Dancing was a favorite activity for many 18th and 19th century Americans. People from all walks of life, wealthy or poor, city-dwellers or farmers, enslaved or free, danced. Virginians, remarked an 18th century observer, “will dance or die.” A visitor to the United States in 1827, declared she was in danger of being “danced to death.” Traditional, European-style contra dances involved long lines of men and women facing one another. Around 1800, a new dance form, known as the cotillion, arrived on the scene. A French import, cotillion dancing was the ancestor of modern square dancing. Four couples danced in a small group, or “square.” At first, dancers had to learn and memorize complex steps and movements. By the mid-1800s, however, htey could rely on a caller, or “prompter,” to call out the figures. John Putnam (c.1817-1895) of Greenfield, Massachusetts, was an accomplished musician and dance prompter. He was also a well-known and sought-after bandleader. This broadside from 1858 advertises a cotillion dance in Shelburne Falls, Massachusetts, featuring music by Putnam’s band and prompting by John Putnam.
H. D. Mirick and Company. Cotillion Party at Whitney Hall! In Shelburne Falls, Friday Dec 17th, 1858. Broadside/Poster. December 17, 1858. Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association, American Centuries. https://americancenturies.org/collection/l00-061/. Accessed on October 16, 2024.
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