by
Artistic Director Renee Camus. The June 8th event was well received and
everyone enjoyed themselves, getting caught up in the events and
discovering the sad truth about poor Mr. Morebucks. John Montrie and
the Usual Suspects again wrote and organized
the 'murder.'
Turn of
the (20th)
Century VALENTINE'S DAY POPCORN DANCE!
Centuries celebrated Valentine's Day fashionably late, and with a nod
to Popcorn! I read somewhere (though it was not
documented)
that POPCORN was invented on February 22, 1630. Whether true or not, it
sounds like a fun thing to celebrate with dancing! So on February 22,
2003,
we held a Valentine's Day Popcorn Dance, featuring Waltz, Tango and
Blues,
and 3 different kinds of popcorn: butter, cheese, and caramel. The
event, which took place at the the Greenbelt Community Center in
Greenbelt,
MD, included lessons in Tango and 1890s Viennese Waltz, taught by
Centuries
Artistic Director Renee Camus.
The Dickens Christmas
Party
Earlier this year, Centuries took part in the latest event at Poplar
Hill ~ His Lordship's Kindness: The Dickens Christmas Party. Despite
its
late January date (the December date was cancelled due to inclement
weather),
attendees still enjoyed the belated Christmas spirit. Clad in
Nineteenth
Century dress, attendees ate and drank while soaking in the atmosphere
and enjoying the various performances. Centuries Historical Dance did
two
demonstrations, a 17th century traditional English set dance called Fandango,
and a 19th century Waltz routine, choreographed by Artistic Director
Renee
Camus, from steps reconstructed from period sources. The participants
were
encouraged to take part in additional dancing prompted by Renee. The
also
sang carols, and listened to a dramatic presentation of the final scene
of Dickens' A Christmas Carol, engagingly performed by Kevin
Hollenbeck.
Second Sunday Afternoon
Tea Dance
Centuries' Artistic Director Renee Camus
recently taught at the Second Sunday Afternoon Tea Dance in
West
Newton, Massachusetts on Sunday, January 12, 2003. Sponsored by Michael
Bergman of the Commonwealth Vintage Dancers, these ongoing monthly
tea dances are a wonderful opportunity for Boston area natives to enjoy
an afternoon of vintage dancing and music. They have been running since
Renee was a member of CVD, and she was proud to teach at the tea dance
again. She taught a main lesson in 1890s waltz (including some
variations),
and smaller lessons in the basics of Polka, Galop, Schottishe, and the
Virginia Reel. Renee taught again on Sunday, December 14, 2003, this
time covering some Ragtime dances.
1920s Gangster Party at
Poplar Hill
~ His Lordship's Kindness
On November 2, 2002 Centuries performed at a 1920s Gangster Party
complete
with Gangsters, Molls, Flappers, music, dancing, and guns. A good time
was had by all, and all partook of the good food and drink, and a
charleston
workshop. The bootlegging of liquor was minimal (as far as I could
see),
so fortunately there was no bloodshed. :) The event was held at Poplar
Hill ~ His Lordship's Kindness, and sponsored by John "Chort"
Montrie.
"Roaring back to the
Twenties" Holiday
Party
Artistic Director Renee Camus and her partner (and fiance) Alex Bradley
performed at the Maryland Parks and Planning Commission's Holiday
Party,
on December 6th, 2002. The party was in Prince George's county, and had
a 1920s theme. The Charleston and early Swing demos pulled many of the
audience's attentions successfully away from their dinners, and many of
the guests participated in a swing lesson, taught by Renee.
"Speakeasy Murder
Mystery" at His
Lordship's Kindness
Centuries provided flappers for a
1920s murder mystery at a gangster's private "speakeasy" party on May
11,
2002. The event was a fundraiser for the preservation of Poplar
Hill ~ His Lordship's Kindness, in Clinton, Maryland. John Montrie
organized
and wrote the 'murder,' played by a cast of suspicious gangsters and
molls.
With a seductive tango, Centuries unknowingly created the diversion so
the dastardly murder of businessman (and bootlegger) Mr. Richards could
take place! After the guests had an opportunity to play sleuths (while
partaking of hors d'oevres and wine) and discover that the famous
actress
Ms. Tira Misu was the murderer, we all celebrated her capture with a
lively
charleston. Guests really enjoyed themselves, and immediately asked
when
the next event will be. Centuries member Jeff Poretsky took some pictures
of the event.
Maryland Renaissance
Festival
Centuries Historical Dance (as HSDE)
performed
during the 25th Anniversary Season of the Maryland
Renaissance Festival, on Saturday and Sunday, August 25 and 26,
2001.
We performed three half-hour performances a day, two on the Jury Rig
Stage,
and one in the open area in front of the glassblower's booth. We
performed
16th century dances, with steps reconstructed from the dance manuals Orchesography,
by Thoinot Arbeau, and Nobilita di Dame, by Cesare Negri.
Dances
included the pavane, galliard, branles, such as Charlotte, Aridan,
Scottish,
and Official, a canary, and a spanish pavane. We moved into the 17th
century
with a few english country dances as collected by John Playford, such
as
Dublin Bay, Rufty Tufty, and Fandango. Members of the audience joined
us
for the Washerwoman's Branles and the Peas Branles. Click here
to see pictures from our performances.
Virginia Grand Military
Band
On April 14, 2001, Centuries members Renée Camus and John
Montrie
performed the two-step at the Virginia
Grand
Military Band's spring concert. The two-step, essentially a polka
without
the hop, became especially popular in the US in the 1890s with the
publication
of John Philip Sousa's Washington Post March, to which we performed the
dance in the concert. Conductor Loras Schissel invited us to perform
with
his band, and dance historian Elizabeth Aldrich introduced us with
information
on the dance and its development. Click here for pictures from this
performance.
Great American Brass
Band Festival
Renée Camus and John Montrie also performed at the Great
American Brass Band Festival, on several occasions. Renée
has
given workshops there, both as part of the festival, and for the
Elderhostel
and Band Conference the day before the Festival. In 1998, John and
Renée
performed in the Festival's Ragtime Spectacular, improvising
ragtime
dances to the wonderful live musicians playing in the concert. They
also
contributed to the Band Conference that year by giving a
lecture/demonstration
called Dance Mad: Dances of the Ragtime Era, written and
choreographed
by Renée, based on research from the period, with dances
choreographed
from steps reconstructed from period manuals. They also performed in
the
Band Conference this past year, showing dances from the 19th and 20th
centuries
and comparing different tempos, in a paper called: "Play Something
We
Can Dance To": Band Music and The Dance. The paper was written and
read by musicologist and band director Raoul F. Camus (and father to
Renée).
Click here
to see some pictures from this performance (with thanks to Dr. Glen
Kleine).
What Goes Around,
Comes Around
On May 11-13, 2000, Centuries presented What
Goes Around, Comes Around, a
50-minute
lecture/performance comparing the Cancan and the Charleston. It was
presented
at the Experimental Theatre at American University, with a cast of 11,
and a crew of 10. The production was developed in partial completion of
Renée's Master of Arts Degree in Dance at American University.
The
production was written, directed, researched, and choreographed by
Renée,
based again on research of the period, and using steps reconstructed
from
period sources. However, because the dances are mostly improvised, the
dancers had a lot to do on their own, and were fundamental in
contributing
to the choreography.
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updated: 3/7/05