Dance Card
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A dance card or programme du bal (also known by its German-language name, Tanzkarte) is used by a woman to record the names of the gentlemen with whom she intends to dance each successive dance at a formal ball. They appear to have originated in 18th century, but their use first became widespread in 19th century Vienna, especially at the massive balls during Fasching before Lent.
Dance engagements card for 11 January 1887, showing a list of all the dances for the evening – valse, polka, lancers and quadrille; opposite each dance is a space to record the name of the partner for that dance. After the event the card was probably kept as a souvenir of the evening.
An actual dance card is typically a booklet with a decorative cover, listing dance titles, composers, and the person with whom the woman intended to dance. Typically, it would have a cover indicating the sponsoring organization of the ball and a decorative cord by which it could be attached to a lady’s wrist or ball gown. From the 19th century until World War I, dance cards for the elite of Austria-Hungary were often very elaborate, with some even incorporating precious metals and jewels.
The use of Dance Cards has fallen out of favor for most dancers but life was breathed back into its use this past weekend in our area. A local Dance club hosted a formal dance at which time the dancers were treated to an age old custom of Dance cards.
To the younger generation this may seem old fashion and it is for the use of Dance cards was popular two century’s previous. The reason I have shared this information with our readers is to illustrate an old custom which was resurrected last week end at a dance I played.
As you can see from the included images, each style of dance was indicated and adjacent to the dance was an area reserved to include the name of each partner whom the dancer had danced with.
Throughout the evening, everyone would have known what style of dance was coming next and could choose the next partner accordingly.
This mix of dance styles made for a very interesting evening for each member of the dance club was well versed in each of the styles of dance and to watch fine dancing throughout the evening was very entertaining for yours truly.
