@inproceedings{5837312,
  abstract     = {{During the first decade of the 19th century a remarkable pair of dances came into fashion in continental Europe: the walz and the quadrille. The pace at which this renouveau of dance fashion took shape, was unseen before. For several reasons the speed and geographical scope at which the introduction of the new dances materialized, leaves us struggling with many questions. The comparison with that other 19th century 'dancecraze' the polkamania, occuring three decades later, is easily made. But then, the circumstances were, of course, very different and that counts especially for the availability of distribution channels and systems: printed scores, fashion press, social networks,  organised eductional systems and institutions, etc. 

For continental Europe, the beginning of the 19th century undeniably was one of the most dramatic, revolutionary era's ever. The constant threat of war, the idea's of the enlightment, the dictate of the new French statemodel, etc. led to a situation leaving most societies at stake. Ancient institutions like operahouses, having held the official privileges on danceteaching for ages, commonly went banckrupt every few years. The same accounted for the printing business: economical uncertainty sparked a downsizing market. On top of that, the new French statemodel provoked a quite dramatic reorganisation of cultural societies. Old structures like guilds or chambers of retoric embodying the music and dance culture of the past, were abandoned, while new structures still coped with the threat of economical dismall. The well established social networks of the past, forming one of the essential distribution channels for dance repertoires in the 18th century, thus fell apart and time was not ripe for new networks to organise themselves yet. 

Obviously, the overall chaotic situation was not confined to the borders of the actual nation-states. At the time, Europe could be considered as an unstructured mass of struggling armies, borders shifting place every now and then following the pace of military success or defeat. The situation could hardly be less favorable for any introduction of new dance repertoires. The surprizing fact is not only that it eventually did happen, but also that it happed nearly simultanously in most parts of Europe. In the timespan of about a decade both dances were fashionable as good as everywere from Oslo to Rome and from Paris to Saint-Petersburg. The old distribution systems being wiped out and the new ones not being established, one should consider other strategies giving a reasonable explanation for this remarkable achievement.

The researcher's luck in this case, is that ego documents like eyewithnesses, diaries and autobiographies commenting on the remarkable feats of the 'Grande Armée' were for the first time in history produced 'en masse' by a wide variety of participants. I was able to find material from army musicians, common soldiers and Commissioned Officers alike. Offering a unique insight in the army culture and especially the central place music and dance culture played in the lives of so many soldiers at the time. Not only was dancing a very common passtime, to my surpise I discovered a complete system of dance lessons, mutual tutoring and competition. More is, it even was encouraged, supported and organized by the 'Grande Armée' itself. Because the French army at the time, was the only major organization present and/or influencial in large parts of Europe, I consider it as the/a major driving force behind the distribution of dance repertoires at the time. Because of the falling apart of other distribution channels it seems a very promising candidate for explanation, not considered fully until now.}},
  author       = {{Vanistendael, Cor}},
  booktitle    = {{Biennial Conference 2014 Ballroom, Stage & Village Green: Contexts for Early Dance, Abstracts}},
  editor       = {{Seagal, Barbara and Tuck, Bill}},
  keywords     = {{Music,Distribution of repertoires,Walz,Grande Armée,Quadrille,Dance Culture}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  location     = {{Bath, UK}},
  publisher    = {{Early Dance Circle}},
  title        = {{Shaping Europe's first dance craze: Napoleon's 'Grande armée': a driving force behind the dissemination of dance repertoires in continental Europe - 1803 & 1815}},
  year         = {{2014}},
}