0:00:02 > 0:00:05In this series, Lucy and I are joining forces
0:00:05 > 0:00:07to uncover the British love affair with dancing.
0:00:07 > 0:00:10I'll be putting her through her paces on the dance floor
0:00:10 > 0:00:13and she'll be giving me a history lesson.
0:00:13 > 0:00:14Lucy, chop, chop.
0:00:14 > 0:00:17A little bit quicker, please. Time for lunch.
0:00:17 > 0:00:19From the 17th to the 20th century,
0:00:19 > 0:00:22we'll discover how much our favourite dances
0:00:22 > 0:00:25tell us about the nation's social history.
0:00:25 > 0:00:28From money and morals to sex and snobbery,
0:00:28 > 0:00:31you can find it all on the British dance floor.
0:00:31 > 0:00:33Twerking, nothing new.
0:00:33 > 0:00:35- Yeah.- It's from the charleston. - Yeah.
0:00:35 > 0:00:37HE LAUGHS
0:00:38 > 0:00:42We'll visit fancy ballrooms to see how the other half danced,
0:00:42 > 0:00:45and factory floors to find out what the rest of us got up to.
0:00:47 > 0:00:50Moira, I think Len's wiggling his hips.
0:00:50 > 0:00:54We'll dress to dance in perfect period style...
0:00:54 > 0:00:57I'm a bit of eye candy for a lot of the ladies.
0:00:57 > 0:01:01..from the tips of our toes to the tops of our wigs.
0:01:01 > 0:01:03And each episode, we'll experience
0:01:03 > 0:01:06the era's most iconic dances for ourselves...
0:01:06 > 0:01:09- And then back to your partner.- When are we ever going to get together and link arms?
0:01:09 > 0:01:12The next, the next bit, but we've got to get the tension between you here.
0:01:12 > 0:01:15..as we learn them for a grand finale,
0:01:15 > 0:01:18where we'll be dancing...cheek to cheek.
0:01:28 > 0:01:30In the 19th century,
0:01:30 > 0:01:34slow and stately court dances fell out of favour.
0:01:34 > 0:01:37In their place, some humble peasant dances
0:01:37 > 0:01:39captured the hearts of the Victorians.
0:01:39 > 0:01:43These were faster, they were freer and they were a lot more fun.
0:01:45 > 0:01:48But speed and scandal went hand in hand,
0:01:48 > 0:01:51and as dancing became more democratic,
0:01:51 > 0:01:54it also got more debauched.
0:01:54 > 0:01:55As the dances speeded up,
0:01:55 > 0:01:58couples went from dancing at arm's length
0:01:58 > 0:02:02to being locked in each other's arms in a close embrace.
0:02:02 > 0:02:05For the up-tight Victorians,
0:02:05 > 0:02:11this was nothing short of a revolution on the dance floor.
0:02:21 > 0:02:26This is the last place on earth you'd expect to find dancing!
0:02:28 > 0:02:3319th-century Britain was defined by the Industrial Revolution.
0:02:33 > 0:02:37Manufacturing changed for ever as machines created
0:02:37 > 0:02:41a mechanised and monotonous workplace for the labouring classes.
0:02:43 > 0:02:46Noisy machines, hard graft, 12-hour shifts...
0:02:46 > 0:02:49It doesn't sound like there'd be
0:02:49 > 0:02:51much time, space or energy left for dancing.
0:02:51 > 0:02:56But dancing was still Victorian Britain's favourite entertainment,
0:02:56 > 0:02:58and for a new breed of factory workers,
0:02:58 > 0:03:01the urge to dance was as strong as ever.
0:03:04 > 0:03:07There was no health and safety in those days,
0:03:07 > 0:03:10the only protection they had were the clogs on their feet.
0:03:10 > 0:03:13In places like this, Queen Street Mill in Burnley,
0:03:13 > 0:03:17the workers danced in them to relieve their boredom.
0:03:25 > 0:03:28Why did they clog dance in a place like this?
0:03:28 > 0:03:31When the Industrial Revolution occurred
0:03:31 > 0:03:33at the end of the 18th century,
0:03:33 > 0:03:36people were very concerned about people becoming automatons,
0:03:36 > 0:03:40being absolutely subsumed by the machinery.
0:03:40 > 0:03:43And whereas before you'd have the artisan worker,
0:03:43 > 0:03:47who sat at his loom and could take breaks, had his family around him,
0:03:47 > 0:03:50it suddenly became this very alienating,
0:03:50 > 0:03:53very...inhuman type of production.
0:03:53 > 0:03:55I can imagine that there was one girl
0:03:55 > 0:03:57who was making a bit of a clinky-clanky noise
0:03:57 > 0:04:01and she talked to her friend and said, "Let's do it together."
0:04:01 > 0:04:04And...and so it grew into what it is.
0:04:04 > 0:04:07And that's exactly how clog dancing progresses,
0:04:07 > 0:04:08it's one person showing a step,
0:04:08 > 0:04:11another one saying, "Oh, I can do that a bit better."
0:04:11 > 0:04:14- Or, "What about adding this bit?" - Yeah.- And it's always developing.
0:04:14 > 0:04:16MACHINERY CHURNS RHYTHMICALLY
0:04:19 > 0:04:21The machines were the music.
0:04:21 > 0:04:25When you listen to the machines, they've each got their own rhythm.
0:04:25 > 0:04:29The steps are actually called after the components of the machinery.
0:04:29 > 0:04:31So we get "the cog".
0:04:37 > 0:04:39We've got steps that look like the shuttle
0:04:39 > 0:04:41shooting backwards and forwards.
0:04:50 > 0:04:51Two up, two down,
0:04:51 > 0:04:54which is the movements of the bobbins going across
0:04:54 > 0:04:57or the shafts going like this.
0:05:10 > 0:05:14If you look at the governor, that's what controls the whole engine,
0:05:14 > 0:05:19it's really the heart of the mill, and you get that spinning round
0:05:19 > 0:05:21in one of the other steps, the twist steps.
0:05:21 > 0:05:24Step, twist, that's it.
0:05:24 > 0:05:26Just a lot of those.
0:05:26 > 0:05:28- Perfect!- Ooh!
0:05:28 > 0:05:31Ooh! Sort of.
0:05:31 > 0:05:37Love it! I love... I love how they've taken these sounds,
0:05:37 > 0:05:43these natural sounds and...and made dance out of it.
0:05:45 > 0:05:48Oh. I don't like the arms, I only like the feet.
0:05:48 > 0:05:51- All right, let's start like that. - I'm going to link arms. Go.
0:05:52 > 0:05:54Ooh!
0:05:54 > 0:05:56Twist it! Oh-ho!
0:05:57 > 0:05:59I'm doing it, sort of!
0:05:59 > 0:06:02'Clog dancing became one of the first dances
0:06:02 > 0:06:05'borne out of the daily lives of the working classes.
0:06:05 > 0:06:08'I suppose it was the Victorian version of street dancing.'
0:06:08 > 0:06:11- Whoo-whoo! - HE LAUGHS
0:06:12 > 0:06:13What a team!
0:06:17 > 0:06:22While working-class people drew their dance influences from the factory floor,
0:06:22 > 0:06:26the upper classes were taking theirs from the ballrooms of Europe.
0:06:26 > 0:06:29The dance that really stood out in the 19th century
0:06:29 > 0:06:33and which became the first modern dance craze was the polka.
0:06:35 > 0:06:37Len and I will be finding out
0:06:37 > 0:06:40what it was like to polka at a grand Victorian ball.
0:06:40 > 0:06:43And to get to grips with this exuberant dance,
0:06:43 > 0:06:48I'm meeting Darren Royston, historical dance teacher at RADA.
0:06:48 > 0:06:51I have some deep memory from my childhood ballet lessons
0:06:51 > 0:06:54that it goes step, together, step, hop,
0:06:54 > 0:06:57but unfortunately that's about the limits of my knowledge.
0:06:57 > 0:07:01And this one, I'm going to be dancing with Len like that.
0:07:01 > 0:07:04We've got to be somehow as one.
0:07:04 > 0:07:08That is quite a terrifying prospect, so we'd better get on with it.
0:07:11 > 0:07:13Right, hello, everyone.
0:07:13 > 0:07:16- Hello.- Today's class is the polka.
0:07:16 > 0:07:19A couple dance in the Victorian ballrooms,
0:07:19 > 0:07:22but with rustic and peasant origins.
0:07:22 > 0:07:26And all the dancing masters of the day wanted to introduce refinement,
0:07:26 > 0:07:28so you were gliding through the floor while you were doing it.
0:07:28 > 0:07:32Now, the polka is one of these round dances,
0:07:32 > 0:07:34so you can't polka until you've waltzed.
0:07:34 > 0:07:38So waltzing in the Victorian times just means turning,
0:07:38 > 0:07:41it means a turning dance. So we're going to all come together
0:07:41 > 0:07:43and start just waltzing around the room.
0:07:43 > 0:07:46The waltz developed in the 18th century
0:07:46 > 0:07:51as the European nobility refined boisterous Germanic folk dances.
0:07:51 > 0:07:56The polka added a hopping step to the waltz's whirling movements.
0:07:56 > 0:07:58Good. Right, now stop there. Good.
0:07:58 > 0:08:01So now we're going to allow you to meet a partner.
0:08:01 > 0:08:04This is going to be the same ballroom hold for the polka,
0:08:04 > 0:08:07but it's been established through the waltz.
0:08:07 > 0:08:10So you're waltzing round. Two.
0:08:10 > 0:08:13One and a two.
0:08:13 > 0:08:15DARREN HUMS WALTZ
0:08:15 > 0:08:18The waltz and the polka were a world away
0:08:18 > 0:08:22from earlier dances like the slow and stately minuet,
0:08:22 > 0:08:25and they saw couples holding each other scandalously close.
0:08:25 > 0:08:28- HE HUMS WALTZ - Lovely! Hold it there,
0:08:28 > 0:08:31- Are we feeling dizzy? Are you OK? - It's so romantic!- It is a bit romantic.
0:08:31 > 0:08:33- I think we're falling in love. - LUCY SIGHS
0:08:33 > 0:08:35Now think of your little old feet
0:08:35 > 0:08:38that are going to learn the polka hopping rhythm.
0:08:38 > 0:08:41That's the bit I remember from my childhood dancing lessons,
0:08:41 > 0:08:43- step, together, step, hop, yeah?- Yes.
0:08:43 > 0:08:47The hop is important, but all the dancing masters
0:08:47 > 0:08:52- would be having a...a heart attack if they saw you hopping so high... - Was that not a good hop?
0:08:52 > 0:08:55..and jumping with your legs so springy,
0:08:55 > 0:08:57because now it's about gliding along the floor.
0:08:57 > 0:09:02- But for little girls doing ballet class...- Are you saying that my hop was inelegant?- Erm...yeah.
0:09:02 > 0:09:05So the polka step involves a hop,
0:09:05 > 0:09:07but keeps the foot very tight to the other foot.
0:09:07 > 0:09:12And it's just a preparation before you do the polka step,
0:09:12 > 0:09:16which is going to be a...glide, cut, spring.
0:09:16 > 0:09:19Then you do your little preparatory hop with the other foot.
0:09:19 > 0:09:22Slide, cut, spring.
0:09:22 > 0:09:23Hop.
0:09:23 > 0:09:26Slide, cut, spring.
0:09:26 > 0:09:29- Hop. So remember all that refinement.- Mm.
0:09:29 > 0:09:31The steps have to be even smaller, even tighter.
0:09:31 > 0:09:35And here we go. And...hop one, cut, spring.
0:09:35 > 0:09:38Hop one, cut, spring. Hop one, cut, spring.
0:09:38 > 0:09:40'I think she has to work very hard
0:09:40 > 0:09:43'to kind of control that energy that she's got.'
0:09:43 > 0:09:46It's hard to know what will happen when she's with a partner,
0:09:46 > 0:09:48so next class will test that.
0:09:48 > 0:09:52On the floor. And how do you do? And who are you?
0:09:52 > 0:09:54And hop, step, step. And hop, step, step.
0:09:54 > 0:09:56LUCY LAUGHS
0:09:56 > 0:09:58In the early 1800s,
0:09:58 > 0:10:02the new dances gave new opportunities for members of high society
0:10:02 > 0:10:05to get tantalisingly close to each other,
0:10:05 > 0:10:09creating perfect conditions for courtship and romance.
0:10:09 > 0:10:13And the most exclusive place to meet YOUR eligible match
0:10:13 > 0:10:17was Almack's, a club that once stood in St James's, London.
0:10:17 > 0:10:20People called it the "Marriage Mart".
0:10:20 > 0:10:23Getting onto the subscription list for Almack's,
0:10:23 > 0:10:25the guest list, if you like,
0:10:25 > 0:10:28was such a big deal that people even wrote poems about it.
0:10:28 > 0:10:31All on this magic list depends -
0:10:31 > 0:10:37fame, fortune, fashion, lovers, friends.
0:10:37 > 0:10:42But if once to Almack's you belong, like monarchs, you can do no wrong.
0:10:45 > 0:10:48The club was ruled with an iron rod
0:10:48 > 0:10:53by seven well-connected women known as "the patronesses".
0:10:53 > 0:10:56With the power to make society marriages in their hands,
0:10:56 > 0:10:58they decided who could attend
0:10:58 > 0:11:02and enforced strict regulations on correct behaviour and attire.
0:11:02 > 0:11:06I've come to the ballroom of the Savile Club in Mayfair
0:11:06 > 0:11:08to find out what it was like to dance
0:11:08 > 0:11:11at Regency London's hottest nightspot.
0:11:12 > 0:11:17I'm quite excited by the idea that we have these lady dragons in charge.
0:11:17 > 0:11:19Is this girl power in a masculine world?
0:11:19 > 0:11:22Well, in a way, it is.
0:11:22 > 0:11:24In their connection with Almack's,
0:11:24 > 0:11:27they were models of propriety, fantastically strict.
0:11:27 > 0:11:29Even specifying, you know,
0:11:29 > 0:11:32which girls were allowed to dance which dance,
0:11:32 > 0:11:33depending on their good behaviour.
0:11:33 > 0:11:35We've arrived at Almack's,
0:11:35 > 0:11:38it's Wednesday night, it's ten o'clock, it's our big night out,
0:11:38 > 0:11:40what are we going to experience?
0:11:40 > 0:11:43Dancing itself would have been very traditional.
0:11:43 > 0:11:46If you'd popped your head round the door, you'd have thought,
0:11:46 > 0:11:48"Oh, they're just dancing country dances."
0:11:48 > 0:11:50For the people involved, of course,
0:11:50 > 0:11:54it's almost sort of electric because it's like speed dating.
0:11:54 > 0:11:56BOTH LAUGH
0:11:56 > 0:11:58Here are the young girls looking for husbands.
0:11:58 > 0:12:00And here are the men thinking, "How much money has she got?"
0:12:00 > 0:12:03You know, "Is she charming enough? Will she do well?
0:12:03 > 0:12:06"What will the other people at Westminster think?" et cetera.
0:12:06 > 0:12:10I mean, have tiny moments in which to make a great impression
0:12:10 > 0:12:13and all the time you're looking and thinking, "Is that the one?"
0:12:13 > 0:12:15- Although, probably...- "Could it be you?"
0:12:15 > 0:12:18- "Cold it be you?" Exactly. - BOTH LAUGH
0:12:18 > 0:12:24And the dragons also took their role as kind of marriage organisers very seriously.
0:12:24 > 0:12:29So that if a young man had a ticket and he came for two years
0:12:29 > 0:12:32and there was no sign of romance,
0:12:32 > 0:12:36when he applied again the third year, I'm afraid he was thought to be out,
0:12:36 > 0:12:41perhaps because he was not oriented in quite the correct direction.
0:12:41 > 0:12:43Excellent.
0:12:43 > 0:12:47- You're a dragoness yourself! - I'm a dragon. I am! - BOTH LAUGH
0:12:47 > 0:12:51The rigid regime was not to everybody's tastes.
0:12:51 > 0:12:53A visiting German nobleman remarked
0:12:53 > 0:12:56that it was "like being at a cattle market".
0:12:58 > 0:13:02So even people who'd got through the fabled doors of Almack's
0:13:02 > 0:13:05could find it a little disappointing.
0:13:05 > 0:13:07The dances were boring,
0:13:07 > 0:13:10there wasn't much to eat, there was even less to drink.
0:13:10 > 0:13:14By 1814, the lady patronesses were worried -
0:13:14 > 0:13:17eligible bachelors were staying away.
0:13:17 > 0:13:18So they took action.
0:13:18 > 0:13:22They introduced a rather racy, new dance called the quadrille.
0:13:22 > 0:13:26And when that didn't work, they even introduced
0:13:26 > 0:13:30the dangerous, dirty, new dance that had been sweeping Europe...
0:13:30 > 0:13:32This was the waltz.
0:13:34 > 0:13:37MUSIC: Take This Waltz by Leonard Cohen
0:13:37 > 0:13:39# Take this waltz
0:13:39 > 0:13:42# Take this waltz... #
0:13:46 > 0:13:49Whilst the upper classes were mingling in stuffy Almack's,
0:13:49 > 0:13:52the lower classes weren't to be outdone.
0:13:52 > 0:13:54After a hard day's graft in the factory,
0:13:54 > 0:13:57they wanted to let their hair down.
0:13:57 > 0:14:01Duty laws passed in 1825 slashed the price of spirits
0:14:01 > 0:14:04and led to new drinking establishments
0:14:04 > 0:14:06popping up across London.
0:14:06 > 0:14:09They were called gin palaces, and it was here
0:14:09 > 0:14:13that the working folk could drink and dance in luxury.
0:14:13 > 0:14:16- So this would be quite a posh place for the working classes?- Mm.
0:14:16 > 0:14:19Exactly. Home would be perhaps one room in Bethnal Green,
0:14:19 > 0:14:21where I know your own family came from,
0:14:21 > 0:14:24with eight, nine, ten other people
0:14:24 > 0:14:28living, working, sleeping all in one room in a grotty tenement.
0:14:28 > 0:14:30So, coming in from the dark streets outside
0:14:30 > 0:14:35into this beautifully lit, really ornate, palatial interior.
0:14:35 > 0:14:38- They call it a gin palace for a reason.- Yeah.
0:14:38 > 0:14:41And, you know, given the chance between hanging out at home in a slum
0:14:41 > 0:14:43and coming in here for a bit of gin and a knees up,
0:14:43 > 0:14:47- you can see why it appealed to people so much, can't you?- Yeah.
0:14:47 > 0:14:49And what sort of dancing would they have been doing in these pubs?
0:14:49 > 0:14:52- It wasn't a sort of sedate sort of stuff?- No!
0:14:52 > 0:14:55Quite a contrast to your formal ball, as you can imagine,
0:14:55 > 0:14:57that the middle and upper classes would have been having.
0:14:57 > 0:15:01There wasn't any waltzing, generally. This was kind of a class divide over the waltz.
0:15:01 > 0:15:06The waltz was a bit posher. So they loved the jig, something they called the flash jig,
0:15:06 > 0:15:09and the hornpipe, a lot of people would dance the hornpipe.
0:15:09 > 0:15:12They had a clog version, the clog hornpipe.
0:15:12 > 0:15:14They called it a knees-up for a good reason -
0:15:14 > 0:15:17it really was very, very lively, very energetic dancing.
0:15:17 > 0:15:20And we can see, this is an illustration by George Cruikshank,
0:15:20 > 0:15:23he was Charles Dickens' first illustrator.
0:15:23 > 0:15:27- Yeah.- They all look a bit rough, don't they?- Yeah.- They all look slightly drunk.
0:15:27 > 0:15:32- That woman's got her bonnet off. - And I like... I like up here, the rules, you know.
0:15:32 > 0:15:35- "No two gents to dance together." - I know. - SHE LAUGHS
0:15:35 > 0:15:38"The gents should not dance in their hats."
0:15:38 > 0:15:41Well, it's obvious that that's gone out of the window.
0:15:41 > 0:15:44As it says on this illustration, "From the gin shop to the dancing room,
0:15:44 > 0:15:47"from the dancing room to the gin shop,
0:15:47 > 0:15:52"the poor girl is driven on in that course which ends in misery."
0:15:52 > 0:15:55- Misery.- Yeah.- In misery, absolutely.
0:15:55 > 0:15:58- These are anti-working class, anti-drinking propaganda.- Yeah.
0:15:58 > 0:16:00Well, I suppose, up until this point,
0:16:00 > 0:16:03- higher society had had total control over everyone.- Exactly.
0:16:03 > 0:16:06- Yes, exactly.- And suddenly there's all these girls and blokes,
0:16:06 > 0:16:09you know, earning a few bob, not a lot,
0:16:09 > 0:16:13- and off they went having a good time and they didn't like it.- Exactly.
0:16:13 > 0:16:19What they don't like is the kind of idea of working class factory girls,
0:16:19 > 0:16:22who were the first kind of independent women,
0:16:22 > 0:16:25having fun, getting drunk, out on their own.
0:16:28 > 0:16:34The lower orders may have been flouting the rules of etiquette and decorum on the dance floor,
0:16:34 > 0:16:37but the privileged classes in their ballrooms
0:16:37 > 0:16:39were becoming ever more tightly corseted.
0:16:39 > 0:16:42As the Industrial Revolution took hold,
0:16:42 > 0:16:47it led to innovations in fashion which dictated the way we danced.
0:16:47 > 0:16:51The waltz was a dance that was here to stay.
0:16:51 > 0:16:54The steps would essentially remain the same,
0:16:54 > 0:16:59but as the 19th century went on, the way they were danced began to alter.
0:16:59 > 0:17:03And the waltz developed hand-in-hand with the fashions of the age.
0:17:03 > 0:17:08The way you danced and the way you dressed were absolutely inseparable.
0:17:13 > 0:17:16The earliest waltz dresses were nothing like
0:17:16 > 0:17:22the rib-crushing corsets and billowing ball gowns we associate with the 19th century.
0:17:22 > 0:17:26You're dressed 1810, thereabouts, the classical era of dance.
0:17:26 > 0:17:30And you've got beautiful fine silk.
0:17:30 > 0:17:33It's high-waisted, so it's emphasising your femininity
0:17:33 > 0:17:38and making you look taller and thinner and more column-like.
0:17:38 > 0:17:40And the hemline is much higher,
0:17:40 > 0:17:43so it means that we can see your feet at all times.
0:17:43 > 0:17:46- OK, so...- So we're good to go?- Yep.
0:17:46 > 0:17:48HE LAUGHS No.
0:17:48 > 0:17:50- Sorry, did I wallop you?- Yes. - HE LAUGHS
0:17:50 > 0:17:51One, two...
0:17:51 > 0:17:55'The waistline dictated the hold, and in this period,
0:17:55 > 0:17:59'the gentleman's hands were placed very high up the back.'
0:17:59 > 0:18:02It's the art of French waltzing.
0:18:02 > 0:18:04And for the first time in history,
0:18:04 > 0:18:07- we're dancing and looking into each other's eyes.- Yes!
0:18:07 > 0:18:09And the waltz is one of the only dances
0:18:09 > 0:18:14where you actually do spend the whole time looking at each other as you dance.
0:18:19 > 0:18:21Thank you. Next!
0:18:25 > 0:18:28By 1830, the waist of the dress
0:18:28 > 0:18:32had dropped and the skirt had ballooned in size.
0:18:32 > 0:18:36It's made of stiffer fabrics to make them stick out more
0:18:36 > 0:18:38and to show the luxury of the period.
0:18:38 > 0:18:42- Supported by petticoats. - And another one!
0:18:42 > 0:18:45Including... You could have up to five or even six.
0:18:45 > 0:18:48- But this one's corded.- What does that mean, corded?
0:18:48 > 0:18:52It's string, basically, sewn tightly into the petticoat,
0:18:52 > 0:18:54so it helps the petticoat stick out
0:18:54 > 0:18:57- and give you that beautiful twirl. - Like a bell?
0:18:57 > 0:19:00- I'm guessing that this is going to be about the twirling, is it?- This was.
0:19:00 > 0:19:04It's going to be the fastest that we do and it is going to be twirly.
0:19:04 > 0:19:07Ah! So I guess that the hold has dropped down a little bit?
0:19:07 > 0:19:10- I'm going to place my hand on your waist.- Yes.
0:19:10 > 0:19:14- And we're actually going to hold... - Oh, down there?- Just down there to balance out.
0:19:14 > 0:19:16- So does that go there?- Yeah. Yeah, just there.
0:19:16 > 0:19:20- So this is going to be fast.- It's going to be very fast. Ready?- Yes.
0:19:20 > 0:19:22And... One, two, three.
0:19:22 > 0:19:25One, two, three. One, two, three. One, two, three.
0:19:25 > 0:19:28One, two, three. One, two, three.
0:19:28 > 0:19:30- You feeling giddy yet?- Yeah.
0:19:30 > 0:19:32SHE LAUGHS
0:19:32 > 0:19:35- SHE PANTS - Fine?
0:19:35 > 0:19:37I'm coming back. Wargh!
0:19:37 > 0:19:39Why did they want to be giddy like that?
0:19:39 > 0:19:44- It was the thrill.- It was the delirium?- The delirium of the world whirling past.
0:19:44 > 0:19:47- And the swirling of the skirts. - And the swirling of the skirt.
0:19:47 > 0:19:49I feel carsick! HE LAUGHS
0:19:51 > 0:19:55The dresses then began to make use of Victorian technological innovations.
0:19:55 > 0:19:57SHE LAUGHS
0:19:58 > 0:20:00I look rather good, don't I?
0:20:00 > 0:20:02You look amazing.
0:20:02 > 0:20:04- I LOVE this.- Mm.
0:20:04 > 0:20:07- Are we in 1850 now?- Late-1850s.
0:20:07 > 0:20:12- Mm-hm.- And you can see the waist is still at its natural height,
0:20:12 > 0:20:14but it's much tighter in.
0:20:14 > 0:20:16They'd invented metal eyelets,
0:20:16 > 0:20:19steel boning in corsets, sewing machines.
0:20:19 > 0:20:22We could get you into tight, tight fitted corsets.
0:20:22 > 0:20:26- This is industrial ball gown business.- This is industrial ball gown.
0:20:26 > 0:20:29And to make the skirt bigger, more voluminous,
0:20:29 > 0:20:32- of course, we still have petticoats, stiffened.- Mm-hm.
0:20:32 > 0:20:36- But this is the miracle, steel boning.- Oh, wow!
0:20:36 > 0:20:39So there are actual metal hoops under there called a cage.
0:20:39 > 0:20:43- It's made out of steel?- That's blue steel, so it springs.
0:20:43 > 0:20:45So how does the skirt change the dance?
0:20:45 > 0:20:47As you can see, the actual movement,
0:20:47 > 0:20:51it starts becoming a lot less twirly and a lot more swirly.
0:20:51 > 0:20:53- Swoopy and swirly!- Swoopy and swirly.
0:20:53 > 0:20:57So we're going to do a dance, the two-step waltz,
0:20:57 > 0:21:00which means that you can actually slow down, speed up.
0:21:00 > 0:21:05- Like a game of bumper cars?- Yes. - So you're now the driver.
0:21:05 > 0:21:07Drive me.
0:21:07 > 0:21:09BOTH LAUGH PIANIST PLAYS WALTZ
0:21:24 > 0:21:26Looking into the distance somewhere.
0:21:42 > 0:21:45MUSIC STOPS BOTH LAUGH
0:21:46 > 0:21:49You've lost control of your vehicle, sir!
0:21:51 > 0:21:52Thank you.
0:22:00 > 0:22:04It's almost incredible that that's the same dance, which it is,
0:22:04 > 0:22:07because it felt so different each time.
0:22:07 > 0:22:09And it's the clothes, it's the dresses that made it.
0:22:09 > 0:22:13If I hadn't have been wearing the dresses, I'm sure that I wouldn't have been able to pick them up.
0:22:13 > 0:22:16The swing of the steel on this one.
0:22:16 > 0:22:18Oh! it's like being in The King And I.
0:22:18 > 0:22:20WALTZ MUSIC
0:22:23 > 0:22:26The waltz was a highly fashionable dance,
0:22:26 > 0:22:30but it could induce low morals and strong emotions.
0:22:30 > 0:22:34For Lady Caroline Lamb, the 19th-century socialite and author,
0:22:34 > 0:22:38the waltz became an all-consuming passion,
0:22:38 > 0:22:41even to the detriment of the other loves in her life.
0:22:41 > 0:22:43MUSIC: Come Waltz With Me by Frank Sinatra
0:22:47 > 0:22:51Lady Caroline Lamb became obsessed with the new dance of the waltz.
0:22:51 > 0:22:53These are pictures from her sketchbook
0:22:53 > 0:22:55of people learning how to waltz.
0:22:55 > 0:22:57What I like about these pictures
0:22:57 > 0:23:01is that they don't show graceful couples swirling around the floor,
0:23:01 > 0:23:05these people are struggling with it, it's difficult.
0:23:05 > 0:23:06In her letters, Caroline Lamb
0:23:06 > 0:23:10describes how she and her friends would practice waltzing all day
0:23:10 > 0:23:13and then they'd waltz all night at balls.
0:23:13 > 0:23:17In 1812, she was at the height of her waltzing frenzy
0:23:17 > 0:23:20when she was introduced to the poet, Lord Byron.
0:23:20 > 0:23:26She was the one who would call him "mad, bad and dangerous to know"
0:23:26 > 0:23:29and the two of them quickly became lovers.
0:23:29 > 0:23:32Caroline might have been head over heels about the waltz,
0:23:32 > 0:23:35but Lord Byron certainly wasn't.
0:23:35 > 0:23:38In fact, he wrote this poem about how scandalous this was.
0:23:39 > 0:23:44"Say - would you wish to make those beauties quite so cheap?
0:23:44 > 0:23:48"Hot from the hands promiscuously applied
0:23:48 > 0:23:52"Round the slight waist, or down the glowing side."
0:23:52 > 0:23:57It's been suggested that Byron hated the waltz so much
0:23:57 > 0:23:59because he was born with a club foot,
0:23:59 > 0:24:01which meant he couldn't dance it himself.
0:24:01 > 0:24:05The sight of Caroline waltzing in another man's arms
0:24:05 > 0:24:08made him so jealous that he made her promise
0:24:08 > 0:24:11she would never dance the waltz again.
0:24:20 > 0:24:25Caroline was so besotted that she did what he asked and she gave up waltzing.
0:24:25 > 0:24:27But their affair didn't last long,
0:24:27 > 0:24:30Lord Byron's wandering eye saw to that.
0:24:30 > 0:24:34They broke up, and when they met each other for the first time afterwards,
0:24:34 > 0:24:38it was at a ball and she said to him, rather bitterly,
0:24:38 > 0:24:40"I suppose I CAN waltz now."
0:24:40 > 0:24:45Byron's reply was, "With everybody in turn.
0:24:45 > 0:24:48"You always did it better than anybody.
0:24:48 > 0:24:51"I shall have great pleasure in seeing you."
0:24:51 > 0:24:54Now that was a pretty devastating put-down.
0:24:59 > 0:25:02Caroline went and hid herself in a side room
0:25:02 > 0:25:04and there she got hold of a weapon.
0:25:04 > 0:25:06Depending on which source you believe,
0:25:06 > 0:25:10it could have been a knife or a pair of scissors or a bit of broken glass,
0:25:10 > 0:25:13and she tried to slit her wrists.
0:25:13 > 0:25:17She wasn't successful, but blood did go all down her gown.
0:25:17 > 0:25:22This became a society scandal and Caroline's name was blackened.
0:25:22 > 0:25:25And people thought that this was all
0:25:25 > 0:25:29because of the dangerous passions aroused by the waltz.
0:25:29 > 0:25:30WALTZ PLAYS
0:25:36 > 0:25:39Scandals like this unsettled the upper classes.
0:25:39 > 0:25:46And by 1816, the national newspapers were outraged by this intimate couples dance.
0:25:46 > 0:25:50The Times got really, really angry about it.
0:25:50 > 0:25:53"So long as this obscene display
0:25:53 > 0:25:56"was confined to prostitutes and adulteresses,
0:25:56 > 0:25:59"we did not think it deserving of notice,
0:25:59 > 0:26:04"but now that it is attempted to be forced on the respectable classes
0:26:04 > 0:26:07"of society by the evil example of their superiors,
0:26:07 > 0:26:10"we feel it is our duty to warn every parent
0:26:10 > 0:26:15"against exposing their daughters to so fatal a contagion.
0:26:15 > 0:26:22"And we trust it will never again be tolerated in any moral English society."
0:26:22 > 0:26:27The waltz caused such a stir, heaven knows
0:26:27 > 0:26:30what would have happened if they'd been twerking!
0:26:32 > 0:26:36Even though the waltz continued to draw criticism in the press,
0:26:36 > 0:26:40the dance crazes of the 19th century couldn't be stopped.
0:26:40 > 0:26:44By the middle of the century, a new raucous folk dance, the polka,
0:26:44 > 0:26:46was set to take the nation by storm.
0:26:46 > 0:26:48# The p-p-p-p-polka
0:26:48 > 0:26:50# It is p-p-paradise
0:26:50 > 0:26:52# And you got to d-d-dance it
0:26:52 > 0:26:54# Cos it's, oh, so n-n-nice... #
0:26:54 > 0:26:58First performed on the stage in Britain in 1844,
0:26:58 > 0:27:00it was an instant hit in the ballroom
0:27:00 > 0:27:03and, for a while, overshadowed the waltz.
0:27:03 > 0:27:07The polka got absolutely everybody onto the dance floor.
0:27:07 > 0:27:13From Queen Victoria down, it was a dance with truly universal appeal.
0:27:13 > 0:27:17# The p-p-p-p-polka is the d-d-dance for you. #
0:27:17 > 0:27:20The polka's story had begun in the early 1800s
0:27:20 > 0:27:24in the fields of Bohemia, now known as the Czech Republic.
0:27:24 > 0:27:27A teacher called Joseph Neruda taught his students steps
0:27:27 > 0:27:30he had seen a young servant girl performing,
0:27:30 > 0:27:34and in no time the dance was sweeping across Europe.
0:27:34 > 0:27:37The polka is still a strong part of the Czech identity,
0:27:37 > 0:27:40which is why I've come see how it's performed
0:27:40 > 0:27:43at the Czech and Slovak Club in London.
0:27:43 > 0:27:45ACCORDION PLAYS POLKA
0:27:54 > 0:27:55LEN LAUGHS
0:27:55 > 0:27:58- Hello. Nice to meet you. - Hello. Nice to meet you.
0:27:58 > 0:28:00Oh! Whoa-ho-ho, lovely!
0:28:00 > 0:28:05Oh, I like it. I like the feeling of it. It's got...bounce to it.
0:28:05 > 0:28:09It comes from eastern part of Slovakia which is called Saris.
0:28:09 > 0:28:12That's the name also, Sariska polka.
0:28:21 > 0:28:24LEN LAUGHS
0:28:24 > 0:28:28Oh! What I would love is to see it danced.
0:28:29 > 0:28:30WOMAN YELPS
0:28:34 > 0:28:35- MAN:- Hey! Hup!
0:28:47 > 0:28:48WHISTLING
0:28:52 > 0:28:53WOMAN YELPS
0:28:57 > 0:28:58WOMAN YELPS
0:29:15 > 0:29:16WOMAN YELPS
0:29:18 > 0:29:20- Hey! Hup!- Wahey!
0:29:20 > 0:29:23Oh, I love it!
0:29:23 > 0:29:25Oh, yes! You get a ten from Len!
0:29:25 > 0:29:29Now, how do... How do you hold to begin when you went round in the great circle?
0:29:29 > 0:29:33- Like this? Which foot do you begin? - So your arm...- Yes, was here.
0:29:33 > 0:29:37- ..is in the air because you are very happy.- I'm happy and I'm proud.
0:29:37 > 0:29:40- Yes.- I'm proud to be part of your nation!
0:29:40 > 0:29:44- I am a Slovakian peasant!- Yes.
0:29:44 > 0:29:48Yes. What's a typical peasant name in Slovakia?
0:29:48 > 0:29:52- Janno.- In future, I am not Lenny, I am Janno.
0:29:52 > 0:29:55- SHE LAUGHS - Janno, the peasant farmer.
0:29:55 > 0:29:57- So how do you go?- So...
0:29:57 > 0:29:59LEN HUMS POLKA
0:29:59 > 0:30:01Nice. LEN HUMS POLKA
0:30:10 > 0:30:11BOTH YELP
0:30:11 > 0:30:13WHISTLING
0:30:15 > 0:30:17One more time.
0:30:19 > 0:30:20Left leg...opening out.
0:30:30 > 0:30:32- Wah! - WHISTLING
0:30:32 > 0:30:35'The passion for the polka was unprecedented,
0:30:35 > 0:30:37'and it chimed with this age of ingenuity.
0:30:37 > 0:30:41'The Victorians dubbed it "polkamania".'
0:30:41 > 0:30:43I can see why people went crazy for the polka -
0:30:43 > 0:30:45it's a dance full of life!
0:30:45 > 0:30:48In Victorian England, the polka was such a phenomenon
0:30:48 > 0:30:52that canny entrepreneurs cashed in on its popularity.
0:30:52 > 0:30:58All sorts of things were named after it, polka hats, Polka Street, polka pudding,
0:30:58 > 0:31:01in the hope that they'd be a big hit just like the dance.
0:31:01 > 0:31:05Most polka spin offs vanished without a trace, but one,
0:31:05 > 0:31:09the polka dot, has certainly stuck around.
0:31:09 > 0:31:13- Cheers, everyone!- ALL: Cheers!
0:31:13 > 0:31:16MUSIC: The Blue Danube by Johann Strauss
0:31:18 > 0:31:20DOG BARKS
0:31:20 > 0:31:24The 19th century was an age of brilliant innovation.
0:31:24 > 0:31:28Brunel was changing the world with the marvels of engineering
0:31:28 > 0:31:33and new possibilities for communication, travel and trade were opening up.
0:31:36 > 0:31:40And in middle-class homes, entertainment was to change radically
0:31:40 > 0:31:43with the invention of the upright piano.
0:31:52 > 0:31:55This one belonged to three sisters,
0:31:55 > 0:31:58they bought this piano second-hand in 1833.
0:31:58 > 0:32:02The eldest of them, Charlotte, had to give up playing
0:32:02 > 0:32:03cos her eyesight wasn't good enough.
0:32:03 > 0:32:06The youngest one, Anne, was a lovely singer,
0:32:06 > 0:32:10but the musical star of the family was the middle sister, Emily.
0:32:10 > 0:32:14She could play with precision and brilliance.
0:32:14 > 0:32:16SHE PLAYS THE BLUE DANUBE WALTZ
0:32:18 > 0:32:22But they weren't just any old middle-class family.
0:32:22 > 0:32:26These three were the world famous novelists, the Bronte sisters.
0:32:26 > 0:32:30And it's very exciting for me to be able to play their actual piano.
0:32:30 > 0:32:33SHE PLAYS THE BLUE DANUBE WALTZ
0:32:39 > 0:32:41Derek, what difference did it make
0:32:41 > 0:32:43when these new upright pianos came in?
0:32:43 > 0:32:47Well, this one that we have here is 1820s, late-1820s.
0:32:47 > 0:32:51At this time, someone had the inspired idea
0:32:51 > 0:32:56to put the strings vertically instead of horizontally.
0:32:56 > 0:32:58So the immediate saving was on space
0:32:58 > 0:33:00and people could gather round and listen to the pianist.
0:33:00 > 0:33:03- And were they status symbols?- Oh, yes,
0:33:03 > 0:33:07like owning a car in the 1950s or early-'60s,
0:33:07 > 0:33:10when, you know, not everyone had these.
0:33:10 > 0:33:13And you would find a way of affording a piano.
0:33:13 > 0:33:15In fact, hire-purchase was invented
0:33:15 > 0:33:18specifically to enable people to buy pianos.
0:33:18 > 0:33:21And what kind of music were the Brontes playing on it, then?
0:33:21 > 0:33:26Of course, you could play your sonatas, you could play the classical repertoire,
0:33:26 > 0:33:30but in the home and particularly entertaining visitors,
0:33:30 > 0:33:34songs and dance music was what went down best of all.
0:33:34 > 0:33:40Very quickly, the waltz and the polka took over as THE popular dances.
0:33:40 > 0:33:43Is it fair to say that of all the danceable waltzes,
0:33:43 > 0:33:45the most famous is The Blue Danube?
0:33:45 > 0:33:47Oh, without a doubt. I think so.
0:33:47 > 0:33:51This was a piece that sold in immense quantities.
0:33:51 > 0:33:53The publisher used copper plates,
0:33:53 > 0:33:56each one could produce 100,000.
0:33:56 > 0:33:59Within five years, they'd worn a copper plate out.
0:33:59 > 0:34:01By the end of the 19th century,
0:34:01 > 0:34:03I think he'd used 100 of these copper plates,
0:34:03 > 0:34:06so it's the first million-seller, really.
0:34:06 > 0:34:07Let's have a go!
0:34:11 > 0:34:13- OK.- All right.
0:34:13 > 0:34:15THEY PLAY THE BLUE DANUBE WALTZ
0:34:52 > 0:34:57By the 1850s, the polka's popularity was pushing the waltz to one side.
0:34:58 > 0:35:01After getting fired up by the Slovak polka dancers,
0:35:01 > 0:35:03I'm looking forward to meeting Darren
0:35:03 > 0:35:08to see how the dance was performed by the more reserved Victorians.
0:35:08 > 0:35:12- Your pupil is here.- Great. Nice to see you, Len.- Nice to see you.
0:35:12 > 0:35:17- I've got great news.- Yes?- The polka. - The polka?- I think I know it.
0:35:17 > 0:35:22- OK.- Sort of. Yeah.- Right, what's the polka then?
0:35:22 > 0:35:26It's a skipping, galloping, hopping-type dance.
0:35:26 > 0:35:29It goes something like this.
0:35:29 > 0:35:30LEN HUMS POLKA TUNE
0:35:35 > 0:35:36# And round the block
0:35:36 > 0:35:40- # And that's the way to polka! # - All right, I've got to stop... I'll stop you there.
0:35:40 > 0:35:44- Yeah, that's absolutely right...in a way.- In what way?
0:35:44 > 0:35:46What we're going to be looking at is in the 19th century
0:35:46 > 0:35:49when the polka took on as a big fashion in the ballrooms,
0:35:49 > 0:35:54they had dancing masters like me, who wanted it a lot more refined than that.
0:35:54 > 0:35:55- Refined?- Refined.
0:35:55 > 0:35:58Because ballrooms now had these beautifully polished floors,
0:35:58 > 0:36:01so instead of all those wild hoppings and kickings,
0:36:01 > 0:36:04it's all about refinement, sliding
0:36:04 > 0:36:06and very much about where the feet are.
0:36:06 > 0:36:11You've disappointed me. So what we're going to do is refine it?
0:36:11 > 0:36:12Refine it.
0:36:12 > 0:36:13And round we go.
0:36:21 > 0:36:22That's it.
0:36:26 > 0:36:28Now, this is no disrespect to Lucy,
0:36:28 > 0:36:30who I am looking forward to dancing with,
0:36:30 > 0:36:35however, on the day...could I dance, perhaps, with you?
0:36:38 > 0:36:43The polka wasn't the only popular dance of the 19th century with rustic roots.
0:36:43 > 0:36:47Britain own home-grown country dances also enchanted the nation.
0:36:47 > 0:36:50- BAGPIPE MUSIC - After you.- Thanking you.
0:36:53 > 0:36:55FIDDLES PLAY A REEL
0:37:10 > 0:37:14The Scottish reel had been around since the 16th century,
0:37:14 > 0:37:16but it was made popular by Queen Victoria.
0:37:16 > 0:37:19She found the polka a little bit too racy.
0:37:20 > 0:37:22During trips to Balmoral,
0:37:22 > 0:37:26she preferred to indulge in this more wholesome type of dance.
0:37:26 > 0:37:29Right, the good thing about wearing a kilt against trousers,
0:37:29 > 0:37:33- you actually don't need to take your shoes off.- That's very true.
0:37:33 > 0:37:38- Yes, see.- Very true.- Right, now let me get these trousers off.- So, what were you doing just now?
0:37:38 > 0:37:41So we were doing a country dance called Mrs Mcleod.
0:37:41 > 0:37:44And it's the sort of dance that Queen Victoria
0:37:44 > 0:37:47would have been taught by her dancing master, Joseph Lowe.
0:37:47 > 0:37:50Some people would be surprised to think of Queen Victoria,
0:37:50 > 0:37:52who we think of as having weight issues,
0:37:52 > 0:37:56skipping away on the dance floor. Was she any good at it?
0:37:56 > 0:37:59Well, she certainly was very enthusiastic.
0:37:59 > 0:38:02We've got lots of records from Joseph Lowe's diaries
0:38:02 > 0:38:04to say how much she enjoyed the dancing,
0:38:04 > 0:38:07that she'd join in with her children, local people,
0:38:07 > 0:38:10and clearly she got a lot of pleasure from it.
0:38:10 > 0:38:13She did at one time confide in her dancing master
0:38:13 > 0:38:15that she was a bit worried her style of dancing
0:38:15 > 0:38:17might be a bit too masculine.
0:38:17 > 0:38:19Have you got something slightly larger?
0:38:19 > 0:38:21Slightly larger? Well, I...
0:38:21 > 0:38:24This one's slightly shorter, but it might go round.
0:38:24 > 0:38:27The girls...the girls would like it, you know.
0:38:27 > 0:38:30I'm a bit of eye candy for a lot of the ladies.
0:38:30 > 0:38:34Give me a little...a little picture of the family dancing from Lowe's diaries,
0:38:34 > 0:38:37- from the dancing master's diaries. - Well, it would be very informal,
0:38:37 > 0:38:41the Queen and her family doing a reel of four perhaps, or a reel of Tulloch,
0:38:41 > 0:38:44and sometimes this would go on until three o'clock in the morning.
0:38:44 > 0:38:46Clearly, they were having a great time.
0:38:46 > 0:38:49In fact, Lowe was almost thinking they were having too much of a good time.
0:38:49 > 0:38:53- Ooh!- Now, does that give you a little more comfort and confidence? - Ooh, now!
0:38:53 > 0:38:56- Ooh! I always like a girdle! Oh, yes. - LAUGHTER
0:39:00 > 0:39:04The Queen and Prince Albert had fallen in love with Scotland,
0:39:04 > 0:39:09buying Balmoral in 1852 so they could retreat there every summer.
0:39:09 > 0:39:12With this royal seal of approval,
0:39:12 > 0:39:17the Highlands and its dances became all the rage in Victorian society.
0:39:17 > 0:39:23The Eightsome Reel is THE most celebrated Scottish dance and it's easy to see why.
0:39:26 > 0:39:29And one, two, three. Two, two, three.
0:39:29 > 0:39:31Left, right. Left, right.
0:39:31 > 0:39:35And one, two, three. Two, two, three. Left, right. Left, right.
0:39:35 > 0:39:37- Lovely.- Very good.
0:39:37 > 0:39:41- Now then, Len.- Yes?- For the men, it's all a bit more robust.- Good.
0:39:41 > 0:39:45- That's what I want.- So we start the same as before. One, two, three.
0:39:45 > 0:39:48- Yeah.- Two, two, three. But instead of doing those rather dainty points,
0:39:48 > 0:39:50we're going to do high cuts.
0:39:50 > 0:39:54- High cuts are for men, real men. - High cuts?- High cuts, yes.
0:39:54 > 0:39:57- Show me a high cut.- So we'll lift our left leg behind our right calf.
0:39:57 > 0:40:00- Oh, no.- Then that.- No!- That and that.
0:40:00 > 0:40:02- LAUGHTER - That's not manly at all.
0:40:02 > 0:40:05- I've got to be honest with you, I'm cheating.- Are you?
0:40:05 > 0:40:08I am. I'm doing whisks in the samba.
0:40:08 > 0:40:10Two, two, three. Three, two, three.
0:40:10 > 0:40:14- OK.- Four, two, three.- Len, left, right, left, right.- Oh, shut up!
0:40:14 > 0:40:16LAUGHTER
0:40:16 > 0:40:18One, two.
0:40:18 > 0:40:21- And...left, right.- Ooh! Way-hey! - APPLAUSE
0:40:21 > 0:40:23- Wahey! No, no, no! - LAUGHTER
0:40:23 > 0:40:25Oh!
0:40:35 > 0:40:37That's it.
0:40:37 > 0:40:38And back again.
0:40:38 > 0:40:40You missed that bit.
0:40:50 > 0:40:52During Queen Victoria's reign,
0:40:52 > 0:40:56a quarter of the world's population was under British control.
0:40:56 > 0:40:58It was on the nation's playing fields
0:40:58 > 0:41:02that public schools taught the future men of industry and empire.
0:41:02 > 0:41:04Dancing lessons were pushed aside
0:41:04 > 0:41:09as sport gave the young men their fighting, competitive spirit.
0:41:09 > 0:41:11Ohh!
0:41:12 > 0:41:14In spite of the popularity of the polka,
0:41:14 > 0:41:17as the end of the century approached, high-society men
0:41:17 > 0:41:21retreated from the ballrooms as they no longer knew how to dance.
0:41:21 > 0:41:24And with all this talk of empire,
0:41:24 > 0:41:26dancing was now viewed as effeminate,
0:41:26 > 0:41:29as a letter in the press pointed out.
0:41:29 > 0:41:34"When nature built man, she gave him an arm to wield a sword and a foot to tramp the world,
0:41:34 > 0:41:37"but never a toe to trip with light and airy tread
0:41:37 > 0:41:41"across the polished floors of a 19th-century ballroom."
0:41:43 > 0:41:48It's extraordinary that those Victorian attitudes of men dancing have never really gone away.
0:41:48 > 0:41:52Men still worry that dancing isn't what real men do.
0:41:52 > 0:41:56And, crazy as it sounds, there are plenty of men who still believe
0:41:56 > 0:42:02that dancing really well is actually more embarrassing than dancing really badly.
0:42:02 > 0:42:05- He's got him!- Whoa!
0:42:05 > 0:42:07MUSIC: Polka Face by Weird Al Yankovic
0:42:09 > 0:42:13Right. Lucy, we better get warmed up for this,
0:42:13 > 0:42:16- we don't want to pull a fetlock. - SHE LAUGHS
0:42:16 > 0:42:2050 years earlier, at the peak of polka fever,
0:42:20 > 0:42:24The Times was reporting that dancing masters had to work "day and night"
0:42:24 > 0:42:28to keep up with the demand for polka lessons.
0:42:28 > 0:42:31We want to polish our steps and see how it feels
0:42:31 > 0:42:34'to dance together in the Victorian ballroom hold.
0:42:34 > 0:42:38'So we've come for a class with our dancing master, Darren.'
0:42:38 > 0:42:40Here we are! Have you been practising?
0:42:40 > 0:42:45- Yep!- Cos this.... He's been teaching you his...his rough polka.
0:42:45 > 0:42:49We've got to do the finesse, it's got to be the stylish one we've been doing in the class.
0:42:49 > 0:42:53This is the first time you're going to be dancing together in a close-couple dance.
0:42:53 > 0:42:57Now you are literally in each other's arms.
0:42:57 > 0:43:01And later, you're going to have to deal with the costumes, but forget that for a moment.
0:43:01 > 0:43:05- Yes. Let's just have a go at it. - Have a go without the music.- Are you ready? And...
0:43:05 > 0:43:08No...you haven't done that.
0:43:08 > 0:43:11So Len's giving you the preparatory hop.
0:43:11 > 0:43:15One, two, three. And a one, two, three. And the dainty step.
0:43:15 > 0:43:18And a one, two, three. And a one, two, three.
0:43:18 > 0:43:20LEN HUMS POLKA TUNE
0:43:20 > 0:43:23Yes, now the thing is, Len...
0:43:23 > 0:43:26- Yes, yes, yes, yes!- I've got it. Oh! - Stop, stop, stop!
0:43:26 > 0:43:28It's just too rough! It's too rough!
0:43:28 > 0:43:31We need to make it fine. Finesse!
0:43:31 > 0:43:33Remember, this has come from the waltz.
0:43:33 > 0:43:37Remember, this has come from a beautiful turning dance.
0:43:37 > 0:43:41And then they've just added a little hop, when they need it.
0:43:41 > 0:43:44- OK?- Yes.- To get the light and airiness of the dance.
0:43:44 > 0:43:50- I'm sure it will come better when I'm in costume.- I'm not so sure about that, but let's see.
0:43:56 > 0:43:59'Both of them have come on a lot. This is now in Len's territory,
0:43:59 > 0:44:03'but everything that I'm trying to get him to do is before the time
0:44:03 > 0:44:07'that it becomes a set couple dance, so he's having to unpick things.'
0:44:07 > 0:44:11With Lucy, she's now dancing with someone, in someone's arms,
0:44:11 > 0:44:14which is very different to what she's been doing before.
0:44:15 > 0:44:18'They've got quite a way to go. It's still a bit raucous and wild,
0:44:18 > 0:44:24'and if they can find that refined delicacy, then they'll be really doing something quite special.'
0:44:26 > 0:44:29- DARREN LAUGHS - Well done. Well done.
0:44:34 > 0:44:37Lucy, you're supposed to be an academic.
0:44:37 > 0:44:38SHE LAUGHS
0:44:41 > 0:44:45With men losing interest in the ballroom, late-Victorian ladies
0:44:45 > 0:44:51turned instead to solo dancing of a type first seen in places like this, the Normansfield Theatre,
0:44:51 > 0:44:54which was once a 19th-century music hall.
0:44:55 > 0:44:59Music halls had been places for working-class entertainment,
0:44:59 > 0:45:01but now they were drawing in
0:45:01 > 0:45:04all levels of society with their variety acts.
0:45:04 > 0:45:09The one that grabbed female attention was the skirt dance.
0:45:53 > 0:45:55APPLAUSE
0:45:58 > 0:46:00Now that I have to try.
0:46:06 > 0:46:09Now, do you see a beautiful elegant butterfly
0:46:09 > 0:46:11or do you see a great big hefferlump?
0:46:11 > 0:46:13Oh, a beautiful butterfly.
0:46:13 > 0:46:15What exactly was the status of the dance?
0:46:15 > 0:46:18Because it came from the lowbrow music hall, didn't it?
0:46:18 > 0:46:20It was... It was a very strange mix
0:46:20 > 0:46:22of, I suppose, high art and low culture.
0:46:22 > 0:46:26Is it quite respectable? I do feel a bit underdressed.
0:46:26 > 0:46:27Well, I think classical attitudes
0:46:27 > 0:46:29were still considered quite popular at the time.
0:46:29 > 0:46:33So I suppose you have the idea that if one's covered in white drapery
0:46:33 > 0:46:36it's...it's like the classics, it's artistic.
0:46:36 > 0:46:38Oh, well, that's a good get-out clause.
0:46:38 > 0:46:41So what are the moves, then?
0:46:41 > 0:46:43Well, they... I like to think of them...
0:46:43 > 0:46:47They were natural world-inspired, like flowers, shells.
0:46:47 > 0:46:51Up, two, three, four. Down two, three, four.
0:46:51 > 0:46:55When you do that, you look like the girl in an Art Nouveau poster
0:46:55 > 0:46:57with all of those swirly shapes.
0:46:57 > 0:47:00Well, that's what those posters come from, it's based on these girls.
0:47:00 > 0:47:03- From this dance, I suppose.- Yes. - Oh, isn't that brilliant.
0:47:40 > 0:47:44I think it's really interesting that this upper-class dance
0:47:44 > 0:47:48emerges from the lower-class tradition of the music hall.
0:47:48 > 0:47:52And I think that if you were a lady used to being led around in an overheated ballroom
0:47:52 > 0:47:57by a man who wasn't very good at dancing, then this must have been a revelation.
0:47:57 > 0:47:59It's airy, there's freedom, there's elegance.
0:47:59 > 0:48:02It must have been like a breath of fresh air.
0:48:07 > 0:48:11In the last dress rehearsal before our polka finale,
0:48:11 > 0:48:14I'm getting the point of these Victorian undergarments.
0:48:14 > 0:48:19They may look cumbersome, but when you're dancing, they feel great.
0:48:19 > 0:48:23It feels very swirly-whirly.
0:48:23 > 0:48:28And I'm sure this will help us to...glide,
0:48:28 > 0:48:33because we've been doing too much skipping and leaping and not enough gliding in this dance so far.
0:48:33 > 0:48:36So, hopefully, this will help with the fancy footwork.
0:48:36 > 0:48:38- "The most elegant people..." - That's us.
0:48:38 > 0:48:40Yes, we're the most elegant people.
0:48:40 > 0:48:45"..and the best dancers always dance it in a quiet and easy style."
0:48:45 > 0:48:48- A quiet and easy style?- A quiet and easy style.
0:48:48 > 0:48:50- But we like skipping around.- I know, I know.
0:48:50 > 0:48:53- "And those gentlemen who rush and romp about..." Is that you?- Yeah.
0:48:53 > 0:48:55That is you, it's you.
0:48:55 > 0:48:59"..dragging their partners along with them until they become red in the face
0:48:59 > 0:49:03"and covered with the dewdrops of a high corporeal temperature..."
0:49:03 > 0:49:07- That's sweat.- In other words, sweat. That's right, sweating.
0:49:07 > 0:49:14"..are both bad dancers and men of very little good breeding."
0:49:14 > 0:49:18- Ah!- So it's good breeding that we need to show in this dance
0:49:18 > 0:49:21as you're hopping and enjoying yourself.
0:49:21 > 0:49:23The music will be playing the introduction
0:49:23 > 0:49:26and you'd go...hop, one, two, three.
0:49:26 > 0:49:29DARREN HUMS POLKA TUNE
0:49:29 > 0:49:33Try not to look at the floor, try and look around at the way you're going.
0:49:33 > 0:49:36And...bring your lady to a rest. A little bow.
0:49:36 > 0:49:38A little curtsy.
0:49:38 > 0:49:40The lady moving on.
0:49:40 > 0:49:43And...meeting the next lady.
0:49:43 > 0:49:45Prepare. And...hop, one, two, three.
0:49:45 > 0:49:48Up, two, two, three. Up, three, two, three.
0:49:48 > 0:49:50What a transformation.
0:49:50 > 0:49:53With all those undergarments on, she's started to understand
0:49:53 > 0:49:59what it was to control her own body and to let the man lead her around the room,
0:49:59 > 0:50:02by being free and easy and enjoying it.
0:50:02 > 0:50:05So I'm hoping that all that sort of romping has disappeared now
0:50:05 > 0:50:07and she's able to just glide.
0:50:07 > 0:50:09She says she'd like to be like a swan
0:50:09 > 0:50:13and I think that's probably the image she just needs to hold on to now.
0:50:13 > 0:50:16She's still got to work hard, but on top, she's looking beautiful.
0:50:23 > 0:50:28The refined steps of the polka required refined accessories,
0:50:28 > 0:50:30and a Victorian lady had to make sure
0:50:30 > 0:50:33she was equipped to impress at the high-society balls.
0:50:36 > 0:50:41- Oh! Hello.- Hello.- Come in.- If I fit. - I think you will.
0:50:41 > 0:50:46- I'm looking forward to seeing some Victorian accessories.- Good.
0:50:46 > 0:50:52'I've come to meet Bridget, an expert in Victoriana, to make sure I'm prepared.'
0:50:52 > 0:50:57So, Bridget, I admit that I'm not fully ready to go to the ball, am I?
0:50:57 > 0:51:01Well, you just need a few accessories which any young lady would have had.
0:51:01 > 0:51:03Now, we'll start with a skirt lift.
0:51:03 > 0:51:08- You clipped the hem into... It's a bit like a pair of sugar tongs.- Ah! Yes.
0:51:08 > 0:51:13Right, now, if you hang onto that, you would then thread a ribbon or a cord through
0:51:13 > 0:51:16and you would hang it around your waist,
0:51:16 > 0:51:19so that you've got your hands free to dance.
0:51:19 > 0:51:21I feel like a Christmas tree that's only half decorated!
0:51:21 > 0:51:24Give me some more ornaments to dangle off me.
0:51:24 > 0:51:27I think you would have needed a posy holder, mother-of-pearl handle.
0:51:27 > 0:51:31- Can I put my finger through that?- You can.- So I can hold hands with my partner
0:51:31 > 0:51:33- and my little bunch of flowers is poking out.- Yes.
0:51:33 > 0:51:36And in case he wasn't smelling too fresh, you see.
0:51:36 > 0:51:40- Oh, the flowers are between me and him! Yes, excellent.- Exactly. You've got a little nosegay.
0:51:40 > 0:51:44Now, if we look at a tiny scent bottle, which you might have in your purse
0:51:44 > 0:51:47to keep yourself fresh during the dance.
0:51:47 > 0:51:49That's the smallest scent bottle in the world!
0:51:49 > 0:51:52And if you look at the size of some of the little purses,
0:51:52 > 0:51:55you know, that would be a little coin purse.
0:51:55 > 0:51:57- Oh, look at that bottle!- It is adorable.
0:51:57 > 0:52:01- And you would just...- That's the cutest bottle I've ever seen.
0:52:01 > 0:52:04Another thing that you would have had on your hands,
0:52:04 > 0:52:07again, because it used to get very hot and sweaty,
0:52:07 > 0:52:11- you might have had a very fine pair of little mittens.- Oh!
0:52:11 > 0:52:14- Now, those are terribly delicate. - They're not going to fit me, they're too small.
0:52:14 > 0:52:18- But it would stop the palms getting sweaty as you were dancing.- Yes.
0:52:18 > 0:52:23And another accoutrement which would be extremely useful is a sort of pomander.
0:52:23 > 0:52:30And it's made of vegetable ivory and it has little holes pierced in it and you put scented wax in here.
0:52:30 > 0:52:34- And you could again use it to keep your hands cool.- Is that to rub onto my hands?- Yes.
0:52:34 > 0:52:38- Or to make your hands fresh.- And to make them smell nice as well?- Yes. - It's like hand sanitizer.- It is.
0:52:38 > 0:52:43- Oh, that's brilliant!- Then we would move on to your ball card.
0:52:43 > 0:52:46- Essential.- Absolutely essential, because...
0:52:46 > 0:52:48It's absolutely, astronomically tiny.
0:52:48 > 0:52:51What are the rules for operating with my little programme, then?
0:52:51 > 0:52:54Well, one of the things that you have to be careful of
0:52:54 > 0:52:57is not to allocate too many dances to the same gentleman,
0:52:57 > 0:53:00because that would be seen as compromising.
0:53:00 > 0:53:02If somebody books a dance with you,
0:53:02 > 0:53:05then to say that you hadn't got it, to rub it out,
0:53:05 > 0:53:11to say that the message hadn't come through would be viewed as extremely unkind and bad manners.
0:53:11 > 0:53:14So once the person's on the card, I really have to dance with them?
0:53:14 > 0:53:16- Yes. It is...- It's like a commitment.- It is.
0:53:16 > 0:53:19If I'd said I was full up and then he saw me sitting out a dance,
0:53:19 > 0:53:22- I'd be caught out, wouldn't I? - You would be caught out.
0:53:22 > 0:53:25And you'd have to say you've got a sprained ankle or something,
0:53:25 > 0:53:27but then you couldn't dance for the rest of the evening.
0:53:27 > 0:53:29You're devious! You're devious! I like it!
0:53:37 > 0:53:40I think I might at last be ready to go to the ball,
0:53:40 > 0:53:44with my skirt lifter, my posy holder, my hand freshener,
0:53:44 > 0:53:48my perfume bottle and my teeny, tiny dance card.
0:53:48 > 0:53:52But, actually, I feel like I'm about to sit an exam,
0:53:52 > 0:53:54maybe A-level Ballroom Studies.
0:53:54 > 0:53:58What are all these things for? How to use them? When to use them?
0:53:58 > 0:54:01But, really, I think that might be the point.
0:54:01 > 0:54:04The Victorians wanted to set me a social test
0:54:04 > 0:54:07to see if I belonged in their ballroom.
0:54:16 > 0:54:21At last the day has arrived for our final performance of the polka.
0:54:21 > 0:54:25I now feel like a perfectly poised Victorian lady.
0:54:25 > 0:54:29I must remember to curb my enthusiasm for wild leaping!
0:54:29 > 0:54:31- Here we go.- Let's do it.
0:54:31 > 0:54:34Now, focus, a few deep breaths.
0:54:34 > 0:54:36Are you ready to polka?
0:54:36 > 0:54:38- Guess so.- Let's go!
0:54:41 > 0:54:46'And I've got to make sure that I behave like the model Victorian gent
0:54:46 > 0:54:49'to fit in with our grand surroundings.'
0:54:55 > 0:54:59Ladies and gentlemen, the new dance, the polka!
0:56:59 > 0:57:02APPLAUSE
0:57:08 > 0:57:11BOTH LAUGH
0:57:11 > 0:57:12LEN SIGHS
0:57:12 > 0:57:15Well, we got through that all right, didn't we?
0:57:15 > 0:57:17I thought we did it all right, you know.
0:57:17 > 0:57:20Yeah, I thought that. I was amazed that we didn't go wrong, actually.
0:57:20 > 0:57:24How they could dance it all night long, over and over,
0:57:24 > 0:57:28- is amazing to me.- It's the heat that's the problem, isn't it?
0:57:28 > 0:57:32I haven't got a fan today cos I needed both hands for this dance and, boy, did I miss it.
0:57:32 > 0:57:37- Oof!- But I can see the fun that they had doing it.
0:57:37 > 0:57:41- Yeah, it's nice and bouncy that one, isn't it?- Yes.- It's jolly, it's bouncy, you can get into it.
0:57:41 > 0:57:44But you're not allowed to, as Darren kept telling us, you're not allowed to romp.
0:57:44 > 0:57:48However, let me just say, do you want to do it once more?
0:57:48 > 0:57:52- OK.- Shall we?- Well, while we've got our shoes on.- Come on.- Let's go.
0:57:52 > 0:57:54BOTH GROAN
0:57:57 > 0:58:02Next time, I'll be taking Lucy on a little trip to the Tower.
0:58:02 > 0:58:04- Shall we?- Let's!- Ho-ho!
0:58:04 > 0:58:07I'll be getting a taste of the 20th century's
0:58:07 > 0:58:10first true dance craze.
0:58:10 > 0:58:13Before trying something a little less exotic.
0:58:13 > 0:58:15You have to jingle your legs.
0:58:15 > 0:58:18You can't just kick them, you have to jingle them.
0:58:18 > 0:58:21- That's it.- And we'll be doing our best to impress...
0:58:21 > 0:58:23Is he supposed to do it like a fairy?
0:58:23 > 0:58:28..at our very own 1920s nightclub party.