The History and Evolution of Money Musk
(Barbara Menard Pugliese, Antonia Pugliese)
We begin with a short biography of Sir Archibald Grant of Monemusk, his scandalous foray into speculation, his acquisition of wealth through marriage to a widow who owned West Indies property and enslaved people, and finally his settling down to become a patron of music and dance. From there we trace the popularity of the tune Money Musk in the American Revolution and the contemporary prevalence of Money Musk as a dance. We examine different versions of the dance and how the mechanics of the dance change over time to reflect social dance style. Then we describe revivals of Money Musk in folk dance and current day movements to re-popularize the dance.
Barbara Menard Pugliese, Medford, MA, USA
Barbara Pugliese has been co-director of the Commonwealth Vintage Dancers since 2007. Founded in 1983, CVD specializes in reconstructing, teaching, and performing American ballroom dances of the Nineteenth and early Twentieth Centuries. The dance company sponsored an international dance week in Newport, Rhode Island for 25 years, and are currently hosting seven formal balls a year as well as performing for museums and festivals. Barbara researches ballroom dances from 1770 to 1929, and is an expert in material culture and women's studies of the same time period. She has a Masters in Library and Information Science and has worked as an administrator for human rights charities and academic institutions.
Antonia Pugliese, Woburn, MA, USA
Dr. Antonia Pugliese has been co-director of the Commonwealth Vintage Dancers since 2012. She researches and reconstructs dancing and social events of the years 1770 to 1929. Her teaching style, which is exacting but tempered with kindness and humor, is popular with young people. She loves curating fairytale experiences for dancers, and recently taught the Charleston to a crowd of over 800 people at the Great Gatsby Ball in Boston. Antonia recently received her PhD in Molecular Microbiology from Tufts University.
