Vernon Castle

Interviewer: In your early life, what made you get interested in performing ?

Vernon: Well I grew up in England (Wikipedia) which wasn’t a complete downer for performers, so it sounded like a good career. I started as a magician just doing a few shows here and there (Encyclopedia). I actually graduated with a degree for engineering (Encyclopedia) because there was a lot of industry in England (Lamb and Johnson, 2001) but I just loved performing from the start.

Interviewer: Who helped you with developing your talent ?

Vernon: Well developing my talent, that’s hard to say. My acting and magician talent I mostly developed myself with my sisters help on the acting part. “Practice makes perfect” which also made me better as a actor and comedian, because all the shows I got in New York in my early years (Encyclopedia). Of course Irene would help me with dancing, but a lot of the dance we did was our own (Wikipedia) so it was mostly by our rules.

Interviewer: For what you’ve seen in your career what was the industry like ?

Vernon: The dance industry was very open to us, as in Irene and I. I mean it did have to do with our talent, but dance is in the performing section of the arts, and everyone was looking for a new type of a performance (Powers) if you understand me. And we introduced many different types of dances (Encyclopedia) and they took it in kindly, because it spread all around the world quickly (Wikipedia), and Irene and I were very please as we should’ve been.

Interviewer: What was the world going through during all your career ?

Vernon: The early 1900’s was when I moved to New York (Encyclopedia) and started performing, and my life was good. Around me there was a lot of people that weren’t as lucky, people didn’t have much money and had to work very hard to survive (www.studyworld.com/life%20in%20early%201900’s.htm, 2009) . Then in 1914 World War 1 broke out (www.worldwar-1.net/ 2006, 2006) , which I would probably consider the end of my career because I joined the battle (Wikipedia) .

Interviewer: What accomplishments have you achieved with your career ?

Vernon: The thing that I have accomplished and that Irene and I are proud of is all the styles and types of dances we created. I mean we made the dances Hesitation Waltz (Castles, pg71) , the Swing Step (Castles, pg77) , the Waltz Walk (Castles, pg74) , and many more. With all these dances we made, and these dances spreading all around the world we became responsible for ragtime (Golden, pg?) . The ragtime wasn’t created by us, it style of jazz was a piano music (Farlex, 2011) that Irene and I danced to it which made people see us as the creators of ragtime. I do give myself credit for evolving it, but not creating it.

Interviewer: What got you into the seat of the performer you are now ?

Vernon: Well me mostly just trying, not giving up , practicing, and pushing myself. Also as I said before the shows I did in my early career (Encyclopedia) gave me practice and got me use to performing in front of people and stage presents. Without the help of Irene also, just having her as a partner and helping me perfect our dance styles let alone make our dance styles.

Interviewer: What choices did you make to become successful ?

Vernon: First of all was getting a degree in engineering (Encyclopedia) then deciding I wanted to be a performer throwing all my work for the degree away. Also the traveling from England to New York (Wikipedia) which was a very big change in my life, but I had my sister with me (Wikipedia). Then doing all the shows I did as a actor then changing just to dance (Encyclopedia) also a big transition.

Interviewer: What difficulties did you face on your road to becoming a performer ?

Vernon: The one thing I can remember that didn’t have to do with performing was the death of my mom (Golden, pg4) , I was very young but had to live without a mom the rest of my life, and I haven’t spoke of her lose much sense. Again the transition from England to New York (Wikipedia) was a big switch but I was old enough to get myself used to the switch. I would consider it a challenge but I was very lucky in getting all the work I did in New York and meeting Irene.

Interviewer: What challenges did you face in your career ?

Vernon: Of course all the work Irene and I did, performing show after show. In Paris we had many shows (Encyclopedia) , I would say they were our biggest live shows in our career. Speaking of Paris, transportation from New York to Paris also England to New York very difficult. It was so difficult because water transportation let alone transportation at all was very limited. It took very long and was pretty dangerous at the time (Manahan, pg485-486) .

Interviewer: What advise would you give others for them to succeed there goals ?

Vernon: Well of course keep trying towards your goals and try your best. Then also be open to maybe changing what you had in your mind to be your goal, because it can change very quick. Also don’t make your dream too big, because you might only be able to do one of the goals out of the three you wanted to do before. This has to do with the be ready to change but be open to making sacrifices as in changing where you live, what you worked for, and things like that. This doesn’t really apply to everyone but I found Irene being much help with making me better, so if you find someone that’s friendly that shares your dreams they can also help.

Resource List:

Wikipedia: Vernon and Irene Castle. December 14, 2010.

Encyclopedia of World Biography. July 18, 2010.

Annette Lamb and Larry Johnson. www.42explore2.com/industrial.htm. January, 2001.

Richard Powers. http://socialdance.stanford.edu/syllabi/ragtime_dance.htm.

www.studyworld.com/life%20in%20early%201900’s.htm. 2009.

www.worldwar-1.net/ 2006. 2006.

Castle, Vernon, and Irene Castle. Modern Dancing. Special edition. New York: The World Syndicate Company, 1914. pg71-77.

Golden, Eve. Vernon and Irene Castle’s Ragtime Revolution. Lexington: The University Press of Kentucky, 2007. pg4.

Farlex. The Free Dictionary. 2011.

Stanley E. Manahan, Stanley. Environmental science and technology. Second Edition. Boca Raton: Taylor and Francis Group, 2007. pg485 and 486.