Vernon and Irene Castle in 1914

Vernon and Irene Castle were a husband-and-wife team of ballroom dancers of the early 20th century. They are credited with both invigorating and dousing the popularity of the modern dancing. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (400x726, 64 KB) Summary Vernon and Irene Castle in 1914. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (400x726, 64 KB) Summary Vernon and Irene Castle in 1914. ... Gaskell Ball Ballroom dance, refers collectively to a set of partner dances, which originated in the Western world and are now enjoyed both socially and competitively around the globe. ... This article or section is not written in the formal tone expected of an encyclopedia article. ...

Vernon Castle (May 2, 1887 - February 15, 1918) was born William Vernon Blyth in Norwich, Norfolk, England. May 2 is the 122nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (123rd in leap years). ... 1887 (MDCCCLXXXVII) is a common year starting on Saturday (click on link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar or a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. ... February 15 is the 46th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1918 (MCMXVIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar (see link for calendar) or a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. ... Shown within Norfolk Geography Status: City (1195) Government Region: East of England Administrative County: Norfolk Area: - Total Ranked 322nd 39. ... Norfolk (pronounced IPA: ) is a low-lying county in East Anglia in the east of southern England. ... Motto: (French for God and my right) Anthem: Multiple unofficial anthems Capital London Largest city London Official language(s) English (de facto) Unification    - by Athelstan AD 927  Area    - Total 130,395 km² (1st in UK)   50,346 sq mi  Population    - 2005 est. ...

Irene Castle (April 17, 1893 - January 25, 1969) was born Irene Foote in New Rochelle, New York. April 17 is the 107th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (108th in leap years). ... 1893 (MDCCCXCIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... January 25 is the 25th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1969 (MCMLXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1969 calendar). ... New Rochelle City Hall New Roc City New Rochelle is a city in Westchester County in the U.S. state of New York, 16 miles (26 km) from Grand Central Terminal in New York City and 2 miles north of the border with The Bronx. ...

Rise to Fame

The Castles' initial fame began in Paris, where they introduced American ragtime dances such as the Turkey Trot and Grizzly Bear. When the Castles returned home to the U.S., their success was repeated on a far wider scale. Making their New York debut in 1912 at a branch of the Cafe de Paris, operated by Louis Martin, who had given them their start in Paris, the duo were soon in demand on stage, in vaudeville and in motion pictures. In 1914 the couple opened a dancing school in New York called "Castle House", a nightclub called "Castles By the Sea" on the Boardwalk in Long Beach, New York, and a restaurant, "Sans Souci." At Castle House they taught New York society the latest dance steps by day, and greeted guests and performed at their club and cafe by night. They also were in demand for private lessons and appearances at fashionable parties. Despite their fame, they often found themselves treated as hired menials; if a rich client was too demanding, Vernon would quote a fee of a thousand dollars an hour for lessons and he often got it.   City flag City coat of arms Motto: Fluctuat nec mergitur (Latin: Tossed by the waves, she does not sink) Coordinates Time Zone CET (GMT +1) Administration Country France Région ÃŽle-de-France Département Paris (75) Subdivisions 20 arrondissements Mayor Bertrand Delanoë  (PS) (since 2001) City Statistics Land area... Second edition cover of Maple Leaf Rag, perhaps the most famous rag of all Ragtime is an American musical genre enjoying its peak popularity between 1899–1918. ... A Turkey Trot is an American Thanksgiving tradition. ... The Grizzly Bear started in San Francisco, along with the Bunny Hug and Texas Tommy (dance) and was also done on the Staten Island ferry boats in the 1900s. ... United States is the current Good Article Collaboration of the week! Please help to improve this article to the highest of standards. ... Success may mean: a level of social status achievement of a objective/goal the opposite of failure, ex. ... 1912 (MCMXII) was a leap year starting on Monday in the Gregorian calendar (or a leap year starting on Tuesday in the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... Nickname: The City by the Sea Official website: City of Long Beach Location Location in the state of New York Government County Nassau County City Manager John Laffey Geographical characteristics Area Total 3. ... A lesson is a structured period of time where learning occurs. ...

Film and Fashion

The Castles appeared in a newsreel called Social and Theatrical Dancing in 1914 and wrote a bestselling instructional book, Modern Dancing, later the same year. The pair also starred in a feature film called The Whirl of Life (1915), which was well-received by critics and public alike. As the couple's celebrity increased in the mid-1910s, Irene Castle became a major fashion trendsetter, initiating the vogue for bobbed hair and shorter skirts. Her chic wardrobe was supplied almost exclusively by the couturiere "Lucile", (Lucy, Lady Duff-Gordon) but Irene also designed some of her clothes herself. 1914 (MCMXIV) was a common year starting on Thursday. ... 1915 (MCMXV) was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... // Events and trends The 1910s represent the culmination of European militarism which had its beginnings during the second half of the 19th Century. ... Lady Duff Gordon (Lucile) with a model in her New York salon, 1916 (photo: Arnold Genthe) Lucy Christiana, Lady Duff Gordon (June 13, 1863 – April 20, 1935) was a leading fashion designer in the early 20th century, and the chief rival to Paris avant garde couturier Paul Poiret. ...

Irene Castle costumed by Lucile for Watch Your Step, 1914

The Castles endorsed Victor Records and Victrolas, issuing records by the Castle House Orchestra, led by James Reese Europe –– a pioneering figure in Black music. They also lent their names to advertising for other mechandising products, from cigars and cosmetics to shoes and hats. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (800x1214, 154 KB) Summary Irene Castle in a costume by Lucile for Irving Berlins Watch Your Step, 1914. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (800x1214, 154 KB) Summary Irene Castle in a costume by Lucile for Irving Berlins Watch Your Step, 1914. ... The Victor Talking Machine Company (1901 - 1929) was a United States corporation, the leading American producer of phonographs and phonograph records and one of the leading phonograph companies in the world at the time. ... The Victor Talking Machine Company (1901 - 1929) was a United States corporation, the leading American producer of phonographs and phonograph records and one of the leading phonograph companies in the world at the time. ... James Reese Europe (22 February 1881–9 May 1919) was a United States ragtime and early jazz bandleader, arranger, and composer. ... African American music (also called black music, formerly known as race music) is an umbrella term given to a range of musical genres emerging from or influenced by the culture of United States. ...

The Castles' greatest success together was on Broadway in Irving Berlin's debut musical Watch Your Step (1914). In this extravaganza, the couple refined and popularized the Fox Trot dance, which Vaudeville comedian Harry Fox is believed to have invented. After its New York run, Watch Your Step toured through 1916. Irving Berlin (May 11, 1888 – September 22, 1989), born Israel Isidore Baline[1], in Tyumen, Russia (according to other sources[citation needed] possibly Mogilev, now Belarus), was an American composer and lyricist, one of the most prodigious and famous American songwriters in history. ... FoxTrot is a daily American comic strip written and illustrated by Bill Amend centering on the daily lives of the Fox family; Andy, Roger, Paige, Peter, and Jason. ... Vaudeville is a style of multi-act theatre which flourished in North America from the 1880s through the 1920s. ... A comedian, or comic, is an entertainer who amuses an audience by making them laugh. ... For the US music rights agency, see Harry Fox Agency Harry Fox was a vaudeville dancer and comedian, most famous for giving his name to the Fox Trot dance. ...

World War I

Vernon served as a pilot during World War I for the Royal Flying Corps and later as a training instructor for US pilots. In 1918, while conducting flight maneuvers at Benbrook Field near Fort Worth, Texas his plane crashed and he was killed instantly. Irene paid tribute to Vernon in her memoir My Husband (1919). An aviator is a person who flies aircraft for pleasure or as a profession. ... Combatants Allied Powers: France Italy Russia Serbia United Kingdom United States Central Powers: Austria-Hungary Bulgaria Germany Ottoman Empire Commanders Ferdinand Foch Georges Clemenceau Victor Emmanuel III Luigi Cadorna Nicholas II Aleksei Brusilov Herbert Henry Asquith Douglas Haig John Jellicoe Woodrow Wilson John Pershing Wilhelm II Paul von Hindenburg Reinhard... The Royal Flying Corps (RFC) was the over-land air arm of the British military during most of World War I. Origin and Early History Formed by Royal Warrant on May 13, 1912, the RFC superseded the Air Battalion of the Royal Engineers. ... 1918 (MCMXVIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar (see link for calendar) or a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. ... Nickname: Cowtown Motto: Where the West Begins Location in the state of Texas Coordinates: Country United States State Texas Counties Tarrant and Denton Mayor Michael J. Moncrief Area    - City 774. ... 1919 (MCMXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ...

Life After Vernon

Irene starred solo in about a dozen silent films between 1917 and 1924 and she also appeared in several stage productions before retiring from show business. She married three more times –– to Robert Treman, Frederic McLaughlin, and George Enzinger. A silent film is a film which has no accompanying soundtrack. ...

In 1939 her life with Vernon was turned into a movie, The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle, produced by RKO and starring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. Irene served as a technical advisor on the film but clashed with Rogers who refused to cut or color her hair or to wear authentic reproductions of Castle's Lucile dresses. 1939 (MCMXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle is a biographical musical comedy starring Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Edna May Oliver and Walter Brennan. ... RKO could stand for: RKO Pictures The R.K.O. - finishing manoever (and initials) of WWE professional wrestler Randy Orton. ... Balanchine[1] and Nureyev[2] rated him the greatest dancer of the 20th Century, and he is generally acknowledged to have been the most influential dancer in the history of filmed and televised musicals. ... Ginger Rogers on the cover of the April, 1938 issue of Modern Screen Magazine Beautiful Ginger Rogers (July 16, 1911 – April 25, 1995) was a legendary Academy Award-winning American actress and dancer. ... An expert or knowledgeable advisor to a movie or television production, whose job is to see that their field of expertise is portrayed accurately in the production. ...

For the rest of her life, Irene was a staunch and litigious animal-rights activist, ultimately founding the Illinois animal shelter "Orphans of the Storm", which is still active. Activism, in a general sense, can be described as intentional action to bring about social or political change. ...

Vernon and Irene Castle are interred together in the Woodlawn Cemetery in The Bronx, New York. There is a large monument to Vernon Castle near the site of his crash in Benbrook, Texas. Located in The Bronx, Woodlawn Cemetery is one of the largest cemeteries in New York City. ... The Bronx is one of the five boroughs of New York City in the United States. ... Benbrook is a city located in Tarrant County, Texas. ...