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Virginia Christmas Dance

The Virginia Essense

Couples were still dancing the Virginia Reel on into the 19th Century, when minstrel performer, Billy Kersands created a tap step called the Virginia Essense. One admirer said that Kersands "moves forward without appearing to move his feet at all, by manipulating his toes and heels rapidly, so that his body is propelled without changing the position of his legs."

The Virginia Essence was the precursor to both the “old soft shoe” and the basis upon which Michael Jackson based his Moonwalk in 1983.

Virginia's long, rich history of dance is still alive and well in the Commonwealth as evidenced by these outstanding organizations:

The Virginia Reel

George Washington loved to dance and while he did enjoy dancing the Minuet, the President’s favorite was an English country dance called the “Sir Roger de Coverly.”

Right and proper etiquette dictated that when throwing a formal ball, the host was to end the evening with a simple dance, one which could be danced by everyone. This particular country dance fit the bill. The first recorded mention of the “Sir Roger de Coverly,” was in 1650 in a statement that the dance had been named after "Grandfather DeCoverly." The steps to this simple “finishing dance” as it was often called, were described by John Playford in one of the earlier of his many editions of “The Dancing Master,” published in London between 1651 to 1728. This dance came to be known as the Virginia Reel in America.

For dates and locations

of all holiday events including dance performances,

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Virginia Ballet Company

Latin Ballet of Virginia

Southwest Virginia Ballet

Ballet Virginia International

Concert Ballet of Virginia

Virginia Regional Ballet

The Nutcracker