the professionalism of dance pedagogy

Crompton's Campaign: The Professionalisation of Dance Pedagogyin Late Victorian England

Buckland, Theresa.

Dance Research, Volume 25, Number 1, Summer 2007, pp. 1-34 (Article)

Published by Edinburgh University Press

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Crompton’s Campaign: The Professionalisation of Dance Pedagogyin Late Victorian England

THERESA JILL BUCKLAND

In late Victorian England, dance teachers lacked national representation and means of

communication among themselves to address professional concerns. By 1930, at least ten

professional associations had emerged in Britain, some of which, such as the Royal Academy

of Dance (RAD), The British Association of Teachers and Dancing (BATD) and the Imperial

Society of Teachers of Dancing (ISTD), are still active today. Little has been written about the

wider context of their foundation and of earlier initiatives to establish a professional body for

dance pedagogy in England. A key figure in contemporaneous efforts to develop an infrastructure

was Robert Morris Crompton (c.1845–1926), a London-based dancing master.

Choreographer, writer, and founder-editor of the first periodical devoted to dance in

England ( Dancing, 1891–1893), Robert Crompton finally succeeded in establishing a

national organisation that was devoted to both social and stage dancing in 1904. As the first

president of the ISTD, his visionary ideals of an annual technical congress, improvements in

the status of the profession, and the future enhancement of dance as an art were placed on a firm

institutional footing. Charlatan practitioners, declining standards in the ballroom, and unhelpful

licensing laws, together with a scattered and highly individualised competitive profession, were

challenges in the early 1890s that Crompton initially failed to overcome. Records of his dreams

and anxieties in Dancing provide valuable insight into the problems that beset the teachers of

the time. In tandem with other source material relating to the social context for dance of the

period, consideration of the trials and aspirations that lay behind Crompton’s campaign for a

national professional association help to broaden understanding of the place of dance in late

Victorian society in England.

In the late 1800s and early 1900s, the private dance sector in Britain witnessedthe foundation of an unprecedented number of societies of dance teachers.These organisations represented the interests of their member practitioners anddeveloped aims and objectives to advance the performance of dancing amongthe general public towards agreed national and international standards. By 1930there were over ten associations in Britain with regional, national and in somecases international membership, all of which sought to place the teaching ofdance on a more standardised professional basis.1

This widespread movement embraced social and theatrical forms and

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2 THERESA JILL BUCKLAND

affected the teaching and learning experiences of both professional and amateurdancers. A number of these organisations remain operative today, notably theBritish Association of Teachers of Dancing (BATD), the Royal Academy ofDance (RAD) and the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing (ISTD).Although they have been the subject of in-house histories or referred to brieflyin larger works on the history of dance in England, these professional societiesand, more specifically, their precursors merit more detailed scholarly attentionwith respect to the context of their foundation.2 Firstly, these societies have madesignificant contributions towards the enhancement of dance performance onboth a national and international scale. Secondly, and from the perspective ofthis essay, the circumstances of their foundation provide important clues to theclimate in which social dancing was viewed, practised and changed during a keyperiod of modernity.

The drive towards association occurred at a time when dance teachers hadno national representation to protect their employment rights and were unableto exercise collective control over the artistic standards of their profession. Todate, there has been little research into the activities of key individuals in theearly years of the professionalisation of dance pedagogy in England. Suchcomparative neglect stems from the fragmentary nature of the historical record,the loss of archival material over the years and the existence of other priorities indance historiography. One under researched individual who aspired to promotehigh standards of teaching and to create an infrastructure for the profession wasa London-based dancing master, Robert Morris Crompton (c.1845–1926). Hiscampaign to bring about such a vision has perhaps been overshadowed by thatof P. J. S. Richardson (1875–1963) who in the twentieth century was a monu -mental figure in the initiation of now familiar organisations such as the Dancing

Times, the RAD, and the British Dance Council.3 Without doubt, Richardson ishimself long overdue for an in-depth evaluation of his remarkable and pervasivecontribution to the institutionalisation of dance in England and beyond. Thispresent article, however, focuses on the earlier figure of Crompton and on thecontext of dance teaching and practice in the 1890s, at a time when Richardsonwas honing his own skills as a social dancer. Robert Crompton’s campaign of theearly 1890s to establish a national body of professional experts in dance tuitioninitially failed, although he was to be more successful over a decade later withthe foundation of the ISTD. In the process of his earlier lobbying, he helped togenerate a sense of professionalism and community upon which others were tobuild. This was facilitated by his editorship of Dancing, a monthly periodicaldedicated entirely to dance which fostered opportunities for professional debateand the transmission of past and present knowledge.

Mine is not the first attempt to return Crompton to the attention of dancehistorians. In 1984, Robert Sinclair Williams, a graduate student in dance atYork University, Ontario, encountered Crompton’s editorial legacy of Dancing.

Williams acquired a full run of the journal and not only made it the subject ofhis master’s dissertation but also had the vision and commitment to publish afacsimile and index.4 The 1890s volumes constitute the first known English


CROMPTON’S CAMPAIGN 3

specialist periodical on dance, predating the first series of the Dancing Times bythree years. Through his re-publication, Williams made accessible a uniqueand fascinating resource on the dance culture of late Victorian England which,together with his own dissertation, clearly established Crompton as a pioneer indance publishing and as a prominent dance activist for the national organisationof dance teaching. In 1992, Sheila Dickie drew on this facsimile edition ofDancing to extend existing knowledge on Crompton in his capacity as foundingpresident of the Imperial Society of Dance Teachers as the ISTD was firstknown. Her account of Crompton’s ‘crusade’, as she aptly terms his unstintingwork, is a welcome appreciation of his dedicated efforts.5 Beyond the work ofWilliams and Dickie, however and in spite of the availability of the reprintof Dancing in major dance libraries, its contents and their editor have rarelyattracted the notice of dance historians. This is partially no doubt because of theperiodical’s focus on social dancing, a subject which has tended to be neglectedin dance studies. Recent mainstream interest in the discipline of dance studieshas also moved away from pre-twentieth century areas that require close archivalinvestigation. A wider contextualisation of Crompton’s work was understandablybeyond the scope of the studies by Williams and Dickie. To redress this situation,this article aims to extend knowledge of the factors that drove Crompton in hiscampaign to professionalise dance pedagogy.

POTENTIAL MODELS FOR THE ASSOCIATION OF TEACHERSOF DANCING

When compared with the ease of present day professional liaison, the teacher ofdancing in Victorian England was a somewhat isolated figure. He or she mayhave owned large enough establishments to employ assistants and to take onarticled teachers, especially in the larger towns and cities. But for many teacherstheir business was often a family run or single person affair with little regularopportunity for those in the provinces to meet. One exception to this, particu -larly for those who wished to stay abreast of seasonal fashions in social dancingand to acquire new dances popular in the theatre, was to take classes with morehigh profile teachers usually in London or Paris.6 The costs of tuition, travellingand accommodation meant that for many in the provinces this was not always aviable option, at least not on a frequent basis. Institutional structures, accessibleliterature on standards and developments in dance, together with opportunitiesto share problems and enthusiasms in their profession were at best limited.

One earlier attempt to establish a national organisation in England was theProvident Society of Dancers and Teachers of Dancing of the United Kingdomof Great Britain and Ireland of 1844. Drawing together social and theatricaldance teachers, the Provident Society’s primary purpose was to provide financialsupport to its members should they become too ill or old to earn a livelihood.The Society also aimed to act as a forum for professional discussions, to establishagreement upon ‘one uniform mode of teaching all Fashionable Dances [italics inoriginal]’, to hold a register of members to facilitate employment, and to operate



a free library of books on dancing.7 By the 1890s, or indeed earlier, the Societyappears to have been forgotten. Across the Channel, the Société Académiquedes Professeurs de L’Opéra based in Paris was founded in 1856. According toGeorges Desrat’s somewhat acerbic description, this society suffered frominternal jealousies and intrigues – problems that were to prove the bane ofseveral attempts to professionalise in England. It came to concentrate principallyon the creation and acceptance of new social dances for fashionable circles butwas disbanded as a result of the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71.8 By the early1890s, regional associations of dancing teachers were also operating in Germanyand there was an abortive American led attempt to facilitate liaison betweensocieties and individual dance teachers on an international scale.9 Likely modelsfor Crompton’s vision of a British association of dance teachers were theAmerican Society of Teachers of Dancing (established in 1879 and incorporatedin 1883) and the Scottish Association of Teachers of Dancing based in Glasgowin 1884.10 In the late 1880s, two high profile English dancing masters, EdwardScott (1852–1937) and Edward Humphrey (born 1839) became honorarymembers of American societies. Humphrey also advertised his own position asvice president of the Scottish Association.11 Although enhancing the reputationof these individual dancing masters, such international recognition throughinstitutional affiliation was beyond the reach of most dance teachers in England.What was needed was a national sense of community. To progress this ideal, itwas essential to develop a geographically wide-ranging, frequent and compara -tively cheap mode of communication. Crompton’s periodical, Dancing, aimed tofulfil this need.

THE RISE OF SPECIALIST DANCE PERIODICALS

At the end of the nineteenth century, the availability of cheaper paper, tech -nological advances in printing and a reliable swift postal service made thefoundation of specialist periodicals financially viable. A classic feature of nationalinstitutions, the nineteenth century trade journal was a significant adjunct to theinstitutionalisation and professionalisation of occupational activities. Not onlydid the number of trade journals increase in the late Victorian period, but therewas also an explosion of new periodical titles. This was expedited by increasinglevels of literacy and a rising middle class with greater leisure opportunities whosought to consume entertainment both within and outside the home.12 Theearliest known dance periodical written in English emerged in North America.This was closely associated with the promotion of the profession of dance, ratherthan with a wider readership. In 1884, E. Woodworth Masters, president of theAmerican National Association of Teachers of Dancing began to publish amonthly periodical entitled The Galop for members of his association.13 Thiswas followed in the 1890s by new American periodicals, The Two-Step and The

Director.14

Across the Atlantic, Crompton began regular publication of Dancing

from his central London studio at 54 Berners Street, near Oxford Street from



June 1891 until May 1893. In September 1894, two new English periodicalsappeared: The Dancing Times and The Ballroom. Both were published from Londondance studios, the former title from the Cavendish Rooms of editor EdwardHumphrey The latter from 1901 was distributed from the Hanley PrivateAcademy of Dancing, an establishment owned by Mr. H. R. Johnson and hiswife in Finsbury Park.15 Humphrey and Johnson each organised highly successfulseries of balls and dances and through their monthly publications reached boththe middle and lower upper class patrons of their academies, as well as a widernational readership of dance teachers and dance enthusiasts. Through corre -spondents, subscriptions and possibly complimentary copies, Dancing and theDancing Times secured an international readership, reproducing news from theirsister journals in America and from their German contemporary, Der Tanzlehrer.

Dancing, however, was conceived on a more ambitious scale than its con -temporaries. Notice of its forthcoming publication was made via a privatecircular issued to dance teachers in May 1891 and also through editorial noticeand advertisement in The Period.16 The latter was a monthly publication, firstappearing in October 1890, which was devoted to society and London fashions.It evidently shared some of its organisational and proprietary personnel withthose of Dancing.17 In February 1891 The Period carried an anonymous article onthe current state of dance tuition calling for the establishment of a ‘British Asso -ciation of Dancing Preceptors’ and inviting correspondence on the proposal.18

Claims were made in the circular that the newly constituted ‘Syndicate rep -resenting Dancing and Journalism’ would rectify the lamentable fact that ‘themost ancient of arts, should occupy the anomalous position of being entirelydestitute of any journalistic representation in this country’. In its specific addressto professors of dancing on one side of the document, the circular promised apublication that would act as ‘the mouthpiece of their Profession’. It wouldprovide opportunity for professional debate and focused advertising, particularlyfor trades people who catered for dances. On its obverse, the circular took theform of a general notice, announcing the new periodical as a ‘Newspaperexclusively devoted to the Terpsichorean Art, Physical Culture, FashionableEntertainments, etc.’ and listing the intended scope beyond matters of specificrelevance to dancing teachers alone. The content was to cover

biographical sketches of famous dancers of the past and present; anecdotes and historicalepisodes associated with dancing; graphic descriptions of dances in vogue at differentperiods in all parts of the world; accounts of celebrated ball and assembly rooms; and …impartial discussion of all current topics concerning dancing or dancers.

Promising an editorial staff drawn from the ranks of established writers‘in the world of letters, dancing, and music’, the circular sought contributionsfrom dance teachers in the form of notices of professional events, newspapercuttings and original material on dancing. Composers of dance music were alsorequested to forward their creations for review. It was proposed to designatecorrespondents from major towns in the United Kingdom who were to beappointed following selection on application, from leading teachers in the



provinces. Further afield, representatives would be established in Paris, Berlin,Milan, St. Petersburg, Vienna and New York, as well as in significant colonialtowns of the British Empire, to ensure that all parts of the fashionable worldwere kept informed of the latest developments in dancing. Priced at 2d, thefinancing of the periodical was to be partially undertaken through costs forvarious sizes and numbers of advertisements, including those for ‘ordinary’ tradeand for ‘professional trade cards of teachers’.19

During its two-year existence, Dancing maintained much of its promisedcontent and direction, especially the publication of articles that had

for their aim the promotion and encouragement of all efforts to extend the practice ofdancing in all its branches, to elevate the tone and prestige of the art, both as a professionand recreation; to advocate the attainment of a high standard of technical instructionamongst teachers, and a better cultivation of the pastime by all pursuing it as a pleasure.20

But who was the editor of this new journal? The Civil Service Guardian

flatteringly characterised Robert Morris Crompton as a high priest of dancingand his efforts to establish the first dance journal in England were met withappreciation.21 The tone and content of letters published in Dancing’s corre -spondence columns, together with the knowledge and confidence aired inCrompton’s editorials, suggest a well-known and committed teacher of dancing,rather than a parvenu who merely exploited a gap in the market.22 Yet Cromptonand his reputation as a national leader of dance pedagogy in 1891 remaindifficult for the historian to evaluate, particularly given the relative paucity ofdocumentation on his rise to prominence.

ROBERT MORRIS CROMPTON (c.1845–1926): PIONEER ANDPUBLICIST OF THE 1890s

Born in Bolton, Lancashire during the mid 1840s, Robert Morris Cromptonappears to have had no family connections with the profession of dancing.23 Atthe time of his marriage in 1869, he was a compositor (typesetter), an occupationwhich he maintained until at least 1880 when his occupation became solely thatof dance teacher.24 The reckoning of his jubilee suggests that he had alreadybegun teaching dance while resident in Bolton in 1867.25 By 1873 the Cromptonshad moved to Lambeth, South London, then a working class area with goodcommuting connections across the river to central London.26 Undoubtedly thewages for compositors were higher in the capital with more employmentopportunities than in Bolton. One can only make suppositions, however, aboutCrompton’s specific choice of residence, close to the pleasure gardens and musichalls of Lambeth where a number of actors and dancers lived.

Around 1887, Crompton published The New Lancers, a composition of‘entirely original figures’ which is the earliest known of his many dance arrange -ments.27 The following year his Private Academy of Dancing, Deportment, andPhysical Exercises at 27 Mortimer Street is first listed in London tradedirectories. He soon moved a few doors away to larger premises at 54 Berners



Street where he remained until 1915.28 Initial evidence of his rising profile as adancing teacher in London dates from 1889 when together with his pupils, hepresented an entertainment which included various types of waltzing at the well-known Portman Rooms, Baker Street.29

Robert Williams speculates that Crompton’s knowledge of dance derivedfrom an apprenticeship, employment or junior partnership with the nearby well-established school of Edward Humphrey.30 This suggestion remains a feasibleoption. Edward Humphrey’s London Academy of Dancing, founded in 1863, inMortimer Street, attracted a well-heeled clientele for dances at its CavendishRooms. He and his chief instructor Walter E. Humphrey (his son born in 1866)undoubtedly knew Crompton since his choreographic and directing activitiesare mentioned on several occasions in the early Dancing Times. Indeed, Cromptonand Humphrey may well have provided copy for one another’s periodicals,although such an idea awaits more detailed literary analysis; the identity of

Fig. 1. Robert Morris Crompton as pictured in the Dancing Times, second series, July1911, p. 243. Photograph by kind permission of the Dancing Times.



authorship in both journals is often masked by the typical Victorian conventionof anonymity or use of pseudonyms.

In 1891, Crompton claimed to have provided ‘technical instruction’ to over200 professors of dancing.31 Styling himself as ‘the acknowledged authority onthe art’ Crompton was not diffident about his abilities, as the rubric of theadvertisement testifies:

Guarantees the Highest Proficiency in all Dances.The Valse in all its Variations and EccentricitiesFancy Dances, &c.Method InfallibleFailure ImpossiblePrivate Lessons, Classes, &c.

Even given the tendency by Victorian dancing teachers to promise quickresults in a few easy lessons, the claims in Crompton’s advertisements in the Period

and Dancing are quite different in size and tone from those published in the Times.

His close connection with the Period may account for this. His self-proclaimedabilities aside, it is evident that by the early 1890s Crompton had acquiredconsiderable status as a teacher of dancing, with connections to the uppermiddle classes of society and to the stage. A number of his former pupils werelocated in British colonies such as India, Burma and Australia. Others, who werepossibly foreign diplomats or businessmen in China and Japan, similarly wroteeyewitness accounts of dancing for their teacher’s journal.32

Crompton’s repertoire of dances and other types of codified movementprovides valuable insight into late Victorian dance culture with its trajectoriesacross recreation, theatrical entertainment, physical health and royal ceremony.In addition to tuition at his own academy, Crompton visited schools and familiesin the traditional manner of the well placed dancing master of the eighteenthcentury. He took on articled pupils (who were examined and certified presum -ably according to his own standards) and prepared ladies for their presentationat court, a custom that required specialist knowledge in ceremonial movementand deportment. This latter activity does not seem to have been part of thegeneral teacher’s portfolio. This suggests that Crompton had acquired suchknowledge from one of the high class teachers of deportment who might thenhave given him access to instructing members of fashionable society. He taughtthe regular repertoire of ballroom dances such as the waltz and quadrille as wellas maintaining a steady invention of social dances. His choreographic ability andspecialist knowledge were given particular visibility in his repertoire of fancydances, historical dances, national dances, step dances and the fashionable skirtdances.

Of particular note is Crompton’s professed modern system of dancing.Crompton was not the first or indeed the last to label his method of teachingas modern, nor indeed to claim a systematic method of instruction. He wascredited with devising a system for teaching fancy dancing, a genre that becameparticularly popular on the stage and among middle and upper class women in



the 1890s and early 1900s. Crompton was able to meet this demand with a modeof tuition that was specifically designed for the amateur and for the dancer whointended to join the popular stage.33 Unfortunately, he never published thepromised full textbook on his technical method and left instructions in his will forall his papers concerning the invention of dances to be destroyed. It is possibleto glean a little about his methods from his Guide to Modern Dancing of 1891.34

Alongside brief descriptions of the usual dances, it contains basic informationon preparatory exercises, deportment, and notations for two historical dances.Typically, Crompton’s instructions on technique are founded on ballet and hint,together with his stage profile, beyond the rudimentary knowledge sharedby Victorian social dance instructors. He may have taken lessons with LéonEspinosa in the early 1870s or else with British dancer and choreographer, John D’Auban.35 The latter is comparatively feasible given that Crompton wasemployed on at least one occasion as D’Auban’s replacement.

The early 1890s was a period of intense activity for Crompton. Hedesigned and opened new dancing rooms in South Kensington in additionto maintaining his Berners Street academy; planned a national congress ofteachers of dancing to be held in May 1893; organised a popular series ofCinderella dances (dances that were finished by midnight) at the Portman Roomsand ran various annual balls.36 He directed his Renaissance Dance Troupe inexhibitions of historical dances; published his Guide to Modern Dancing in 1891;edited Dancing until its demise in May 1893; and made plans to effect and publishan English translation of Friedrich Albert Zorn’s 1887 book, Grammatik der

Tanzkunst.37 In addition, he composed and published various dances forperformance by the general public; took over ballet master John D’Auban’sdance arrangements for The Nautch Girl at the Savoy Theatre when the latter wasinjured in 1891; and travelled to Glasgow in 1892 to teach one of Doyley Carte’scompanies.38

Positioning himself as national spokesperson for the profession throughthe vehicle of Dancing, Crompton regularly invited debate in his campaign toassociate. Three principal yet interlinked areas of concern motivated dancingteachers to consider the benefits of a national organisation: protection of theiremployment, elevation of their status within society and the advancement ofdance as both art form and social accomplishment. These were by no means newconcerns, having been recorded in England since at least the eighteenth century.Nonetheless, there were specific socio-economic and cultural factors of the1880s and 1890s that gave renewed direction to these aims.

PROBLEMS FOR THE PROFESSION IN THE 1880s and 1890s

Pedlars in Physical Culture

For the established dancing instructor, closure of ranks against unqualifiedteachers was of prime consideration. The anonymous author in The Period

(who was more than likely Crompton himself ) complained, for example, of the



unemployed footman who, without qualification, advertised himself as a teacherof dancing.39 This elicited a response from a new pupil who objected to the‘so-called professors … who might have been excellent ‘waiters’ or ‘footmen’,but certainly had no qualifications to teach that which they themselvesbut imperfectly performed’.40 Additional correspondence cited an establishedScottish teacher whose chief rival was a stonemason. This new teacher not onlyoperated in the same town but he also charged less for his lessons.41 Undercuttingprices obviously devalued the dance teachers’ specialist knowledge and threat -ened their sought-after professional status. So too did the absence of lengthystudy and the teaching of dance as an occasional activity, or alongside anindividual’s primary occupation. The Period argued that without a nationallyrecognised system of authentication, the general public often did not know fromwhom to take lessons or where to send their children. Recommendation by wordof mouth might be reliable, the Period suggested, but often this might necessitatetravelling long distances. Such an inconvenience could deter many of the public,leaving adults and children without adequate dance skills to participate insociety.

Initial communications on the need to associate cited the Royal Academyof Music and the more recently constituted Scottish Association of Teachers ofDancing. These were examples of organisations that had already implementedsystems to examine and authenticate pedagogic credentials.42 The question,however, of who might exercise such authority in a British organisation of danceteachers remained vexed. In Crompton’s estimation, instructors should trainextensively with a respected tutor and then practise the craft for at least ten yearsbefore they could be regarded as thoroughly competent in their vocation.43 It wasevident though that no one dance academy or individual would be accepted asindisputably superior. The issue of how to examine and certificate individualsdemanded resolution by a national society, but in the early 1890s such a cohesiveunion did not exist.

There was a further issue that threatened the dancing teacher’s livelihoodin the 1890s. This was the ‘one term system’ of dance tuition which wasbecoming increasingly common in private schools, replacing the former year-long instruction.44 This cut in employment threatened standards of dancing andhit the teacher’s secure source of income. Modes of physical culture, such asorganised games and gymnastics, continued to oust lessons in dancing. Thesenew movement systems with different socio-cultural values came to dominatephysical education, especially in boys’ public schools. In middle and lower-classschools, the drill sergeant was now more frequently employed. Such changesreflect a complex and long developing situation in which changing conceptsof the ideal healthy body, shifts in gender expectations, national identity, class,and politico-economic power became more pronounced.45 Dancing had beenregarded as a vital social accomplishment for the upper echelons and aspiringmiddle classes in the eighteenth century. By the late Victorian period, itsonce largely uncontested centrality in the social life of the rich and powerful wasnotably in irreversible decline.



Standards of Social Dancing in Fin de Siècle England

Before accepting complaints as irrefutable evidence of deterioration in dancingstandards, it is important to consider the authorship, medium of documentationand socio-cultural context of these sources.46 At first sight, the judgements ofdancing teachers would appear to proffer reliable expert knowledge. In the caseof long established members of the profession, these opinions might well revealsignificant historical comparative perspective. They might also conceal vestedinterests. Literature on social behaviour written by dancing masters oftenbemoaned contemporary failings in dancing and ballroom etiquette. It was atraditional strategy to draw attention to the author’s own remedial services.Victorian dancing manuals frequently included advertisements for the author’slessons, together with assertions of superior knowledge and ability against thoseof other (typically unnamed) dancing teachers. Articles and letters on the subjectin trade journals may be less indicative of the current state of performance thana rallying call to foster professional camaraderie. Letters from teachers in thenational press may again have served to promote greater appreciation of theprofession’s skills and knowledge; they do not necessarily offer unmediatedeyewitness accounts of the contemporary ballroom.

Other cries of concern came from members of the aristocracy and gentry.Such critics tended to be mothers, chaperones or older members of society whoexpressed alarm at the apparently excessive physical movement witnessed in thedancing. They also complained about a lack of courtesy shown to young womenby their poorly schooled or negligent male partners. Complaints against thebehaviour of a younger generation are by no means new and some allowancemight be made for the effects of nostalgia. Yet perceptions of a decline instandards of dancing among the well to do during this period were not isolated.In 1891, the Daily Graphic published a series of articles and correspondence onthe subject.47

In his commentary on some of this material, re-printed in Dancing,Crompton countered that there was abundant evidence of increased interest indancing in recent years.48 The problem of declining standards appeared to himto be characteristic of fashionable society rather than a feature of dancing by‘the middling sort’. To combat the charge of overcrowding in high society balls,Crompton suggested reforms such as hiring sufficiently spacious halls ratherthan using private ballrooms at home. Lack of space to move was a problemfrequently cited as a deterrent to dancing by many young men. Not surprisingly,given their future role as the country’s potential leaders, young upper class menand their declining participation in social dancing featured prominently in thepress discussion. Crompton acceded that dancing teachers could have littlecontrol or influence over the preferred habits of young men. The remedy, hesuggested, was to raise the standard and as a consequence, the pleasure ofdancing in the fashionable ballroom. Rather than bewailing or acquiescing withthe idea of inevitable decline, Crompton called for reform and a renaissancewithin the profession:



[L]et the interloping host of incapable teachers be drawn from the ranks ofan artistic and honourable profession, and then we shall hear no more of the apathy ofdancers and of the lachrymose lucubrations of our contemporary’s correspondents on‘the decline of Dancing’.

… the gradual suppression of incapable teachers and their replacement by dulyqualified men, who, in uplifting the honour and efficiency of the art, will be a power ofresistless potency in enhancing the attractions of dancing; and, with this end in view, thebest advice we can give to rising professors … is to thoroughly qualify themselves underreliable professors.49

For most of the nineteenth century, the waltz and the quadrille had heldsway in the ballroom. This state of affairs led to frequent, often derogatorycomparison by the older generation between the dancing of their own youth andthat of the present day.50 But the largely unchanging repertoire had resulted inboredom and revolt. Aiming to enliven the unvarying round of dances and balls,young people in high society circles introduced a number of fresh features. Chiefamong these was the new habit of what critics referred to as ‘romping’. Thisvigorous mode of dancing was believed by some to be an American intro -duction. Fingers of blame were pointed at the Washington Post, a couple danceperformed to rousing music by John Philip Sousa (1854–1932). Rather thanmoving quietly and gracefully in the quadrilles, some dancers now stamped theirsteps in response to the invigorating music. Such lack of restraint in sound andmovement was feared to be a style of moving among the lower classes.51 Otherperceived excesses were tendencies to waltz rather than walk in the quadrillesand, more dangerously, to lift the women off their feet.52 Scenes in some ball -rooms were reputedly chaotic as dancers, unfamiliar with the figures, were eitherdragged through their paces or caused collisions. The lack of regular classes inboys’ education compounded the problem as men were expected to lead theirpartners in these nineteenth century forms.53

If dancing as a fashionable essential was moving slowly towards the marginsof aristocratic and political society, it was gaining ground as a leisure pursuit ofthe middle classes. By the 1890s, there were signs that the middle classes dancedbetter than members of high society.54 But this strata encountered occasionaldifficulties in their social dancing. These came to the fore as a consequence ofthe combined growth in leisure time and opportunity to travel. Such freedomsof time and movement had once been the sole prerogative of the upper classes.By virtue of their birth and wealth, high Society, comparatively small innumbers, continued to enjoy a measure of cultural homogeneity at the end ofthe nine teenth century, even if their ranks were being infiltrated by the very richand favoured famous. Frequently referred to as the Upper Ten Thousand orsimply as the Upper Ten, members of these mostly aristocratic and landedfamilies followed a highly ritualised and socially restricted seasonal round inwhich dancing, particularly as a means to secure a suitable marriage partnerfrom within their ranks, was a regular pastime. Tuition in dancing for theLondon season and preparation for presentation at court was largely controlledby a few instructors in the capital who transmitted a narrow and highly con -



servative repertoire of movement codes to an exclusive group of people whowere in the habit of attending only private or semi-private dances.55 This was notthe case for the lower middle classes who were more numerous and socially lesscohesive. Dancing encounters for them were more likely to occur in public withrelative strangers especially when on vacation. In the large hotel ballrooms ofBritish coastal resorts such as Blackpool and Scarborough, which catered for themiddle classes, a problem of compatibility on the dance floor was discernible.Although many of the middle class visitors dutifully attended dancing classes intheir home localities, there was no nationally agreed way of performing newdances or figures.56 Consequently, holiday makers could not always dancetogether, making it difficult for the Master of Ceremonies to conduct a success-ful event. The need for some national or preferably international agreement onhow to dance was becoming more pressing. Furthermore, in the metropolitanareas, particularly London, where there was arguably more agreement on theinterpretation of dance figures, another difficulty that was rarely experienced bythe upper echelons of society, faced the middle classes. Quite simply, where couldthey afford to go to dance together and yet still be acting within the law?

The Licensing Laws

Since the mid eighteenth century, dancing as public entertainment had beensubject to licensing laws, particularly in metropolitan areas where the popula-tion was concentrated. Unlicensed spaces for dancing were considered by theauthorities to present potential danger to public order. Places where music,dancing and liquor were a principal feature might well attract the criminal andimmoral members of society – hence the mid-eighteenth century DisorderlyHouses Act (Act 25 Geo. II, c. 36) which, as well as its attempt at political control,aimed to curb prostitution, drunkenness, gambling, sex outside marriage, theft,and the like. Its impact was particularly related to the cities of London andWestminster and their twenty mile environ.57

Private dances fell outside the jurisdiction of the Act. The rooms of dancingmasters were also exempt from this law, the pupils being judged to constitute aprivate audience. It had long been customary for dancing teachers to organiseballs and exhibitions by their pupils. The costs incurred and desire to attract newclientele sometimes occasioned academies to charge admission. This contra -vened their private status. Owing to somewhat haphazard prosecution, theregrew up a mistaken belief in some quarters that dancing masters were totallyexempt from the need to license their premises. Prosecution, however, increasedwhen local authorities rather than the quarter sessions (the periodic courts heldfour times a year in each county or county borough) took over responsibility forthe enforcement of music and dancing licences in 1888. By this time, a furtherfactor had come into play. There had been growing concern over safety inbuildings open to the public. A number of fires and floor collapses necessitatedthe tightening of building laws. Officials were appointed to inspect all propertiesused for public gatherings to ensure compliance with fire and structural



regulations. This legislation forced a number of long established dancingmasters to carry out costly repairs and changes to their academies before beinggranted licences to continue. But possession of a safe venue did not alwaysguarantee that a licence would be granted.58

There was considerable confusion over legal interpretation. The custom ofemploying a Master of Ceremonies, who occasionally called out the figures oradvised dancers in the course of an event, was erroneously believed by somedance hall owners to secure exemption.59 But such ad hoc instruction did not meetwith the exact letter of the law and did not automatically bequeath private statuson the premises. Such ‘instruction’ was certainly not compatible with the pro -fessional dancing masters’ understanding. Anyone, Crompton complained,regardless of their knowledge or experience of dancing, could open a publicdancing hall. An applicant need only satisfy the law with respect to public orderand safety. Professional knowledge of how to teach dancing, on the other hand,was of no interest to the authorities.

As wages rose and legislation on working hours released more leisure hours,demand for recreational dancing escalated among urban workers.60 In London,shop assistants and clerks keenly pursued dancing on several nights a week.61

Large public halls in which to congregate were for them essential. Unlike uppermiddle and aristocratic households, their homes did not possess large enoughrooms in which to dance. The ruling class, on the other hand, with their privateballrooms, a great number of which were built during the second half of thenineteenth century,62 had no need to apply for permission to dance together. Norindeed, according to Crompton, was there any prevarication by the authoritiesin granting licences for the public venues of the well-to-do, such as at St. James’sPalace or the Hotel Métropole. Instead, the hopes of those lower down the socialscale rested on the fortunes of the entrepreneurial dancing master or dance hallowner. For him or her, the outlay of large sums of money to meet buildingspecifications was then followed by public and legal scrutiny on the moral worthof the venue’s potential clientele. Only when these hurdles were passed and thelicence fee paid might an aspiring dance hall owner succeed in opening newpremises. Furthermore, licences were annually subject to continuing compliancewith the law. Such a speculative financial and legal venture naturally dis -advantaged the dance hall owner and his clientele. Such was the appetite formeeting this demand to dance, however, that the London County Council hadto seek permission to process licence applications more frequently.63 Cromptonwas opposed to this system which privileged the rich to the disadvantage of thecompetent teacher and ordinary lover of dancing. His hope that a syndicate ofcapitalists of ‘strength, standing and influence’ might be formed to confront thelicensing laws went unheeded.64 His call for ‘a large and elegant public dancingestablishment in London’ to be open throughout the dancing season at apopularly priced entrance fee was not to be answered until the opening of thefirst palais de danse in England almost thirty years later.65

A number of dancing teachers faced prosecution as a result of thelegislation. In tracing the development of the institutionalisation of dance



pedagogy in England, the most significant of these is the case against ThomasAlfred Upton and his dancing academy in Kentish Town Road, London. InApril 1893, Crompton printed a report of Upton’s summons by the LondonCounty Council for failure to acquire a licence for music and dancing.66 In theprosecution, it was revealed that the hall, which had a capacity for some three orfour hundred people, lacked sufficient fire exits. Moreover, access had been givento four people who paid at the door. Unfortunately for Upton, these entrantswere inspectors of places of public entertainment. Under cross-examination,the inspectors admitted that correction on how to perform the dances had beengiven at the Cinderella dance. Their testimony was supported by defendingwitnesses who believed that the newcomers had joined the dance in good faith‘to take part in the practice of the advanced class’. Further in Upton’s defencewas the fact that he had maintained the premises as a dancing academy witha sound moral reputation for over twenty-two years. On this occasion, themagistrate found in his favour. On later appeal, however, the London CountyCouncil was able to overturn the decision.

The problems faced by Upton brought to a head the common need forLondon based dancing teachers to combine forces. The result – the BritishAssociation of Teachers of Dancing – was the first long standing association ofits kind in England.67 In spite of Crompton’s public campaign to launch aprofessional association, there is no record of his presence at the initial meetingin 1892, or of his attendance at the later fund-raising ball. In Dancing, the ball ismerely listed as the ‘Dancing Academy Proprietor’s Ball’ under ‘Arrangementsfor the Month’. There is no subsequent report.68 Although Crompton un -doubtedly knew many of the society’s London based teachers, his name ismissing from its early records and reminiscences.

His own plans for the profession were, however, far more ambitious thanthose of this early London union. Crompton aspired to reform social dancing inorder to elevate the art and the profession. He believed that a national congressof dancing teachers was needed to develop such a vision. Pre-empting such agathering, however, was the American proposal to hold an international congressof dance teachers in London. His coverage of this initiative, beginning in thefirst issue of June 1891, is fascinating. Not only do the reports providevaluable historical data on the pioneering work of American dance teacherE. Woodworth Masters,69 but also afford insights into Crompton’s ambitions andhis attitudes towards America.

THE PROPOSED WORLD CONGRESS

Crompton’s initial critique of the plan to hold a world congress of dancingteachers was to launch an acrimonious debate between himself and itsinstigator.70 In 1891 Boston-based Woodworth Masters was President of theNational Association of Teachers of Dancing of the United States and Canadaand editor of their monthly journal, The Galop, founded some eight yearspreviously.71 Not surprisingly he was alarmed that Crompton’s opening welcome



to his pioneering proposal had been quickly followed by sustained criticism. Forhis part Crompton frequently made it clear that he was not opposed to theprinciple but rather to the apparent lack of forethought and consultation.Crompton’s three main bones of contention concerned firstly, the potentialproblems of understanding between different language users; secondly, thestrong likelihood that delegates would wish to retain national preferences of styleand modes of teaching rather than conform to a uniform standard; and thirdly,the problem that expenses were to be met by individual dancing teachers. Hebelieved that the proposal for a world congress was a premature, if praiseworthy,venture. But he was clearly angered by the lack of prior discussion. FromWoodworth Masters’s perspective, it would have seemed reasonable to selectLondon as a location in which to bring together representatives from the‘civilised world’ and where arrangements might be conducted in his nativelanguage.

Somewhat late in the day, Crompton grudgingly accepted that the worldcongress would take place in London in July 1892. In autumn 1891, heendeavoured to prompt discussion and support among his English colleagues,even offering to organise a welcome committee and ball. He continued, however,to damn the venture and its initiator with faint praise. Crompton’s barbs metwith similarly ill-veiled contempt. Each man claimed the support of FriedrichZorn (1816–c.1903) an internationally recognised dancing master, as a highlyesteemed senior colleague.72 And each jostled for precedence as the moreinnovative and experienced. Woodworth Masters declared his superiority toCrompton on the basis that he was the first to found a dedicated dance journal,a publication to which Crompton dismissively referred as a ‘monthly pamphlet’,and ‘our little contemporary’. Crompton scored points through assertion of hislonger ‘literary and editorial experience’, together with the more ambitious scaleand international readership of Dancing. Furthermore, Crompton could notresist a derogatory comparison between the nations.

Claiming prudence as a national trait that had led to England’s long-termstability, Crompton sneered at what appeared to him to be the over-ambitioushaste of the American proposal.

[W]e see so much of our American cousins in London, and of their bombastic boasting,we may be excused for an always latent lack of faith in their pretensions and frequentlyinchoate schemes, which are never accorded credence here precipitately and without aconsiderable amount of caution.73

Crompton’s commitment to national rather than international profes -sional isation at this stage was underpinned by a sincere belief in the distinctivestyles of dancing and modes of teaching within each nation or ethnic group. In the course of his exchanges with Woodworth Masters, he had proposed ameeting of ‘English, Colonial and American’ teachers rather than an inter -national gathering on the grounds that this group of teachers might at least share‘the same national characteristics’. This view was reflected in Crompton’s ownrepertoire of national dances. He was convinced that each nation’s dancing was



shaped by such factors as ‘climate, physique, history, irresistible fashion, andconfirmed habits’, a belief that led him to doubt the wisdom of seeking toimpose international uniformity.

In the same editorial headed ‘Thank you for Nothing, Brother Jonathan!’he castigates the Americans for their apparent failure to recognise nationaldistinctions. He again chides them for their intended imposition of internationaluniformity and failure to consult their hosts. His use of ‘Brother Jonathan’ toidentify the Americans is perhaps not without intentional irony.74 The concept ofBrother Jonathan predates that of Uncle Sam as the personification of theUnited States of America. Current during the late eighteenth and early nine -teenth centuries, the figure of Brother Jonathan was especially linked to NewEngland. It denoted the honest common man of America, possessed of asomewhat independent and cantankerous spirit. More than that, BrotherJonathan stood for a different political conceptualisation of the United Statesthan his later replacement. Whereas Uncle Sam came to stand for the one nationof the United States to be referred to in the singular, the concept of BrotherJonathan evoked an earlier political federation of states in the plural. These wereyoked happily together, but each professed the potential for different political,legislative, religious, economic and cultural characteristics. The parallel withCrompton’s own vision is clear. He preferred a heterogeneous association ofnational associations of dance teachers operating together for the common goodof the profession. In the light of Crompton’s continuing animosity towards histransatlantic rival, it remains possible that his choice of ‘gallop’ below is notentirely random:

Pardon us, Brother Jonathan, we guess that even you must walk before you can gallop,and uniformity in social or any other dancing must become national before it can beuniversal.75

In an undiluted attack upon American economic policy, Cromptoncompared the imposition of the proposed World Congress with the unpopularAmerican ‘McKinley Tariff ’. This 1890 tariff on all foreign imports76 hadresulted in large numbers of English workers being thrown out of employment.Crompton pointed the finger of accusation at the United States: poor times hadcaused falling attendance at dances and classes in Britain with consequentialfinancial difficulties for the dancing teachers.

In January 1892 news broke that the World Congress had been cancelled.Crompton was triumphant. He had always been convinced that the congressbilled by Woodworth Masters as ‘one of the most sublime achievements of thedancing fraternity that has ever been known in the world’s history’77 was doomedto collapse. He was not slow to reiterate his criticisms. Woodworth Mastersretaliated by attributing most blame to the lack of support from a jealous Englishdancing profession. Twisting the knife in a manner so characteristic of thesniping exchanges between the two editors, he declared that he found at least onecomfort in the collapse of his plans – the fact that the World Congress proposalhad stimulated the establishment of a British national association of dancing



teachers. Crompton though had clear evidence to contradict this. Nonetheless,it must have seemed to Woodworth Masters and his co-patriots that Crompton’scoverage had persistently placed obstacles in their path. Whether Cromptonacted prudently or disingenuously, he was now at least free to further his ownconcerns. He dismissed the idea of taking on the abandoned world congress asone correspondent had suggested (or indeed as Woodworth Masters undoubt -edly suspected).78 Instead, he devoted his time and effort towards founding anational association in Britain. He remained confident that professional insti -tutionalisation at a national level was essential to future successful co-operationand that he himself possessed the necessary experience, ability and authority toundertake this task. His strategy was both novel and ambitious. Cromptonplanned not just a meeting of interested dance teachers, but a national congressto include the participation and exhibition of the cream of amateur dancersdrawn from polite society across England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland andshowcased in the capital.

THE AMATEUR TERPSICHOREAN CONGRESS AND THEPROPOSED NATIONAL ASSOCIATION

In order to effect his vision, Crompton enlisted the support of the WestminsterOrchestral Society (WOS), a prestigious organisation with royal and aristocraticpatronage.79 In the seven years of its existence, the WOS had gained a strongreputation for the successful promotion of high quality classical music concertsand for the annual ball which was organised by its Soirée Committee. In June1892, Dancing published an initial communication from the Honorary Secretaryof the Soirée Committee announcing a Grand Fancy Dress Ball to be held thefollowing May. Such early notice of an event signalled an extraordinary occasionon the horizon; most balls were normally advertised only a month or two inadvance. Designed to attract attendance on a national scale, the ball promisedthe attendance of ‘[o]ne of the finest Military Bands and a company ofHighland Pipers in full regimentals’. The ball was to be opened by a GrandPolonaise arranged by the Marshal-in-chief – none other than Cromptonhimself. A further attraction was the election of a ‘Queen of the Ball’ who wouldreceive a commemorative scroll at the opening ceremony. The advertisementstated that tickets, priced two guineas for joint admission of a lady andgentleman, were to be strictly limited and would be available from January onreceipt of ‘properly-filled vouchers and a cheque’. Such stipulation of prices andconditions of entry were typical of the organisation of public balls by a selectcommittee who wished to restrict entry to those of a similar social class or above.Unusually though, the notice was addressed to professors of dancing and theirpupils rather than to the general public.

In a two-page spread in the subsequent issue of Dancing, Cromptondeclared that it would be possible to ascertain the true state of dancing in fin de

siècle Great Britain and to gather together the very best of the teaching pro -fession.80 Considerable attention was paid to discussion on admission procedures



to ensure that only people of ‘high quality’, both with respect to dancingcompetence and to social status, might participate. Stage dancers and the ‘fast’or vulgar sort were to be excluded, with prices similar to a London charity ballin order to deter the latter. Plans for the event aimed to inspire a sense of friendlycompetition among teachers and their pupils in order to achieve high standardsof dancing. But Crompton also aimed to secure the establishment of his nationalassociation from such a gathering. Even, he dreamed, the building of a dedicatedclub or headquarters devoted to dance pedagogy. Sensitive to potentialjealousies, on account of his leadership of such a grand event, he impressedupon his readers how fortunate it was that the WOS was the chief organiser. Freeof any political, religious, theatrical or any individual affiliation, he argued, theWOS had performed a similar task of support for British music and musicians.Fighting on behalf of the status of dance and its teachers, Crompton con -tinuously cajoled and inspired his colleagues to support the initiative, devotingconsiderable space in his periodical to notification and correspondence on theforthcoming event.

The Amateur Terpsichorean Congress was scheduled to take place duringthe first week of May 1893 at Westminster Town Hall, the headquarters of theSociety. Following reception of the delegates on the Tuesday, the next day was tobe devoted to papers and discussion among the teachers with an orchestralconcert featuring British music in the evening. The culmination of the three dayevent was the grand ball. There was considerable interest reported in Dancing inthe autumn of 1892 as plans for accommodation and travel were discussed.Crompton had waxed lyrical about the opportunities for sightseeing by theamateur delegates, the potential friendships and indeed love matches to be madeamong them and above all, the potential for teachers to meet, update theirknowledge and advance the cause of the profession. With aristocratic patronageand the promise of an appearance by the local MP at the opening,81 thepreparations appeared secure.

By April, however, problems of advance booking, exacerbated by un -anticipated personal problems within the organising committee had emerged.Crompton again rallied members of the profession to support the venture. Hepromised that vouchers for tickets and further circulars with details would soonbe available and urged teachers to register their interest in being represented onthe General Committee. As the dates of the Congress drew nearer, the noveltyof the enterprise even drew the notice of the general press. But it was to no avail.The Amateur Congress was postponed. Crompton’s leader in May 1893, thevery last issue of Dancing, promised a September date for its re-instatement. Butthe Congress never materialised.

Crompton presented his reasons for the failure. The Soirée Committee hadbeen struck by four close bereavements (one affecting Crompton himself ) withinthe two months leading to the Congress. This had resulted in vital delays incommunication. More unexpected, however, was the complaint from colleaguesthat the Congress had been timed to occur too close to the end of the annualdancing season, thus making it difficult for teachers to leave their livelihood to



travel to London. In what was to be his final editorial, Crompton complainedthat he had been at pains to air debate on the proposals for several months inadvance. Such a potential clash should have been pointed out well beforehand.Given the subsequent failure by teachers and pupils to confirm earlier promisesof attendance, he argued, the Soirée Committee had been forced to re-schedulethe event. By the end of the year, Crompton’s vision of a Congress, of a pro -fessional society of dance teachers, and indeed of his journal had collapsed.

LIFE AFTER THE AMATEUR TERPSICHOREAN CONGRESSAND DANCING

In spite of these considerable setbacks to his campaign, Crompton’s career as ateacher of social and fancy dancing and choreographer in the popular theatrecontinued to advance. In 1895 he arranged the dances in the pantomimeCinderella at Brighton and as the twentieth century opened, produced the dancesfor The Forty Thieves at Terry’s Theatre, London and for The Messenger Boy at theMagyar Theatre, Budapest.82 Almost a decade later, he directed The Balkan

Princess at the Kiraly Theatre in Budapest.83 But his idea of launching aprofessional society of dance teachers, dedicated to advancing the cause of hisart had not been relinquished.

In 1902, he established a committee with himself as chair to realise such avision.84 Among the small circle were Charles D’Albert, a well-known Londonteacher and contributor to The Dancing Times and W. Lamb, a South Londondancing master and once president of the British Association of Teachers ofDancing. The committee also included an accountant R. E. A. Hildersley ashonorary secretary. Their meeting at the Horseshoe Hotel, Tottenham CourtRoad received a large audience, but it was not until July 1904 in the MediciRooms of the Hotel Cecil on the Strand that the Imperial Society of DanceTeachers was formally established. Attended by almost two hundred danceteachers, this meeting elected Crompton as president and D’Albert as vicepresident. To the original committee, which became constituted as the firstCouncil, was added a more nationally representative membership. Cromptonremained as President until 1909 when Cecil Taylor took over the position.85

The ISTD was not the only dance association to emerge in the first decadeof the twentieth century. Slightly earlier in its formation was the Manchesterand Salford Association of Teachers of Dancing with James Finnegan ofManchester as president.86 In 1903 came the United Kingdom Alliance ofProfessional Teachers of Dancing and Kindred Arts (UKA) under thepresidency of W. W. Rowe who had previous connections with the BATD.87 ASouth London union of dance teachers formed in 1907 became the NationalAssociation of Teachers of Dancing.88 Although comparable in some of theiraims, what distinguished the ISTD was its wide focus on ‘fancy, classical andsociety dances’ rather than on the social dancing of the middle and lowerclasses.89 Philip J. S. Richardson referred to the ISTD as ‘undoubtedly the most



important of the English Asso ciations’.90 With its annual technical schools orcongresses, regular members’ journal, its committee structure and procedures,the pre-First World War Imperial Society demonstrated its ambition andinfluence in more than just its encompassing title. In its founding aims andobjectives, the voice of Crompton might be identified:

the elevation and advancement of the art of dancing, and the preservation of its ancientprestige and dignity.91

During his presidency of the ISTD, Crompton maintained his connectionswith continental Europe, teaching in Germany in 1907 and attending theFirst International Congress of Dance Teachers in Berlin in 1908 as the UKrepresentative.92 Here he was elected Vice-President of the newly inauguratedInternational Union of Dancing Masters Societies to which the ISTD becameaffiliated. In 1911, Crompton was invited by the American National Associationof Masters of Dancing to spend a week presenting ‘his methods of instruction’at their annual congress and was later elected honorary member of the Inter -national Association of Teachers of Dancing of America.93 At home, Cromptonmaintained his influential position as chief technical instructor at the ISTDannual congress until 1912 when he was succeeded by Frederick Browning.94

Subsequently, he advertised his own annual technical classes in the Dancing

Times.95 There appears little evidence, however, to suggest any animosity inthe break. Crompton attended an ISTD meeting of the Council in 1913 andproposed a toast to honorary members and guests at their annual banquet andball the following year.96

Crompton’s expertise and knowledge of the profession continued to be well

Fig. 2. The Technical School of the Imperial Society of Dance Teachers, Leeds 1906.Robert Crompton is seated fourth from the left. Photograph by kind permission of theImperial Society of Teachers of Dancing.



regarded. In 1917, when Richardson promoted the idea of a Ballet Society, heboth solicited and published the veteran teacher’s views. In offering a few caveatsand observations, as well as support, Crompton commented that it was ‘anobject I have for years endeavoured to achieve’.97 Despite the likely difficulties inaiming to found such a society in war time, he was not averse to a meeting atwhich Rachel Verney, the proposer of the Ballet Society, might explain her ideas.Ultimately, though, he was not in favour of a society devoted exclusively to ballet.Current experience taught him that theatre managers preferred to hire dancerswho could also perform ‘international, character and eccentric dances’. Here,Crompton was in tune with the continuing tradition of dance on the Britishstage and indeed in most theatres of the period.

The First World War brought financial hardship to Crompton, as it did tomany social dance teachers. Many young men of social dancing age had gone tofight in France and there were restrictions on holding dances, particularly inmetropolitan areas.98 In 1915, Crompton moved to new premises at 7 PercyStreet, off Tottenham Court Road, London.99 In the following year, the occasionof his jubilee as a teacher of dancing saw a call in the Dancing Times to raisemoney for his assistance.100 Richardson, prompted by a letter from CharlesD’Albert, solicited gifts on his behalf. In September 1917, Crompton’s jubileewas marked by a dance held at the Carlton Assembly Rooms. Many ofCrompton’s former pupils and colleagues from the profession attended, andamid the social dancing, exhibitions of social and fancy dances were presented.101

Referring to Cromp ton’s ‘life-long work in the dancing world’, Richardsonhanded him a cheque from the testimonial fund. When the list closed itamounted to over ninety eight pounds with contributions from among others,Philip J. S. Richardson, Cecil Taylor, and Adeline Genée (1878–1970) formerprima ballerina of the Empire Theatre and dancer of international repute,generously donating ten guineas.102 By now Crompton was well in his seventies.In July 1920 he was present at the Inaugural Dinner of the Dancers’ Circlefounded by Philip J. S. Richardson as a series of meetings for all teachers andperformers of stage dancing, but in 1923 Crompton retired from teachingon medical recommendation.103 His academy continued to operate as theCrompton Academy, initially under his pupil Florence Chadfield, until at least1933.104 On 8 December 1926, Robert Morris Crompton died at the age ofeighty-one years at the home of his eldest daughter.105

CROMPTON’S CAMPAIGN: AN EVALUATION

Despite the disappointing setbacks of the early 1890s, Crompton’s recordremains impressive. He conceptualised, launched and edited the first Britishperiodical dedicated entirely to dance; he was the first to conduct a systematiccampaign for the realisation of a British professionalised society of danceteachers; he developed a system of teaching for the amateur dancer, but whichalso answered the needs of the contemporary popular stage; and he developedinstitutional links for dance pedagogy on an international scale. His manifesto



for dance, expressed through his plans for the Amateur Terpsichorean Congressin 1892, was far reaching and no doubt influential, even if it was not imple -mented at the time. He promoted the historical study of dance and, followingZorn’s example, encouraged the development and study of symbolic notationsystems.106 To exclude charlatans and thus protect the livelihood and standing ofbona fide teachers, he advocated a national system of teacher registration throughexamination. Such a professional society, with a building in London, whereteachers might meet to exchange ideas, would also act as a friendly society toattend to the welfare of its members.

In addition to his campaign for national association, Crompton also arguedto provide for greater participation in dancing of those lower down the socialscale. He was outspoken in his criticisms of the fashionable fast set and of theprivileged rich. Nonetheless, he needed and believed in the patronage of politesociety to advance his campaign to improve amateur dancing and thereby thatof the social status of himself and colleagues. He also, in a similar manner to hispeers, countered religious opposition to dancing, pockets of which re-appearedin the 1890s.107 Crompton’s passionate defence of dancing as an art echoed thevoices of other supportive writers on dance of the time and continued a defenceof dancing that goes back at least to the early eighteenth century in England.108

A number of questions have arisen, however, from this study of Crompton’smission. Firstly, what experiences and conditions gave rise to Crompton’sprominence as an agitator for professional association? Secondly, why – overand above those reasons presented by Crompton at the time – did his variousproposals fail in the early 1890s? Thirdly and finally, why did he succeed inestablishing a national association only a decade later?

In addressing the first question, it is impossible, given the lack of contem -porary assessments of Crompton, to do anything more than speculate about hispersonality and potential leadership qualities. In terms of skill and experience,however, he was well positioned to press for the professional association of danceteachers and to edit the first journal on dance in England. Before the launch ofDancing, he had been a compositor for at least eleven years, possibly more. Sevenof these had been in London where he had undoubtedly made good connectionsin the printing and publishing trades. Interestingly, compositors were the first inthe mechanised labour market to organise trade unions.109 There is no directevidence to demonstrate that Crompton drew on any unionised experiencesas a compositor to advance his own campaign which sought to establish aprofessional society rather than a trade union. Nonetheless, Crompton was alertto the prevailing climate of trade unionism during the 1890s in his initial call toassociate.110 He undoubtedly drew on his previous career for his role of editor,since employment as a compositor in the Victorian period required and nurtureda good standard of literacy. In the more interesting positions, it also presentedpotential for engaging with ideas and with writers who were often positionedhigher in the social scale. Both the occupations of compositor and dancingmaster were stereotypically ones that promoted a heightened sense of aspirantgentility. The compositor often dressed as a gentleman rather than as an artisan



and aimed to engage in gentlemanly pastimes. Few, however, in eitheroccupation in the late Victorian period, genuinely rose to the envied ranks of the‘gentleman’.111

Crompton’s efforts must also be viewed in the wider frame of significantdevelopments in late Victorian society, specifically that of the rise of professionalsociety.112 Increasing industrialisation and urbanisation were driving factors inthe shift away from the old world order where royalty and aristocracy heldpolitical, economic and cultural power. A new state of modernity was emergingin which more labile hierarchies were being created through (among otherkey developments) the personal and family acquisition of professional status.Characteristically, professional status now relied upon examination by occu -pational peers. Previously the socially aspirant dancing master and mistresshad relied upon aristocratic patronage. This customary source was now tiedto declining influence as the aristocracy lost money and power and dynasticmarriages were now rarely contracted in the Victorian ritual of the ballroom.Traditional society characterised by land ownership and patronage continued tobe eroded by modern industrial society in which capital and competition weredominant forces.113

The discourse surrounding the occupation of dancing teacher in the 1890sillustrates a point of transition between these two worlds in Britain. In onerespect, the move towards professionalisation discussed in Dancing and particu -larly by Crompton epitomises this new professional society which is ‘based on human capital created by education and enhanced by strategies of closure,that is, the exclusion of the unqualified’.114 On the other hand, the appeal tolegitimation from polite society harks back to the older world of aristocraticpatronage. The process parallels that of musicians in Britain, who similarly fromthe eighteenth century had sought to achieve a congruence of professional andaristocratic recognition.115 Not every dancing teacher of course enjoyed royaland aristocratic patronage but the point is that the Upper Ten Thousand, ascultural leaders, had sanctioned the practice of social dancing as a necessaryaccom plishment to enter Society.116 It was one of many attributes such aslanguage, dress, manners and deportment that signified social rank.117 TheVictorian preoccupation with etiquette, evident in the volume of publicationswritten on the subject, is symptomatic of the British middle-class cult of gentilitythat continued well into the twentieth century.118 During the 1890s, to be able todance well increasingly mattered less to the aristocrat than it did for the middle-class professional. The decade marks a watershed in a phenomenon that hadbeen gathering speed since earlier in the century – the decline of dancing as anessential part of aristocratic ritual and its transformation into a public leisureactivity for the expanding middle classes. But it was a middle-class that largelycontinued to ape the earlier cultural capital of the aristocracy.

For many teachers, dancing was more than recreation. An essential aspectin forming a national body was to strengthen recognition of dance as an artform. This was to be equal in status to music and the visual arts. A profes -sionalised base with aristocratic patronage was essential to ‘secure for dancing



the restoration of its ancient prestige, and an acknowledgement of its title to aprominent place in the arts’.119 Crompton was fully aware that aristocraticamateur participation in music had bestowed a mantle of gentility. He hoped fora similar social elevation of dance teachers. Of course there remained problemspeculiar to dance in late Victorian dancing that hindered a parallel outcome.One was still the opposition in some social and religious quarters to the practiceof dancing.120 Another problem was related to the profession of dance teachingitself.

Discussion on establishing a national association had continued in the1890s, though doubts about its feasibility remained, especially on account oflikely internal dissension and schisms.121 Not all dance teachers wanted to unite,fearing an imposed uniformity of teaching that might threaten their owndistinctive niche in the market. Nor did some wish to associate with teacherswhose reputation they considered to be suspect.122 In late Victorian England,dance pedagogy continued to be a service that offered a curious blend ofconservatism and fashion that fuelled and echoed the cultural lead of the rulingclasses. Indeed, the hierarchical structure of the British class system wasreplicated within the profession. Teachers such as Louis D’Egville (1852–1927)and Mrs Wordsworth (1843–c.1930) for example, had guaranteed positions andreputations in instructing the families of royalty.123 For those with well securedpositions already, either in the theatre or in aristocratic circles, there was noimmediate threat to their livelihood. There can be little doubt that the absenceof such respected teachers weakened the early attempts to organise as aprofessional body124 and Crompton publicly worried about their silence.Seemingly uncomfortable about his self-appointed leadership of the venture, hepointed out that no representative body was yet in existence to elect a leader bymore democratic means.125 But the absence of public support from high profileteachers was indicative of the notorious difficulty involved in bringing togetherwhat was traditionally a highly individualised and hierarchical profession.Crompton may have begun his campaign with optimism when he believed that‘everybody has found out that unity means strength’126 but the traditions andstructure of teaching dance during the early 1890s were not yet in sufficientdanger to warrant such collegial action.

Developments wider afield though were to bring a change in attitudeamong many in the profession. In the opening years of the twentieth century,participation in social dancing was further affected by two significant events: theAnglo-Boer War (1899–1902 ), which removed numbers of young men from theballroom, and by the death of Queen Victoria in January 1901, which resultedin the cancellation of numerous balls and dances as society entered severalmonths of mourning.127 Intimations of other changes in the social dance scenehad occurred without the control of the dancing profession. The Cake Walk andless obviously the Boston – harbingers of the forthcoming revolution in ballroomdancing – were already known within some dance circles.128 In future, danceteachers would need to provide instruction in the radically new ways of dancingand to pronounce upon them with one voice. There was a danger that the social



dancer might bypass the instruction of genuine dancing teachers entirely,preferring to learn purely by imitation or by visiting bogus teachers. Never beforehad Crompton’s earlier observation that ‘by the fees of the amateur isthe professor maintained’ been more apposite.129 Late Victorian London tradedirectories reveal increased numbers of dance teachers catering for the risingpopularity of dancing among the urban middle classes. It was a trend that wasset to continue well into the early twentieth century. But there was still no meansfor the general public to distinguish between the respective merits of establishedteachers and quack newcomers. Again, Crompton’s complaint about charlatanteachers rang true for the bona fide teacher: ‘not only are profits unfairlyreduced, but pupils are spoiled and Art suffers’.130 The problems faced by thedance teachers of the early 1890s had become more acute.

Responses to why Crompton’s campaign was successful a decade later mustof necessity remain speculative, not least because there is no contemporaneousdocumentation. From what little is known, it would appear that the 1902preparations were more streamlined and eschewed the earlier launch congressand ball. Nearly two years were to elapse before the inauguration of the newsociety in 1904 and a further year before the first technical school was held.131

Such pacing suggests the planning of a committee that possessed in-depthknowledge of the profession, a shared vision, and perhaps financial andorganisational experience from the British Association of Teachers of Dancing.But above all, as evidenced by the founding of other professional organisationsin that decade, the time was finally ripe. Patronage was now poised to emergemore systematically from the middle classes and the practitioners of dancepedagogy needed a modern professionalised structure to meet the demands of arapidly changing world. There seems to have been a realisation that most danceteachers could no longer operate without a move towards a more uniform systemof teaching and the attainment of professionalised status. An authoritativenational society, ideally led by practitioners of international reputation, wasrequired to speak for the whole profession of dance pedagogy in Britain.

Although the British Association of Teachers of Dancing and the newlyfounded United Kingdom Alliance were already in existence, it was to be theISTD, led by Crompton for its first five years that rose to fill that role. The ISTDwas distinguished from its contemporaries by its rapid and committed supportfrom well-known teachers drawn from across the country and by its regionalrepresentation at national level from the outset. It was more than a disseminatorof the latest social dances created by its members and more than a bodydispensing legal advice and welfare to the profession. Its goal was to enhanceexcellence in all forms of dancing taught in the country. This distinctive visionwhich encompassed social and theatrical forms of dancing, much as Cromptonhimself did, owed much to the traditional repertoire of skills and knowledge ofthe dancing master. It also laid a future foundation for the various styles of dancethat the ISTD was to continue to encompass through its later structure ofbranches within the society. For Crompton, good dancing remained essentiallyan art, regardless of where it was practised. He may have looked back in his



rhetoric, as so many of his peers did, to a former golden age of the dancingmaster. But his actual achievement was to equip the practitioners of dancepedagogy in Britain with the institutional structures and objectives of a modernprofession.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The research for this article was supported by the Arts and Humanities ResearchCouncil. I would like to thank Mary Clarke and her staff at the offices of theDancing Times for their most generous help and support. I would also like to thankMollie Webb, librarian of the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing, for hergreat help and interest. My special thanks go to the Dancing Times and theImperial Society of Teachers of Dancing for their kind permission to reproducethe photographs which accompany this article.

NOTES

1. Arnold Haskell and P. J. S. Richardson (eds), Who’s Who in Dancing 1932, London: TheDancing Times, 1932, pp. 7–13.

2. See Bryan Isaac, The British Association of Teachers of Dancing. A Brief Review of One HundredYears, Glasgow: The British Association of Teachers of Dancing, 1892. The RADwas initially known as the Association of Operatic Dancing of Great Britain, seehttp://www.rad.org/01who/011 history.htm, accessed 7 August 2006. The ISTD wasfirst constituted as the Imperial Society of Dance Teachers, see 100 Years of Dance,A History of the ISTD Dance Examinations Board, London: ISTD Dance ExaminationsBoard, 2004.

3. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography; Beth Genné, ‘P. J. S. Richardson and the Birth ofthe British Ballet’. SDHS Proceedings 5th Annual Conference 1982, pp. 94–101; Official Boardof Ballroom Dancing (OBBD) formed 1929, British Council of Ballroom Dancing 1985,British Dance Council 1996, www.british-dance-council.org, accessed 7 August 2006.

4. The full story of Williams’s recovery and publication of Dancing can be found in his‘The Rediscovery and Reprinting of “Dancing”, a Lost Nineteenth-Century DancePeriodical’, MFA thesis, Graduate Programme in Dance, York University, North York,Ontario, April 1990. My thanks to Selma Odom for bringing the availability of thisthesis to my attention. The facsimile is reprinted as Dancing: A Journal Devoted to theTerpsichorean Art, Physical Culture and Fashionable Entertainments. 1891–1893, rpt. Toronto:Press of Terpsichore, 1984. Another copy of the original is held by the British Libraryat Colindale.

5. Sheila Dickie, ‘The Origins of the ISTD’, Dance Now, vol. 1, no. 1, Spring 1992, pp.58–61.

6. For more detail on dance teachers in late Victorian England, particularly in London, seechapter 2 of my forthcoming book, Dance and High Society: Fashionable Bodies in England,1870–1920 (Middletown, Conn: Wesleyan University Press, forthcoming).

7. Laws of the Provident Society of Dancers and Teachers of Dancing of the United Kingdom of GreatBritain and Ireland, 1844, p. 28. Copy in British Library, London. For the scope anddevelopment of friendly societies see P. H. J. H. Gosden, The Friendly Societies in England,1815–1875, Manchester: Manchester University Press. It should be noted that state oldage pensions were a later innovation.

8. Georges Desrat, Dictionnaire de la Danse. Histoire, Théorique, Practique et Bibliographique DepuisL’Origine de la Danse Jusqu’à Nos Jours. Paris: Librairies-Imprimeries Réunies, 1895. See alsoEugene Giraudet, Traité de la Danse. Tome II. Grammaire de la Danse et du Bon Ton à travers leMonde et les Siècles depuis le Singe jusqu’à Nos Jours. Paris: E. Giraudet, 1900, pp. 569–70.



9. American Society of Teachers of Dancing, Arnold Haskell and P. J. S. Richardson,Who’s Who in Dancing 1932, p. 15; Scottish Association of Dancing, John Service, letterto The Period, 16 May 1891, p. 108, reprinted in Dancing, 8 June 1891, p. 6.

10. On this American initiative, see below. For German associations, see Dancing, 8 June,1891, p. 8; ‘Congress of Dancing Masters at Berlin’, Dancing, July 1892, pp. 160–1;Belle Harding, ‘A World’s Congress of Dancing Masters’, letter to the editor, Dancing,September 1892, pp. 190–1. Note that Desrat adds ‘Membre de l’Académie Inter -nationale des Professeurs Etrangers’ on the title page of his Dictionnaire de la Danse.Further work needs to be undertaken on professional associations and internationalliaison of dance teachers during the late nineteenth century.

11. Edward Scott, Hon. Member of National Association of Teachers of Dancing inAmerica in Grace and Folly or Dancing and Dancers, London: Ward and Downey, 1887, p. 93;‘Hon. Vice-Pres. Scottish Association Teachers Dancing; Hon. Mem. National Asso -ciation Dancing Masters, U.S.A.’, Times, 10 October 1889, p. 2.

12. On the growth in periodical literature see Don Vann, J. and VanArsdel, Rosemary T.(eds), Victorian Periodicals and Victorian Society, Toronto: University of Toronto Press andAldershot: Scolar Press, 1994. On opportunities for middle class leisure see JohnLowerson, Sport and The English Middle Classes, 1870–1914, Manchester: ManchesterUniversity Press, 1993.

13. The Galop: Devoted to Dancing, Music, Etiquette and Dress. This monthly professional journalwas published in Boston, beginning in 1884 and ceasing publication with volume 17 in1900 (World Catalogue, available online from the Newspaper Library of the BritishLibrary, Colindale, London). I have not been able to trace any surviving copies of TheGalop of the 1880s. The American National Association of Teachers of Dancing wassucceeded by the American National Association of Masters of Dancing of the UnitedStates and Canada as its publisher.

14. The Two Step began publication as a monthly (typically with the summer months of July–August excepted) in New York in 1894. The Director was published for one year, 1897–1898, by dancing master Melvin Ballou Gilbert in Portland, Maine (facsimile, New York:Dance Horizons [1975]).

15. The dates of the first series of the Dancing Times are listed in the British Union Catalogueof Periodicals as 1894–1909 but I have only been able to consult extant copies from 1894–1902. The more familiar second series, under Philip J. S. Richardson’s editorship, datesfrom 1910 when Richardson, together with publisher T. M. Middleton, purchased thetitle from the Humphreys. The distribution of The Ball Room by the Johnsons isadvertised in the Dancing Times, September 1901. Copies of the first series of the DancingTimes and The Ball Room, held by the British Library, appear to have been lost duringtwentieth-century wartime bombing.

16. The circular is reproduced as Appendix 1 of the facsimile of Dancing. The new series ofThe Period and Kensington Circular: A Newspaper for Society, Finance and Literature ran fromNovember 1890 to April 1893 and was owned by a Printing and Publishing Syndicate.The only surviving run is held in the British Library but its initial issues of 1890 are intoo poor a condition to be consulted at present.

17. Note that the journal ceased publication around the same time as Dancing. For furtherdiscussion on the possible identities of the syndicate see Williams, ‘The Re-discovery andRe-printing’, pp. 33–5.

18. ‘Intended British Association of Dancing Preceptors’, p. 61.19. This is roughly equivalent in today’s prices to 61p (0.9 Euros/0.77 US$).20. Appendix 1, facsimile of Dancing.21. Reproduced in Dancing, June 1891, p. 4. The reprinting of articles published elsewhere

was quite typical of the Victorian press. For reference to letters of appreciation seeDancing, June 1891, p. 1 and August 1891, p. 27. In view of the lack of clarity of pagenumbering in the originals, noted by Williams in his preface (p. ix) to Dancing, all pagereferences in this article relate to the facsimile.

22. Williams reaches a similar conclusion to my own independently made assessment ofCrompton’s reputation, see Williams, ‘The Rediscovery and Reprinting’, p. 42.



23. Different estimates of Crompton’s age at death, coupled with the popularity of RobertCrompton as a name in Bolton during the 1840s, has made it difficult to trace his birthcertificate with any surety.

24. Marriage certificate 22 February 1869: Robert Morris Crompton of Crown St. Bolton-le-Moors to Ann Winward of Church Wharf, Bolton-le-Moors. Crompton’s father,Edward, is recorded here as a confectioner, his father-in-law a painter. The exact identityof his mother has been difficult to trace since her surname recorded in the 1891 censusdiffers from his. Crompton consistently gives his occupation as compositor on the birthcertificates of his four children born between 1873 and 1878. The birth certificates ofhis twins, born in 1880, record his occupation as ‘Teacher of Dancing’.

25. Dancing Times, second series, September 1917, p. 377.26. Birth certificate of first child, Amy Crompton. Crompton and his family’s first London

home was 44 Crozier Street, Lambeth. From 1877 until at least 1881 (birth certificatesand 1881 Census) they were living at 15 Claylands Road, Kennington and were possiblyhere throughout 1880. During this critical time of his career shift, Crompton’s move -ments have proved elusive. None of the family appears listed in the London area in the1891 census, but were living in more well-to-do semi-detached property at 30 HenningStreet, Battersea from at least 1895. It is unclear if Crompton was also resident there.He may have been living at his London Studio; the 1901 Census records his wife andsurviving/unmarried children at 30 Henning Street and Crompton living alone withMary Hardman, his 79-year-old mother, at 9 Silwood Terrace, Kensington.

27. Warwick Williams, The New Lancers. Invented by R. M. Crompton and specially adapted to theMusic of ‘My Sweetheart’ as Arranged by Warwick Williams [1887], copy in British Library.

28. London trades directories and phone books for the period, London MetropolitanArchives and BT Phone Books Archive 1880–1924, available on line from http://www.ancestry.co.uk. There are occasional changes of number of the property in the variousrecords. Notwithstanding possible typographical errors, it should be remembered thatthe numbering of properties in London went through various revisions in the nineteenthcentury

29. Philip J. S. Richardson saw a programme for this event when he visited Crompton’sacademy in 1911, Dancing Times, second series, November 1911, p. 36.

30. Williams, ‘The Rediscovery and Reprinting’, pp. 41–2.31. The Period, 16 May 1891, p. iii. This advertisement was repeated in the same journal and

in Dancing.32. Dancing, November 1891, pp. 67–8; March 1892, p. 113; April 1892, p. 125; May 1892,

p. 137; June 1892, p. 153. 33. See his obituary notice, Dancing Times, second series, January 1927, p. 567.34. R. M. Crompton, Theory and Practice of Modern Dancing, London: Willcocks and Co.

[1891]. The cover is entitled Crompton’s Guide to Modern Dancing (copy in personalpossession). The edition in the British Library notes that it is the fourth thousand. Bothare small pocket books, priced at one shilling. Theory and Practice was likely to have beenpublished early in 1891 as Crompton claims only to have instructed 120 teachers ofdancing and his academy’s address is given as 27 Mortimer Street. The number of‘technically instructed’ professors had risen to 250 by October that same year (Dancing,October 1891, p. 50)

35. Léon Espinosa was teaching in London in the early 1870s and accepted adults for tuitionas the experience of Edward Scott testifies. See my article, ‘Edward Scott: The Last ofthe English Dancing Masters’, Dance Research, 21, no. 2, 2003, pp. 3–35 (pp. 7–8). Forinformation on John D’Auban’s career see Kelley Pierce Byrd, ‘John D’Auban: Phantomof the Light Opera’, doctoral thesis, Texas Woman’s University, Denton, Texas, USA,1999. I am grateful to Jane Pritchard for pointing out this reference.

36. ‘A Model Dancing Academy’, reprinted from The Period in Dancing, December 1892,p. 225; see discussion below on the Amateur Congress; for notices of Cinderella dancesand balls see, for example, Dancing, September 1891, p. 48, March 1892, p. 118, March1893, p. 259, the Penny Illustrated Paper, 4 October 1893, p. 10.

37. For advertisements for the Renaissance Dance Troupe see, for example, Times 4 October



1890, p. 8 and Dancing 8 June 1891, p. 1. On the proposed translation of Zorn’s book,see Dancing August 1892, p. 178 (E. Woodworth Masters had already begun to serialisean English translation in The Galop, noted by Zorn in letter to Dancing September 1891,p. 46).

38. During this period, Crompton composed Iolanthe (see Dancing, June 1891, p. 4) and theMenuet Valse (given as 1892 by Charles D’Albert who also lists but does not dateCrompton’s Menuet Imperial in his Technical Encyclopaedia of the Theory and Practice of The Artof Dancing, London, 1913). Crompton also published directions on dancing the WaltzCotillon (Dancing, June 1891, p. 1). Crompton’s lists of various exhibition dances can beseen in advertisements in Dancing, as for example June 1891, p. 1 and May 1893, p. 277.Choreographic work for amateur theatricals and the like is noted in the same journal,March 1892, p. 116 and May 1892, p. 143. In his advert for May 1893 (p. 277) heclaimed to have instructed 300 professors of dancing. For Crompton’s substitution forD’Auban see the notice from the Era reprinted in Dancing, August 1891, p. 28. The noticeof Crompton’s work in Glasgow is in Dancing February 1892, p. 100.

39. ‘Intended British Association of Dancing Preceptors’, The Period, 15 February 1891, p. 61.

40. ‘Novice’, The Period, 16 March 1891, p. 81.41. Leading Scottish teacher quoted in correspondence from John Service, solicitor,

Glasgow and secretary of the SATD, 16 May 1891, p. 108, reprinted in Dancing, June1891, p. 6.

42. Ibid.; Giovanni Vinio, Exeter Academy of Dancing, The Period, 16 May 1891, p. 108,also reprinted in Dancing, June 1891, pp. 6–7.

43. Dancing, November 1891, p. 71.44. See Crompton’s editorial in Dancing, July 1891, pp. 15–16. 45. These themes are treated more extensively in my forthcoming monograph, Dance and

High Society.46. Gretchen Schneider has made similar warnings in ‘Using Nineteenth-Century

American Social Dance Manuals’, Dance Research Journal, 14, nos 1 and 2, 1981–82, pp.39–42.

47. Daily Graphic, 15 August 1891, p. 4; 18 August 1891, p. 4; 21 August 1891, p. 13 ;22 August 1891, p. 4; 26 August 1891, p. 4 ; 28 August 1891, p. 11; 25 September 1891,p. 1, p. 5; 28 September 1891, p. 12.

48. The reprints are in Dancing, October 1891, pp. 56–7; Crompton’s comments are in theleader of the same issue, pp. 51–2.

49. Dancing, October 1891, p. 52.50. A typical example is the chapter on ‘Balls: Hostesses and Guests’ by the Countess of

Ancaster in Lilly Grove, Dancing, London: Longmans, Green and Co., 1895, pp. 411–19.51. The literature of the day abounds with references to this ‘romping’, ‘rollicking’, or

degenerate new style but Edward Scott was a particularly outspoken critic against thebehaviour he perceived as vulgar; see his letters to the Dancing Times, first series,December 1894, pp. 6–7 and The Morning Post, 17 January 1899 as well as his chapter on‘Style in Dancing. Refinement and Vulgarity’ in his Dancing as an Art and Pastime, London:George Bell and Sons, 1892, pp. 129–35. The fashion for ‘twisting at corners andromping’ was already in evidence by the late 1880s, see Alice Marriott, Dancing as An Art:With Remarks on Physical Education and Hygienic Exercises (Nottingham: H. Gibson and Co.[1888], copy in Bodleian Library), p. 6.

52. The fashion for waltzing at the corners in the quadrilles was a regular topic fordiscussion. See Dancing Times, first series, December 1894, p. 7, February 1895, p. 8,March 1895, p. 8. South London dancing master William Lamb ‘deplored’ the habit,see his Everybody’s Ball-Room Guide, London: W. R. Russell and Co. [1896], p. 23 (copy inpersonal possession]. North London dancing master W. W. Rowe was more pragmaticabout the fashion – see his Dancing As It Is, London: The Author [1890] (copy in BodleianLibrary), pp. 4–5.

53. The reasons for these changes in performance as well as the hugely important issue ofdance and gender during this period will be discussed more fully in Dance and High Society.



54. This observation is made by Philip J. S. Richardson in his The Social Dances of the NineteenthCentury, London: Herbert Jenkins, 1963, p. 117. An entertaining eyewitness contrast ismade between the dances of the upper classes in their private ballrooms and those ofthe lower middle/upper working classes at their public dances by Robert Machray, TheNight Side of London first published London: John Macqueen, 1902, reprinted London:Bibliophile Books, 1984, pp. 72–8 and pp. 152–9. This development is considered ingreater detail in my Dance and High Society.

55. For the socio-cultural make-up and rituals of the social strata known as Society or theUpper Ten, see Leonore Davidoff, The Best Circles. Society, Etiquette and The Season, London:Croom Helm, 1973 and Pamela Horn, High Society. The English Social Elite 1880–1914,Stroud, Gloucestershire: London, 1992.

56. See the letter by James Follitt in Dancing, June 1892, p. 155.57. For a thorough account of the laws to which dancing masters were subject and on which

the following account is based see Clarence Hamlyn, A Manual of Theatrical LawContaining Chapters on Theatrical Licensing, Music and Dancing Generally, and Dramatic Copyrightwith an Appendix of all the Lord Chamberlain’s forms and those of the County Council for Licensing,London: Waterlow and Sons, 1891 (copy in British Library). My discussion focuses onthe cities of London and Westminster.

58. From its inception, the Dancing Times also carried regular reports and advice on the stateof licensing. Some long-standing respected dancing masters seemed to believe that theywere exempt yet were successfully prosecuted by the London County Council, as inthe case of Francis Piaggio, Times 1 January 1894, p. 3 and February 1895, p. 14. TheHumphreys were re-licensed to continue at their Cavendish Rooms, Dancing Times, firstseries, May 1895, p .4. Earlier, a dancing master lower down the social scale in northernEngland was not so lucky and lost his livelihood; see Dancing, May 1892, p. 143.

59. See Dancing, March 1892, p. 119.60. See Hugh Cunningham, ‘Leisure and Culture’, in F. M. L. Thompson (ed.), The

Cambridge Social History of Britain 1750–1950, vol. 2: People and their Environment,Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990.

61. See Machray, Night Side of London, p. 155.62. For illustrations and architectural detail of the ballrooms of the London rich, see

E. Beresford Chancellor, The Private Palaces of London Past and Present, London: KeganPaul, Trench, Trübner & Co., 1908, pp. 260 (Grosvenor House), pp. 313, 323 (NorfolkHouse), pp. 365, 367–8 (Wimbourne House) and David Pearce, London’s Mansions. ThePalatial Houses of the Nobility, London: B. T. Batsford, 1986, p. 154 (Devonshire House),p. 167, p. 185, p. 199 (Stafford House), p. 209 (Wimbourne House), p. 213. On thehouses of the newly moneyed see J. Mordaunt Crook, The Rise of the Nouveaux Riches. Styleand Status in Victorian and Edwardian Architecture. London: John Murray, 1999.

63. Dancing, December 1891, p. 76.64. Ibid., June 1892, p. 148.65. On the palais de danse see Philip J. S. Richardson, A History of English Ballroom Dancing

(1910–45), London: Herbert Jenkins, 1946, pp. 143–4.66. Dancing, April 1893, p. 269. 67. On the early years of the BATD see Bryan Isaacs, A Brief Review, pp. 3, 7–8, 35–51. See

also Dancing Times, second series, January 1914, p. 273, December 1915, p. 116. TheBATD’s first convention was held in 1896, see Dancing Times, first series, September1896, p. 5.

68. Dancing, November 1892, p. 210.69. Also erroneously referred to in Dancing as E. Woodward Masters. As Williams notes in his

preface to Dancing (p. ix), the proof reading is of poor quality in the original.70. Dancing, June 1891, p. 8. The ensuing reportage, exchanges between the two men

and related correspondence can be followed in the same journal, August 1891, p. 29;September 1891, pp. 39–40; October 1891, pp. 53, 58; December 1891, pp. 75–6,79–80; January 1892, p. 95: February 1892, pp. 99, 105–6; March 1892, pp. 111–12,118–19; June 1892, p. 149 and November 1892, p. 213.

71. E. Woodworth Masters is deserving of further investigation. He remained as secretary



of this organisation until his retirement from the role in 1896 after 15 years. At the sametime, The Galop was rejected as the ‘official organ’ (referred to as the American NationalAssociation of Masters of Dancing). There is a hint of acrimony in these developments.See Dancing Times, first series, October 1892, p. 2 and December 1896, p. 1.

72. See the entry on Zorn in the International Encyclopedia of Dancing edited by Selma JeanneCohen, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998. His theoretical treatise appeared inGerman, Russian and English. Further details on his life appear in Dancing, August 1892,p. 175.

73. Dancing, December 1891, pp. 75–6.74. On this earlier mainly literary figure, see Winifred Morgan, An American Icon: Brother

Jonathan and American Identity, Newark: University of Delaware Press, 1988.75. Dancing, July 1892, p. 160.76. This tariff was passed in 1890 and supported by future president William McKinley.

Britain took a leading role in advocating free trade in the second half of the nineteenthcentury.

77. Quoted in Dancing, October 1891, p. 58. 78. Dancing, March 1892, pp. 112, 118. Interestingly Crompton barred Americans from

attending his own national Amateur Terpsichorean Congress. Masters in an articlereprinted in Dancing November 1892, p. 213 suggested that the exclusion stemmed fromfear that Americans might take all the prizes in the proposed dance competitions.

79. Dancing, June 1892, p. 155.80. Dancing, July 1892, pp. 164–5. Subsequent coverage can be found in the same journal,

August 1892, pp. 171–2, 176–7; September 1892, pp. 188–9; October 1892, pp. 195,200–1; January 1893, p. 236; March 1893, p. 255; April 1893, p. 267; and May 1893,pp. 279–80, 286.

81. This was William Burdett-Coutts, Unionist MP for Westminster and noted philan -thropist (Oxford Dictionary of Biography).

82. Dancing Times, first series January 1895, p. 4; ibid., January 1901, pp. 5–6; programmefor The Thirty Thieves, Terry’s Theatre, 1 January and 9 February 1901, TheatreMuseum, London. Crompton also continued to arrange and publish social dances:Mignon 1895 (Dancing Times, first series, December 1895, p. 5; Tintivy 1896 (Dancing Times,first series, October 1896, p. 10); Arcadian (1897, copy in British Library); Tom-Tit 1898(D’Albert, Technical Encyclopaedia); The New Hunt Dance 1899 (copy in British Library);Bal-Bouree, 1900, Dancing Times, first series, February 1900, p. 1; The Kaiser Pas de Quatre1901 (copy in British Library); The Regal 1901 ( Jacs. Koopman, Dans-Academie van Jacs.Koopman, Rotterdam: Jacs. Koopman [1901], addendum, copy in New York PublicLibrary); Empire Waltz 1906 (copy in British Library); The Adeline [1909] (copy in BritishLibrary); La Forlana 1914 (copy in British Library); The Rondine 1916 (Dancing Times,second series, September 1916, pp. 337, 339); Giraudet, Traité de la Danse also includes anumber of Crompton’s dances.

83. The Dance Journal (published for members of the ISTD from 1907) September 1910,p. 6.

84. See 100 Years of Dance, p. 8. Unfortunately, on account of the Society’s frequentrelocation of its offices during the early years, few documents from this initial periodhave survived. See also Dancing Times, second series, May 1918, pp. 245, 247.

85. 100 Years of Dance, p. 27.86. Haskell and Richardson, Who’s Who in Dancing 1932, p. 11. James Finnigan, a

Manchester-based teacher, was the inventor of The Military Two-Step and was MCat Blackpool’s Empress Rooms for many years (Richardson, A History, p. 28).

87. See Dancing Times, second series, November 1914, p. 54. W. W. Rowe and his wifeestablished the North London Private Academy of Dancing, Holloway, North Londonin 1878 (Dancing, August 1891, p. 25). He wrote Dancing As It Is, was auditor of the BATDin 1892 and president of the BATD in 1893 (A Brief Review, p. 7.). The society’s ownwebsite gives the founding date as 1902 when twenty-one teachers met at Finnigan’sstudio in Manchester. They elected Rowe the following year as their president at theirfirst annual convention. See http://www.ukadance.co.uk (accessed 7 October 2006).



Interestingly, this society of teachers covered dance, opera and sword dancing. TheUKA has no archive for public access.

88. Dancing Times, second series, March 1914, p. 525. It was first established as the SouthLondon Southern Association of Teachers of Dancing but changed its title to Nationalin 1909 better to reflect its membership. The society’s own published record of its historyputs its inauguration date as 1906, see http://www.natd.org.uk (accessed 7 October2006). The NATD has no public archive for access.

89. This characterisation was made by the general secretary of the NATD in a letter sent toPhilip J.S. Richardson and published in the Dancing Times, second series, March 1914,p. 379. Certainly the details listed about the annual technical schools in the ISTD’s ownjournal would support such an assessment.

90. Dancing Times, second series, April 1914, p. 482. 91. 100 Years of Dance, p. 8.92. The Dance Journal, September 1907, pp. 7–8; Dancing Times, second series, July 1911,

p. 242.93. The Dance Journal, May 1911, p. 2. According to his obituary notice, Crompton was

reputedly offered £100 per week to teach in America for a month in 1915. Dancing Times,second series, January 1927, p. 567. There is no record of him teaching in America,although he was elected an honorary member of the International Association ofTeachers of Dancing in America, Dance Journal, September 1911, p. 2.

94. The Dance Journal, May, 1912, p. 1. 95. Dancing Times, second series, September 1913, p. 737; June 1916, p. 265; June 1917, pp.

338–9.96. The Dance Journal, July 1913, p. 1 and the Dancing Times, second series, August 1914,

p. 667.97. Dancing Times, second series, May 1917, pp. 243–4. Crompton also contributed an article

to the Dancing Times in which he voiced his antagonism to the so-called ‘natural dancing’,see July 1917, pp. 338–9.

98. See Richardson, History of Ballroom Dancing, pp. 31–2.99. BT Phone Books Archive 1880–1924. Crompton’s removal is also noted in the Dancing Times,

second series, June 1915, p. 320.100. Dancing Times, second series, September 1917, p. 377.101. Ibid., October 1917, p. 27.102. Dancing Times, second series, November 1917, p. 56, December 1917, p. 120. 103. Ibid, August 1920, p. 85; ibid., October 1923, p. 39.104. BT Phone Books Archive 1880–1924, The Crompton Academy is listed as 34 Percy Street

from 1929–33.105. Death certificate. There seems to have been some estrangement from his other surviving

children who are not mentioned in his will. This document was written from hisresidence at 56 Finsbury Park Road, London in March 1921.

106. Dancing, November 1891, pp. 63–4; July 1892, pp. 164–5.107. Ibid., April 1892, pp. 123–4.108. Notably the Reverend Stewart Headlam and Edward Scott. Many apologists for dance

look back to the work of John Weaver, see Richard Ralph, The Life and Works of JohnWeaver (London: Dance Books, 1985), pp. 139–43.

109. See Patrick Duffy, The Skilled Compositor, 1850–1914: An Aristocrat Among Working Men(Aldershot, Hampshire and Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 2000).

110. The Period, February 1891, p. 61.111. See Duffy, The Skilled Compositor. Dancing masters who did achieve or at least claimed the

status of gentleman in the eighteenth century include John Weaver (see Ralph, Life andWorks of John Weaver, p. 116) and Stephen Philpot (see John Caffyn, Sussex Schools in the18th Century. Schooling Provision, Schoolteachers and Scholars, Lewes, Sussex: Sussex RecordSociety, 1998, p. 327). In the nineteenth century this status was claimed by CharlesWright, the father of Mrs. Wordsworth but I have discovered few contenders for the titleamong the census records for London and the south-east of England. The fact that thedeath rate was higher among compositors than that of coal miners puts Crompton’s



transition into his full-time career as a dancing master into perspective. Compare thecareer move of Edward Scott from lithographer to dancing master in my ‘EdwardScott’, p. 8.

112. The following discussion owes much to Harold Perkin, The Rise of Professional Society.England Since 1880 (London and New York: Routledge, 1989), chapters 1–4 and F. M. L.Thompson, The Rise of Respectable Society. A Social History of Britain, 1830–1900, London:Fontana, 1988.

113. See David Cannadine, The Decline and Fall of the British Aristocracy (Basingstoke andOxford: Papermac, 1996) and G. R. Searle, A New England? Peace and War 1886–1918(Oxford: Clarendon Press, 2004), chapters 3 and 6.

114. Perkin, The Rise of Professional Society, p. 2. 115. On the comparable journey towards professionalisation and respectability in the music

profession, see Cyril Ehrlich, The Music Profession in Britain since the Eighteenth Century. A Social History (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1985), chapter vi.

116. As an example of dancing teacher dissatisfaction with the lack of appropriate leadershipin such matters in the 1890s, see Dancing, June 1891, p. 3.

117. This consideration owes much to Norbert Elias, The Civilising Process, first published 1939(Oxford: Blackwell, 2000) and Pierre Bourdieu, Distinction: A Social Critique of Taste, firstpublished 1979 (London: Routledge, 1984).

118. On the Victorian cult of gentility see Andrew St. George, The Descent of Manners. Etiquette,Rules and the Victorians (London: Chatto and Windus, 1993) and Linda Young, Middle-Class Culture in the Nineteenth Century. America, Australia and Britain (Basingstoke: PalgraveMacmillan, 2003).

119. Dancing, June 1891, p. 3.120. Opposition to dancing on moral and religious grounds has a long history in British

society. For an overview prior to the nineteenth century, see Richard Ralph, The Life andWorks of John Weaver, pp. 117–21.

121. Dancing Times, first series, September 1896, p. 5. Debate in America was used in anattempt to stimulate further discussion among readers of the journal, see October 1896,p. 1 and December 1896, p. 1.

122. Dancing, September 1891, p. 46; Dancing Times first series September 1896, p. 5. 123. For Louis D’Egville see Alan D’Egville, Adventures in Safety, London: Sampson Low

[1937] and entries on the renowned D’Egville family of dancers and teachers in theInternational Encyclopedia of Dancing; for Mrs. Wordsworth, see Olive Ripman, ‘Wordy’Dancing Times, second series July 1974, p. 581 and ‘Steps in Time’, ibid., August 1974,p. 639. I am grateful to Mollie Webb for drawing these articles on Mrs. Wordsworth tomy attention.

124. Dancing Times, first series, February 1900, pp. 8–9.125. Dancing, August 1892, p. 176126. The Period, 15 February 1891, p. 61.127. The impact is noted in Dancing Times, first series, January 1900, p. 1.128. The Cake Walk is the first social dance drawn directly from African American culture

and performed to ragtime music to become popular in England, although its fashionwas brief. See Richardson, Social Dances, p. 120. The Boston enjoyed a longer life amongupper middle class society and was distinguished from the Victorian fast rotary style ofwaltzing, in particular, through its use of parallel feet, a slower turn, hip to hip hold ofthe dancing couple, and linear progression across the space. See Richardson, History ofEnglish Ballroom Dancing, pp. 19–21.

129. Dancing July 1892, p. 165.130. Ibid., August 1892, p. 176. 131. 100 Years of Dance, p. 22.


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