Two dances, Nine names
“The evidence is circumstantial, but all of the above-named dances appear to have derived from Gay Gordon,” So says folk dance researcher Ron Houston of the Society of Folk Dance Historians in the ©2008 edition of his Folk Dance Problem Solver. Ron, (in personal correspondence) adds “This Gay Gordons is a ballroom dance, or a social dance, or a round dance, or a sequence dance, but probably not old enough to be called an Old Time Dance, and absolutely not a country dance. Such sequence dances were largely an English phenomenon, but Gay Gordons easily could have originated among Scots.”
Gay Gordons (ca 1920-1948)
The Gay Gordons is a Scottish social dance. “The usual tune was written by James Scott Skinner. It was also known as The Gordon Highlanders’ March, first printed in the collection “Monikie Series no 3” in c 1890.” Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gay_Gordons_(dance) Ron Houston (in personal correspondence) adds “I would be very careful about linking the dance Gay Gordons with the music Gay Gordons. That is how a lot of careless readers infer that the dance Gay Gordons is any older than about 1930.”
“The Gay Gordons is an easy sequence dance that appeared in several sources in the mid-20th century, (c. 1948) at the height of the Old Time Dancing revival in England.” https://www.libraryofdance.org/dances/gay-gordons/
Victor Sylvester, in his 1949 book Old Time Dancing, (p. 126-132) wrote that English and Scottish popular culture may have created Gay Gordons “Between the two Great Wars.” Ron Houston, Folk Dance Problem Solver ©2008.
“Unlike most old time dances whose composers are known, the Gay Gordons seems to have sprung up from the people…..Victor Sylvester, noted dance authority of England, says that in the period between the two wars there was a flurry of dances done to quick march tempos in England, and that the Gay Gordons is the only one that survived. Most of the old time dance books describe the dance in ball-room style…..The dance was first introduced in this country at the Community Folk Dance Center in New York and has spread throughout the country. About the same time, Louise Chapin of the Boston branch of the Country Dance Society started to do the dance.” From Michael Herman’s The Folk Dancer, New York, V.7, No.4, 1948.
The origins of Gay Gordons? Its date and author (if any) have yet to be settled. As will be seen in the YouTubes below, the choreography has also evolved over time. The one constant is the first 16 steps – 4 anticlockwise, 4 anticlockwise backwards, then 4 clockwise, 4 clockwise backwards, returning to where you began.
All-American Promenade (ca 1951)
English and Scottish popular culture may have created Gay Gordons “between the two Great Wars*”: Old Time standardization committees fixed its sequence. One version came to U.S. folk dancers around 1948 through Michael Herman’s Community Folk Dance Center and through Louise Chapin of the Boston branch of the (American) Country Dance Society, and was an immediate success, perhaps because, as Victor Sylvester observed “Marches and One-steps are probably the easiest of all dances to learn.” Nonetheless, recreational folk dancers devised the yet-simpler partner-changing version of the mid-sixties. *Victor Sylvester Old Time Dancing London: Herbert Jenkins, 1949, p. 126-32.
Doc Alumbaugh founded Windsor Records in California. By 1951, [Doc and his wife Winnie] had created All-American Promenade, (AAP) which used the first half of Gay Gordons [and turned the dance into a mixer]. The Alumbaugh AAP turned the woman across IN FRONT of her partner to progress to the OUTSIDE of the circle. (Ron Houston in the ©2008 Folk Dance Problem Solver). Woman progresses.
Below is a link to the original Alumbaugh AAP recording (R605A, R7605A); a medley of all-American tunes. American Patrol, Columbia the Gem of the Ocean, Dixie, Yankee Doodle Dandy, California Here I Come, The Stars and Stripes Forever. Presumably, he named the dance after the medley, or created a medley to match the patriotic name. https://archive.org/details/78_all-american-promenade_tom-memoli-dick-peterson_gbia0220848a
By 1964 the All-American Promenade [with the female progressing, DB] had virtually disappeared, and Progressive Gay Gordons (Clark and Evans, Swing Partners) [with the male progressing, DB] appeared in Britain as the new name for AAP. ©2008 Ron Houston, Folk Dance Problem Solver. The current AAP appears to be the descendant of the Gay Gordons Mixer. (See below).
Allemansmarsj (ca 1951-56)
Klara Semb published essentially the same dance as the Alumbaugh AAP in her Norske Folkedansar II as the Norwegian Allemannsmarj (1956; the dance did not appear in earlier editions). Noted Norwegian dance authority Alix Cordray introduced Allemansmarsj to the U.S. in about 1980, as observed by her in northern Europe and as found in Semb’s book. (Ron Houston in the ©2008 Folk Dance Problem Solver).
Ca. 1964, PROGRESSIVE GORDON, GAY GORDONS MIXER
“By 1964 the All-American Promenade [with the female progressing, DB] had virtually disappeared, and Progressive Gay Gordons (Clark and Evans, Swing Partners) [with the male progressing, DB] appeared in Britain as the new name for AAP.” ©2008 Ron Houston, Folk Dance Problem Solver. I could not find an example of the Gay Gordons Mixer or Progressive Gordon in Scotland.
Carolina Promenade
Same as Progressive Gordon EXCEPT the woman progresses BACKWARDS (clockwise) while the man stands still.
Marie’s Wedding Dance (Progressive Gordon, NOT the Scottish dance)
I found some YouTubes labeled Marie’s Wedding Dance that are yet more examples of the Progressive Gordon, but danced to the song Marie’s Wedding by the Irish group the High Kings. I’m speculating that the people responsible for this label are not aware of the origins of this chorergraphy, or that a dance called Mairi’s Wedding already exists. See the Scottish dance Mairi’s Wedding below.
Mairi’s Wedding Scottish Dance (Not related to Gay Gordons Mixer)
This dance may or may not use the song Mairi’s Wedding.
Humppa Mixer
Humppa is a Finnish word applied to a type of Finnish music and many kinds of social dance: in this case applied to the simple mixer Allemansmarsj/Progressive Gordon/Chappelloise.
Chapelloise (post 1956)
“Contrary to tenacious legend, this mixer was not invented in Chapelle-des-Bois. It came from a Swedish mixer named Aleman’s marsj. It was also imported into France during the ’30’s. It was taught during the 70’s in Chappelle-des-Bois, and the title being forgotten, it was renamed ‘La Chapelloise.’ ” (Yves Guilcher. 1998. La Danse Traditionnelle en France,) translated by Ron Houston and quoted by him in the ©2008 Folk Dance Problem Solver. Ron goes on to say “This Gay Gordons Mixer then appeared in France, but probably from England, not Sweden.” The French and many other Europeans prefer the French name for the dance – La Chapelloise – but apply the footwork to a variety of music, including French folk, American country, Scottish, Irish, German and Italian. The man is always the progressor.
Chapelloise has also been adapted to the music of past eras.
‘t Smidge, Belgijka
The original AAP dance steps (female progresses) to Flemish music.
‘t Smidge, the song and dance is very popular in Poland, where it is known as Belgijka.
Folkdance Footnotes 