The Philadelphia Dancing Assembly (1749–1849) [ Sports & Leisure ]
… this period had other notions than England for their ‘mother’ country: Native Americans, African-descended people, and European settlers from Germany or Ireland sought to sustain their own social and cultural practices. Encounters among … at these early gatherings were English, taught by English masters, who boasted connections to England and other European countries. In 1753, for example, John Ormsby informed those interested in his school of fencing and dancing that he ‘has had the honour to tutor several gentlemen and ladies of the first rank in different parts of Europe.’ 8 He prepared students for ‘a discreet and courteous behavior, a genteel easy carriage,’ allowing them ‘to …
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