DHDS Day 5 - Triolet

Today we worked on quadrilles! There was the Gavottini Quadrille, after Auguste Vestris' famous Gavotte. This dance dates from T. B.'s 1826 dance book. Both the men and women do a solo comprised of the following steps:

2 pas de basques
2 pas de bourees
2 pas de basque brises
2 pas de basque pirouettes

We also worked on the first 2 parts of Barclay Dun's Third Quadrille from 1818, La Floride and La Valse Cotillion. La Floride, like the Gavottini Quadrille, also features solos for the men and women (so I need to work out what steps I want to do).  A tip on composing solos (from Stuart) is to work with the rule of three. So, you choose to do 3 of one step, and 1 of another (ie. 3 pas de chat + 1 changement, and repeat).

La Valse Cotillion, according to Ellis Rogers, may be the earliest waltz quadrille. So, the waltz steps we've worked on for the past 2 days have been really helpful.

I did a lot of dancing in the afternoon as well (what a surprise), but everything I am learning is incredible! What an amazing opportunity. In the main afternoon course, we started work on the Twelve Quadrille from 1826, which is performed in triolet (3 on each side - 1 man between 2 ladies). The footwork that we are using in this dance is so invigorating. There is a sequence when each set of 3 is on the opposite side of the square, and to get back, the heads and sides do this sequence moving towards and past each other:

Skip change + assemble (turning clockwise) + jete (continue turning to face the opposite line) + balance forward and back to pass by the right shoulder, then repeat moving forwards into your proper place.

For the optional course, I opted for Isabel Suri's class on German dances. We worked on another quadrille (cotillion) in triolet from 1834. The German dances have some really unusual figures (coming from the English dance repertoire), so it was really neat to use create different patterns on the floor.

Well, that's all for now... Tomorrow is the ball at the Chichester assembly rooms! Happy dancing!