In 1903 a group of teachers in the Manchester area formed an association, the Manchester and Salford Association of Teachers of Dancing. The prime mover was James Finnigan – also the arranger of the dance, The Military Two Step.
“Around the turn of the last century the term Military Two Step related to a group of dances of a common type. The dance which was actually called the Military Two Step was, in fact, arranged by Miss Ethel Finnigan, the daughter of James Finnigan of Manchester. Bibliography records the date as being 1903 (the great P.J.S Richardson, or1906 (Victor Sylvester), but this disparity in dates is of no significance, since they were apparently referring to the MTS of Ethel Finnigan, the key difference between her arrangement and the MTS of today being in the salute, which she placed on Bar 12, and made with the left hand. The arrangement which mirrors that of today’s dance is that of her father James, who produced the “Raw Recruit” (a Military Two Step), with the salute at Bar 6.
In his 1953 book, F. J. Mainey stated that he held the original script and music of the Raw Recruit, the copyright being dated 1898 and held by music publishers Francis, Day,Hunter, of New York. He contacted the publishers, who told him that the copyright extended to both the dance and the music, and that the date was correct. This proves, at least to my satisfaction, that the MTS of today is, in fact, the Raw Recruit of 1897/8.’’
- Mike Cooper, Old Time Dance Society.
The earliest appearance of it on a programme is: 1917 with music by Ethel Finnigan, dedicated to her Father, dated 1903. In 1950 the official board standardised many old time dances. The Military Two Step we know now is pretty much the one Ethel would have done. The Military Two Step is actually the least danced of all the Old Time Dances and has not appeared in a dance programme for many years. Yet, when people talk about Old Time it’s one of the two dances always mentioned, directly associated with Old Time.
We hope to resurrect the dance at The Whitworth Social.
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