The Introduction

When Fried Herman was asked by members of the band Bare Necessities to write a dance in honor of Helene Cornelius, her first effort, called The Human Race (Fringe Benefits, 1996), was so difficult that she followed it with The Introduction, a 4 couple set dance in waltz time that is far more accessible. The dance features two signature elements of Fried’s choreography, a cross-hands waltz swing being one. Fried loved to program a partner swing in an evening’s dance, and it didn’t have to be a traditional buzz step swing with a ballroom hold to count. The second element is the Choice Morsels or diagonal hey, named after the dance in which it first appears in the book of the same title. Part of Fried’s creativity was to introduce a new figure and then find new settings in which to feature it or variations that added interest and appeal. The hey appears for instance in Bryon’s Boutade, but modified. In this video, taken at the 2016 Playford Ball in New York City, the top couple come toward each other prior to casting, something Fried always insisted on because a) there is time for it and b), more importantly, because the move helps cement the social connection between dancers. The dancer in the 4th man’s position avoids a twiddle when transitioning from the right-hands across halfway to the left-hands across halfway. All the dancers ease out of the left-hand star to start the hey from the men’s or women’s line of the set. Most use a waltz step, a long-short-short pattern that helps emphasize the strong first beat in each measure of the waltz, that is, a traveling step onto the right foot followed by two short steps almost in place; then the same pattern with a traveling step onto the left foot. In the hey during the first two rounds, you’ll see that the two dancers at either end of the set not involved in the hey stand still; we did this to help clarify the hey’s structure. In the second two rounds, those dancers that wished to were free to add a turn-single when not crossing on the diagonal. I feel a mix of emotions when I see this dance. I adore its music and choreography. I am very proud of the dancers and hugely grateful to the musicians—Karen Axelrod, Eric Martin, and Daniel Beerbohm—for bringing out its beauty. And of course, dancing The Introduction is an opportunity to recall its creator, my friend and teacher Fried Herman, and its dedicatee, the much beloved teacher and dancer from Boston, Helene Cornelius. Just before her death in 2013, Helene danced at the Lenox Assembly. She thought the dancing there was marvelous (so did we!). How lucky we were that she was there to help make it so. –Paul Ross