It may be blurry but it still excited me no end to discover this picture of Caroline Ferriday, one of the main characters in my upcoming novel Lilac Girls. Came across this one on Fultonhistory.com (thank you, Sally Spanburgh, author of The Southampton Cottages of Gin Lane for telling me about this wonderful site…more on her great book later.)
The text reads: Debutantes of New York City, dancers in the gavotte. A feature of their presentation of “The Man Who Married a Dumb Wife.” Caroline is first on the left, front row. This is one of Caroline’s early performances–she went on to become an accomplished Broadway actress, appearing in many productions with the legendary Julia Marlowe and E.H. Sothern.
Full page in The New York Times, photo is bottom right. Love those costumes!
What exacting is a gavotte? According to Miriam-Webster dictionary it is: a folk dance of French peasant origin, supposedly danced by the people of Gap (Gavots). The dance (see below) became popular as a court dance in the 17th–18th century, developing more complicated steps under the direction of ballet masters. Its slow, walking steps were danced to music in time.
