Good Tunes Bush Dance Book (e-Book)
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143 tunes arranged in sets for Bush Dances
compiled by David De Santi
From the time of earliest settlement the older country dances were rapidly replaced by new dance fashions constantly arriving in the colony and adopted by all classes of society. As early as 1820, the waltz and quadrille had been established alongside these country dances, jigs and reels. By the 1850s the scene was dominated by further quadrilles such as the Lancers, Caledonians and Parisian, with the Alberts, Fitzroy, Waltz Cotillion and others to follow. Also fashionable were the Waltz, Galop, Polka, Schottische, Polka Mazurka and Varsoviana.
In a few country areas some of these dances have survived and are still being danced by local communities. Fortunately they are being preserved for future generations.
The National Library of Australia has actively supported this preservation and collection.
The tunes in this book are arranged in sets suitable for the suggested dances. These sets can also be used for other similiar structured dances in regards to numbers of bars and repetitions.
The majority of the tunes used are authentic tunes collected from older dance musicians by folklorists since the early 1950s. The tunes have been collected from a number of printed books, transcriptions and handed- on scraps of paper!
This collection is not a complete view of the repertoire of the bush musician as many more common Anglo-Celtic tunes have not been included. Collections such as Peter Ellis’ Collectors Choice 3 volumes of 500 tunes gives a fuller picture of the tunes played by Australia’s dance musicians.
The aim of this collection is to add the existing traditional musicians repertoire and to ensure these unique tunes are given the opportununity to be played and enjoyed.
Some traditional styled contemporary written tunes have also been included to reinforce that there is a living tradition of folk music in Australia. Many thanks to those contributors. It also demonstrates the talent in the current traditional folk music scene.
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compiled by David De Santi
BUSH DANCE
Modern bush dancing is a city based development from the folk revival of the 1950s. The majority of the dances were folk dances from Great Britain and Europe, while the others were from the Australian tradition. Colonial dancing actually describes the social dance fashion of town and country of the 19th Century.From the time of earliest settlement the older country dances were rapidly replaced by new dance fashions constantly arriving in the colony and adopted by all classes of society. As early as 1820, the waltz and quadrille had been established alongside these country dances, jigs and reels. By the 1850s the scene was dominated by further quadrilles such as the Lancers, Caledonians and Parisian, with the Alberts, Fitzroy, Waltz Cotillion and others to follow. Also fashionable were the Waltz, Galop, Polka, Schottische, Polka Mazurka and Varsoviana.
In a few country areas some of these dances have survived and are still being danced by local communities. Fortunately they are being preserved for future generations.
COLLECTING THE TRADITION
Over the past years we have all become aware of the importance of our physical environment. Equally important is the preservation of our cultural environment or folklore. A number of voluntary collectors such as John Meredith, Ron Edwards, Alan & Bill Scott, Rob Willis, Shirley Andrews, Dave de Hugard, Chris Sullivan, Mark Rummery, Barry McDonald, Brad Tate and Peter Ellis, to name a few, have for some years been travelling all over Australia recording our many areas of folklore, from native Australian to those who came from other lands after colonisation. Thanks to this hard work many of the bush dances, songs and music can now be enjoyed and played.The National Library of Australia has actively supported this preservation and collection.
ABOUT THE SOURCE BOOKS
This book draws from a number of sources including larger collections of tunes for Australian folk dancing compiled by David De Santi.The tunes in this book are arranged in sets suitable for the suggested dances. These sets can also be used for other similiar structured dances in regards to numbers of bars and repetitions.
The majority of the tunes used are authentic tunes collected from older dance musicians by folklorists since the early 1950s. The tunes have been collected from a number of printed books, transcriptions and handed- on scraps of paper!
This collection is not a complete view of the repertoire of the bush musician as many more common Anglo-Celtic tunes have not been included. Collections such as Peter Ellis’ Collectors Choice 3 volumes of 500 tunes gives a fuller picture of the tunes played by Australia’s dance musicians.
The aim of this collection is to add the existing traditional musicians repertoire and to ensure these unique tunes are given the opportununity to be played and enjoyed.
Some traditional styled contemporary written tunes have also been included to reinforce that there is a living tradition of folk music in Australia. Many thanks to those contributors. It also demonstrates the talent in the current traditional folk music scene.
References & Further Reading:
- Australian Dance Tunes Volume 1 and 2 - compiled by David De Santi - 355 tunes (CDs available).
- Take Your Partners - Shirley Andrews, 1979
- Two Hundred Years Dancing - Shirley Andrews, Peter Ellis, 1988
- Folk Songs of Australia, Vol. 1 & 2 - John Meredith, Hugh Anderson, R. Covell, P. Brown, 1967, 1987
- Bush Dance - Lance Green, David Johnson, 1987
- Down and Outback - Brad Tate, Popinjay Publications
- Collector’s Choice, 3 volumes of over 500 tunes - Peter Ellis
- Australian Dance Tunes for Fiddle (includes CD) - Alan Musgrove, Wongawilli Colonial Dance Club
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