April 28, 2006
Great Moments in Fuddy-Duddy History, Part 2
Just Blaze passed along another example of how today's High Culture often began as yesterday's menace to society:
"The indecent foreign dance called the Waltz was introduced at the English court on friday last. It is quite sufficient to cast one's eyes on the voluptuous intertwining of the limbs and close compressure of the bodies.. so long as this obscene display was confined to prostitutes and adulteresses, we did not think it deserving of notice, but now that it is... we feel a duty to warn every parent against exposing their daughter to so fatal a contagion."
-The London Times, 1816
Posted by jsmooth995 at April 28, 2006 06:02 PM
This ties in with a thing my brother told me. He said that the Waltz used to be considered bad for your kid, much like hip-hop is today. How much it has evolved indeed.
Posted by: Joe at April 28, 2006 07:34 PM
I'm not sure the waltz qualifies as high culture. Who are the great artists or cultural arbiters celebrated for their ability to dance the Waltz? I think the composers most celebrated for waltz melodies, like Berlioz and Strauss, were exemplars of popular culture, not high art. Maybe I'm drawing the line too tightly?
Posted by: asmile at April 29, 2006 09:54 AM
Yeah I know in its own day the waltz was more of a pop thing, even after this initial recoil from it.. but I'm talking about where folks see it within today's musical spectrum.. if most adults see a kid dancing a waltz in 2006, I think they see it as a radical and welcome departure from current pop culture.. a step up.
Posted by: Jay Smooth at April 29, 2006 10:04 PM
Fair enough, jay. But some cultural critics talk about high culture, middle culture and popular culture as three distinct entities. OF course, the divisions are in some sense arbitrary, but I think it's a useful way to look at culture. Even today, I don't think the waltz is high culture in they way that, say, ballet is high culture.
Posted by: asmile at April 30, 2006 10:59 AM
Maybe I'm drawing the line too tightly?
Yep!
Posted by: JB at May 1, 2006 06:15 PM
You guys are the 11703 best, thanks so much for the help.
Posted by: Caty Tota at August 9, 2006 03:51 PM
