Portland Dance Eclectic's 2025 Summer Dances at Norse Hall

A Bastille Day Dance: Celebrating French Music, Style and Dance

A Bastille Day DanceSat.
July 12; 7:00 PM – 10:30 PM

Norse Hall (Upstairs Ballroom),
111 NE 11th Ave, Portland


Celebrate Bastille Day with us — French style!

Join us for an evening of social dancing set to a lively and romantic playlist of French-language music. From classic musette and chanson to modern French swing, blues, and fusion, the evening’s soundtrack will transport you to a Parisian dance hall with a distinctly Dance Eclectic twist.

Wondering what makes a Bastille Day dance? There are no rules — just inspiration. Hint: It’s whatever you want it to be. Come as you are, bring your flair, your curiosity, and your joy to the floor. Dance it your way.

The dance will be held in the upstairs ballroom at Norse Hall — the same cozy, air-conditioned space where we host Blues Eclectic. It's a perfect match for the spirit of Bal Musette and a beautiful place to explore music and movement from another culture.

This event is part of our special focus playlist series, where we dive into the spirit of different dance cultures through world music, roots, and fusion genres — always grounded in the partner dance connection we love.
For more inspiration, see this webpage that we will be updating regularly

Below is a preview our evolving playlist — and feel free to send in your French favorites!.

What Makes French Social Dance... French?

Playful elegance — Not overly serious, but never sloppy.
Improv within structure — Whether in a swing out or a musette waltz, there’s always room for expression.
Romance without pressure — It’s about mood, about ambiance, about that one perfect moment, not technical precision.
Space for everyone — From grand ballrooms to street corners, the dance is for all.


Feel free to dress in your own French-inspired style —
Think Picasso at a café, 1940s guinguette picnic, accordion-chic, or whatever France feels like to you.
Stripes, berets, scarves, vintage finds, or just something that makes you want to dance —
Interpret freely, express joyfully.

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A History of French Social Partner Dancing (1800–2025)
1800–1850: Salon and Society
In the aftermath of the French Revolution and Napoleon’s empire, the ballroom became a place of structured elegance. Dances like the quadrille and the cotillon reaffirmed social order, while the waltz — controversial for its closed embrace — introduced a new kind of intimacy.

  • Key dances: Waltz (introduced early 1800s), Polka, Mazurka
  • Musical backdrop: Classical salon music and Romantic composers like Chopin and Schubert
  • Social function: Dance was status, spectacle, and courtship — but also the beginning of partnered improvisation
1850–1899: From Gilded Halls to Outdoor Guinguettes
Industrialization brought leisure to the working class, and with it, new dance spaces — the guinguettes: riverside cafés just outside Paris where people danced, drank, and mingled on Sundays. The French waltz loosened and lightened, and the accordion began its rise.
  • Cultural shift: Dance moved from elite ballrooms to public courtyards
  • Musical evolution: The early musette tradition emerged, shaped by Auvergnat and Italian immigrants
  • Spirit: More casual, communal, and joyful — dance as a weekly release for everyone
1899–1914: Belle Époque and the Rise of Bal-Musette
Turn-of-the-century Paris was alive with electricity, innovation, and movement. Working-class dance halls flourished — the Bal-Musette became the people’s ballroom.
  • Key styles: Java, Valse Musette, Tango Musette, Pasodoble
  • Sound: Accordions, clarinets, and guitars played a blend of rural French, Italian, and Roma influences
  • Atmosphere: Intimate, smoky, and inclusive — close-hold dancing was sensual, improvised, and deeply musical
1914–1939: War, Jazz, and Cultural Crossroads
World War I shook the continent, but the post-war years saw a cultural explosion. Paris became a hub for international artists and African-American jazz musicians. Musette met jazz, and the result was electric.
  • New influences: Foxtrot, Charleston, early swing, Gypsy jazz (Django Reinhardt, Stéphane Grappelli)
  • Iconic venues: The “Bal Nègre” in Montparnasse, where French, Caribbean, and African rhythms mixed
  • Essence: Improvisation, rhythm, and resilience — dance as cultural fusion and freedom
1939–1950: Occupation and Resistance
During WWII, dancing in France became subversive. The Nazi regime banned jazz and African-American music, but secret dance halls refused silence.
  • Resistance through rhythm: People danced Java, swing, and musette in basements and backrooms
  • Post-war revival: Guinguettes returned with a vengeance, pulsing with Valse Musette, Tango Musette, and joy
1950s–1970s: The Fade and the Flame
Rock and roll swept through France, and the musette halls began to close. But traditional partner dance never fully disappeared.
  • Preservation: Older generations kept musette alive at family gatherings and rural fêtes
  • Folk revival: Breton circle dances and French line dances saw brief returns
  • Soundtrack of sentiment: Chanson artists like Piaf, Trenet, and Brel kept the emotional core alive
1980s–2000s: Fusion and Rediscovery
Musette made a quiet comeback — not as nostalgia, but as a new canvas for creativity. Electronic artists remixed old waltzes, and young dancers discovered the intimacy of partner dance anew.
  • Swing and blues revival hit Paris
  • Electro-musette and neo-waltz emerged through artists like Gotan Project and Yann Tiersen
  • Fusion culture: Dancers began blending swing, blues, tango, and French chanson into expressive improvisation
2010s–2025: The Eclectic Era
This is our era. The dance floor is no longer owned by one tradition — it’s shaped by connection, curiosity, and the joy of expression.
  • Fusion dancing flourished — blues to Zaz, swing to Caravan Palace, tango to musette jazz
  • Events like Bal Pop’ and Retro Guinguette reimagined the guinguette spirit with vintage clothes, DJs, and dancing under the stars
  • The new rule: If it moves you, and if someone says yes, you can dance it

The French Style in Dance and Music – A Poetic Portrait
It begins with a sigh,
a breeze off the Seine, soft with longing.
Accordion notes spiral like birds over cobblestones,
and footsteps echo in rhythm with memory.

The French style is a perfume of eras —
Belle Époque charm, smoky chanson,
the swing of Django’s guitar,
and the whisper of silk skirts on marble floors.

It is impressionist movement:
never rigid, always suggestion.
A raised eyebrow, a tilted beret,
the flirt of a hand before the next step.

It dances in circles and spirals,
lilting in waltzes under lanterns,
slinking in musette tangos with café noir in hand,
and bouncing with verve in Bal-musette swing.

It’s not about perfection —
it’s about style.
The je ne sais quoi of doing things
with grace, even when offbeat.

Films That Capture the Bal-Musette Feel
You can reference these in newsletters or on your site to set the tone:
Old-school romance & dance atmosphere:

  • French Cancan (1955) – Jean Renoir’s technicolor ode to French nightlife
  • La Môme / La Vie en Rose (2007) – biopic of Édith Piaf, dripping with period charm
  • The Red Balloon (1956) – not a dance film, but a short poetic look at 1950s Paris streets
Modern films with retro heart:
  • Midnight in Paris (2011) – time-travel fantasy into 1920s–50s Paris culture
  • Amélie (2001) – whimsical modern French classic with a musette-inspired soundtrack

Bal-Musette Fashion: Then & Now
In the dance halls and riverside guinguettes of 1930s–1950s Paris, Bal-Musette fashion was a lively mix of practicality, romance, and flair. Working-class Parisians dressed to impress without formality: women in floral dresses, scarves, and low heels; men in suspenders, rolled-up sleeves, and jaunty caps or berets. Think comfortable elegance with a playful twist — always ready to dance.
For our modern Bal, you’re invited to
interpret the spirit, not the costume. Stripes, vintage skirts, trousers with flair, soft shoes, a splash of red, a scarf, or a fedora — anything that makes you feel a little French, a little free, and ready to move. Add your own twist: dressy, casual, retro, or bold — as long as it says joie de vivre, it’s perfect.

Characteristics of French Social Partner Dances
Valse Musette (French Waltz)

  • Meter: 3/4, light and lilting
  • Embrace: Close, rotating, sentimental
  • Mood: Nostalgic, poetic, sometimes dizzying
  • Music: Accordion-centered, often tinged with melancholy
  • Movement: Spirals, glides, turns — not ballroom precision but dreamlike flow
Java
  • Roots: Emerged in Bal-Musette halls around 1910–20
  • Feel: The rebellious younger sibling of the waltz
  • Embrace: Extremely close — cheek-to-cheek, body-to-body
  • Movement: Sliding, bouncing, almost syncopated; exaggerated hips and shoulders
  • Mood: Gritty, flirtatious, sensual, working-class
  • Reputation: So intimate it was banned in some cafés for being “too suggestive”
  • Iconic track: “La Java Bleue”
Tango Musette
  • Fusion: Blends Argentine tango attitude with French musicality
  • Musical style: Accordion-based, with tango rhythm and chanson lyricism
  • Movement: Close-embrace tango with softer edges — less sharp, more swaying
Swing & Gypsy Jazz
  • Influences: Django Reinhardt and American jazz musicians
  • Style: Light, agile, playful — swing with a Parisian lilt
  • Popular dances: Lindy Hop, Balboa, Blues with musette flavor
Chanson Française and Dance
  • Style: Vocally driven, poetic, emotive
  • Dance suitability: Ideal for lyrical blues, tango-blues, and fusion
  • Artists: Édith Piaf, Jacques Brel, Charles Aznavour; modern voices like Zaz and Stromae
  • Feel: Often free-form in rhythm, demanding emotional musicality

Recreating the Spirit of Bal-Musette Today
To recreate a Bal-Musette is not to mimic the past. It’s to channel its essence — intimacy, spontaneity, musical connection, and collective joy.
What defined the original Bal-Musette?
  • Accessibility: No gowns or tuxes required — just rhythm and curiosity
  • Diversity: Locals, immigrants, sex workers, artists, lovers — all danced together
  • Emotion: Music that spoke of heartbreak and desire, joy and memory
  • Improvisation: The dance happened in the moment
  • Community: Shared tables, flowing wine, dancing until dawn

Bal-Musette: The Dance Hall of the People

๐Ÿ•ฏ๏ธ Context & Origins (Late 1800s – Early 1900s)
Bal-musette emerged in Paris in the late 19th century as a form of popular, working-class entertainment. It was the party of the people — lively, noisy, and full of sweat, smoke, and song.

The first bal-musette halls appeared in immigrant-heavy neighborhoods like Belleville and Montmartre, fueled by migrants from Auvergne, Italy, and later Romani communities.
The name comes from the “musette” bagpipe (played by Auvergnats), but over time it came to refer to the accordion music that dominated the scene.
This was not the ballroom — it was close, intimate, communal, often packed to the rafters with workers, maids, street musicians, sex workers, and lovers. Entry was cheap, drinks flowed, and the music invited emotion, flirtation, and physical connection.

๐ŸŽถ The Music of Bal-Musette
Accordion is at its core, often supported by violin, clarinet, and guitar. The sound is instantly recognizable — a rich mix of nostalgia, melancholy, and whimsy.

The music is written mostly in triple meter (3/4) for waltzing, but it also included tango musette, pasodoble, polkas, and later foxtrot and swing.
Rhythms are light and lilting, but with a passionate undertone — perfect for spontaneous, close-embrace dancing.
Notable artists:

Émile Vacher – one of the first musette accordionists
Jo Privat – jazz-tinged musette master
Tony Muréna – tango-musette pioneer
Yvette Horner – iconic accordionist of postwar guinguettes
๐Ÿ’ƒ The Dance(s) of Bal-Musette
Bal-musette wasn’t just a single dance — it was a social dance setting, a whole ecosystem. The most common dances included:

Musette Waltz (Valse Musette): Spinning, gliding, and close-hold. Sometimes fast and dizzying, sometimes slow and sentimental.
Tango Musette: A French-flavored tango, less sharp than Argentine, more sultry than ballroom.
Paso Doble & Polka: Often included as upbeat, rhythmic breaks.
Foxtrot / Swing: Entered the bal-musette halls during the interwar jazz craze.
These dances emphasized intimacy, improvisation, and musicality over formal steps — they were born from emotion more than technique.

๐ŸŒ€ Java: The Streetwise Waltz

๐Ÿงท Origins & Identity
The Java (sometimes spelled "la java") is the gritty younger sibling of the musette waltz. It likely emerged in the early 1910s–20s within the same Bal-Musette halls, but it distinguished itself with an attitude: playful, cheeky, a little rebellious.

It’s often described as a “sliding” waltz danced very close, with exaggerated hip and shoulder movement, often with partners in a face-to-face embrace, cheek to cheek.
You might picture couples almost gliding as one — “a walking kiss,” some have called it.
It was sensual, but not flashy — about body contact and syncopation, not big moves.
It became popular with working-class Parisians, criminals, sex workers, and cabaret dancers. Some cafes banned it for being "too suggestive."

๐ŸŽต Java Music
Musically, Java often used the same musette waltz structure, but with a distinctive bounce or swing, and sometimes syncopated rhythms that encouraged its particular style of movement.

Artists like Fréhel and Damia sang Java chansons — rich with themes of heartbreak, struggle, and street life.

Example: “La Java Bleue” – a classic Java song, famously sung by Frehel and also by Édith Piaf.
๐ŸŽญ Did Java and Bal-Musette Happen at the Same Events?

Yes — absolutely. Java evolved within the Bal-Musette scene.

A night at a Bal-Musette hall might start with a classic valse musette, then shift into a lively Java, a tango, or a foxtrot.
Java was a style within the event, and often a mood-setter — dancers who wanted something flirtier or more physical would break into Java style.
While musette waltz had a sentimental elegance, Java had earthy intimacy.
So think of Bal-Musette as the venue/scene, and Java as one of its signature dance styles — just like swing is to a lindy hop party.

Augest 17 Sunday Dance Eclectic with Live Music by Larry Unger and Friends

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10:45am: Rotary Waltz lesson- Dancing to faster tempo waltzes with Dean Paton from Seattle

12 to 3pm: Larry Unger and friends, a Portland Favorite, plays waltzes from his CDs and plus some new ones along with acoustic swing, blues, foxtrots, tangos and other dance music with recorded music at breaks.

Norse Hall, 111 NE 11th Ave, Portland, 
Cost: $15 Dance only, $20 dance and lesson

We are excited to welcome back a Portland favorite,  Larry Unger, who will be joined and Betsy Branch on violin and Bill Tomczak. Larry knows how to play for dancers and his past performances here have been highlights of the dance year. Try not to miss this special dance.
 
Their playlist will be waltzes from Larry's CDs and some new ones plus acoustic swing, blues, foxtrots, tangos and other dance music. 
 
Larry Unger brings together traditional and contemporary acoustic music from around the world, creating a dynamic, swinging sound that is sure to get you on your feet. With Audry on fiddle and Larry on guitar and banjo, their music is full of rhythmic drive

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