New York Baroque Dance Company & Music of the Regiment
Francis Johnson’s New Cotillions, in Honor of Our Illustrious Guest General Lafayette
NEW YORK, NY
Notes on the Program
Today, Francis Johnson’s music is much overlooked; but two hundred years ago, he and his band were enormously popular. During his lifetime, Johnson was known as a talented fiddler and a virtuoso on the keyed bugle, and his music was widely heard in homes and concert halls. He performed for both Black and white audiences across the United States, and he was the first American musician of any race to tour Europe with a band—giving rise to the unconfirmed tale of the eighteen-year-old Queen Victoria’s gift of a silver bugle upon his performance for her in England in 1837, the year of her coronation. Thought to be the first African American composer to have his music published, Johnson only recently lost that place of pride when the works of Sawney Freeman (d.1820), a formerly enslaved musician and composer from the Connecticut coast, were discovered. Johnson left a substantial catalog of published music, well over two hundred works from 1818 to his death in 1844, including dozens of marches for public parades and cotillions—social dances popular in the 18th and 19th century—for entertaining guests in private homes.
In July of 1824, at the invitation of Congress and President James Monroe, the Marquis de Lafayette—the last surviving general of the American War of Independence—began his own tour of the 24 states of the United States. His visit to Philadelphia on 28 September 1824 was a lavish affair, perhaps the most extravagant of all welcomes in his honor across the young nation, marked by a three-mile-long parade accompanying the general into the city. As part of the celebrations, the Frenchman was honored by a Grand Ball at which the renowned Francis Johnson and his band were the featured act. Among the highlights of the evening were the performance of a Grand March and of Johnson’s New Cotillions, composed expressly for honoring the Marquis de Lafayette. This suite of dances is extraordinary for several reasons. Not only is it possible to pinpoint the exact place, day, and even the precise hour that they were first performed in Philadelphia, but Johnson’s musical score for the works that evening in the Chestnut Street Theatre includes valuable annotations on the spatial paths and the dance steps that were danced.
In this uniquely American program, the dance technique is realized using the Franco-American treatise, Victor Guillou’s Elements and Principles of the Art of Dancing, published in Philadelphia in 1817, which in turn is based on Jean-Henri Gourdoux-Daux’s treatise published in Paris six years earlier. To our knowledge, no one before us has pursued the high level of examination of Johnson’s dance music that you will enjoy in this presentation. This has been possible thanks to Alan Jones, the most respected authority of American-French dances from this period, in collaboration with NYBDC, the only professional American dance company dedicated to performing historical works from before 1850.
~ Julia Bengtsson
Artist Bio’s
New York Baroque Dance Company
Julia Bengtsson has choreographed for over 20 ballets, operas and films for venues including Carnegie Hall, UN Headquarters and The Kennedy Center. Her stage direction of Opera Lafayette’s production of Venus and Adonis was praised by The Washington Post as “a fine evening’s entertainment.” She joined The New York Baroque Dance Company in 2018, and in 2021 she was chosen for Early Music America’s Emerging Professional Leadership Council. She is a mentee of Bessie-awarded director/choreographer Catherine Turocy and a graduate of Royal Swedish Ballet School.
www.juliabengtsson.com
Alan Jones is a Paris-based dance historian and choreographer specialized in ballet and social dance of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. After performing internationally as a Baroque dancer, he devoted himself to the study of early American ballet and its European roots. His work involves both historical chronicling and the reconstruction and re-creation of early choreography. His papers at international conferences include “Emergence and Transformations of the Fandango” (City University of New York, 2021) and “Sentiment, Sensations, and Sensationalism: Conveying Emotion in Early American Pantomime” (Centre de Musique Baroque de Versailles, 2024).
Patrick Pride graduated with a BFA in Dance at Austin Peay State University in 2018. Upon his graduation, Patrick performed in musical theater productions around Tennessee and was a member of Found Movement Group, a contemporary-based dance theater company. Since Patrick moved to NYC in 2020, he has performed in music videos and dance projects, and choreographed Lion King Jr. Patrick joined The New York Baroque Dance Company in 2021. He also performs with the Brooklyn dance company, AP Dance Inc., which won the Special Mention award in the 2021 Global Shorts Awards.
Julian Donahue is a choreographer and dancer based in Brooklyn. He has danced with New York Theatre Ballet since 2018, performing masterworks by Antony Tudor, Merce Cunningham, Jerome Robbins, José Limón and many others; he started dancing with Ellen Cornfield in October 2024. Julian also specializes in Baroque, Renaissance, and folk dance forms, performing with New York Baroque Dance Company and Boston Early Music Festival. He has performed Baroque dance at Lincoln Center (May 2023) and at the Kennedy Center (May 2024). He founded Julian Donahue Dance in 2021, and his choreography has been shown at the Kennedy Center, Tanglewood, Battery Dance Festival, and more.
Adelle Lorraine started dancing at the age of 7 and trained with City Ballet, Raleigh School of Ballet, International Ballet Academy, and Carolina Dance Center. Adelle graduated with a BFA in Commercial Dance at Pace University, where she received training from Mandy Moore, Jennifer Hamilton, Dominique Kelley, Lisa La Touché and others. Adelle has performed choreography by The Barton Sisters, Ephrat Asherie, Michael Rooney, Paul Taylor’s “Company B” (restaged by Ruth Andrien), Sue Samuel’s /JoJo Smith, Carlos Nato, and Catherine Turocy.
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James Richman, Artistic Director of the Dallas Bach Society and Music Director of the New York Baroque Dance Company, is a prominent harpsichordist as well as one of today’s leading conductors of Baroque music and opera. He studied conducting with Max Rudolf and harpsichord with Albert Fuller, and graduated Harvard magna cum laude. He is a prizewinner in four international competitions for early keyboard instruments, and was made a Chevalier in the Order of Arts and Letters by the French government in recognition of his contributions to the art of music.
Leah Gale Nelson, violinist, specializes in the historical performance practices of the 17th-, 18th-, and early-19th-centuries. Based in New York City, she has performed throughout North America and in Europe. She has played with Smithsonian Chamber Players, Musica Angelica, Concert Royal, Clarion Music Society, etc, and has served as concertmaster for Dame Jane Glover with Chicago Opera Theater and Chicago’s Music of the Baroque. Leah studied historical performance at Mannes College of Music and currently teaches the same at Rutgers University.
Music of the Regiment
Dominic Giardino, historical clarinetist, enjoys a diverse career as a performer, administrator, and public historian. He has performed with Opera Lafayette, Boston Baroque, and the Washington Bach Consort, and appeared in chamber music with Raleigh Camerata, Three Notch’d Road, and Wit’s Folly. A researcher of 18th-century military music, he founded Music of the Regiment with Chris Troiano. Dominic is the executive director of Arizona Early Music and teaches at the University of North Texas and George Mason University.
Shelby Yamin, violinist, brings vibrant energy to performances worldwide, from Mount Vernon to Versailles. Equally skilled on modern and baroque violin, she has appeared with Philharmonia Baroque Chamber Players, New York Baroque Incorporated, and Tafelmusik Winter Institute, and served as guest concertmaster at the Oregon Bach Festival. A committed chamber musician, Shelby collaborates with ensembles in New York and Cleveland’s Les Délices. She also researches and records lesser-known works, including violin duets by Maddalena Lombardini Sirmen and music from Nelly Custis’s library.
Nathan Whittaker, violoncello, enjoys a dynamic career as a soloist, chamber musician, and historical cello specialist. He is Artistic Director of Gallery Concerts (Seattle) and regularly performs with ensembles including the Trinity Baroque Orchestra, Pacific Baroque Orchestra, New York Baroque Incorporated, ARTek, El Mundo, Fort Greene Chamber Music Society and The Sebastians. He has recorded for ATMA Musique, Harmonia, and Centaur, as well as NPR and CBC. He holds degrees from Indiana University and the University of Washington.
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This program was made possible by a research grant from Centre National de la Danse (France) and Lehman College’s choreographer’s residence, which hosted NYBDC this year as part of CUNY Dance Initiative.
Special thanks to Catherine Turocy for her steadfast support, to Gotham Early Music Festival for generously sharing their footage from Midtown Concerts and to Susan de Guardiola for contributing valuable feedback and information to help our work.