We have not posted on this blog for quite some time now. We were relying heavily on Dance Figures Index: American Country Dances 1730-1810 by Robert Keller, that used to be available online. It has been an invaluable resource for us (as it has, likely, for many people interested in historical dance), as it provides information as to which dance was published in which publication or manuscript, and where to get copies of that particular manuscript. Unfortunately, the Kellers’ website (both of Bob Keller and his wife, Kate van Winkle Keller), the repository of years of historical dance scholarship, was hacked and was not available online for some months. Thankfully, that is no longer the case, at least for American dance. Bob Keller’s Dance Figures Index for American dance is now availablet http://www.cdss.org/elibrary/DFIA/index.htm
We recently purchased a copy of the Dance Figures Index of American Dance in book form and just wish to acknowledge the scholarship of both Robert Keller, and Kate van Winkle Keller, who have spent many, many years on the history of American dance.
Jacob and Nancy Bloom