subs. (common).—A step or dance performed within the compass of (say) a CELLAR-FLAP. The object of the Whitechapel artist in the dance is to achieve as many changes of step as possible without shifting his ground: his action being restricted to the feet and legs. An old equivalent is TO CUT CAPERS ON A TRENCHER; also DOUBLE-SHUFFLE (q.v.).
1877. W. H. THOMSON, Five Years’ Penal Servitude, iii. 219. Others again would indulge in a shakedown, or CELLAR-FLAP dance, dreadfully to the discomfort of the man in the cells below.
