Prince Wm of Glos'ter's Waltz

Hi everyone!

Like yesterday's post, Prince Wm (William) of Glos'ter's (Gloucester's) Waltz was not on the Facebook list of dances, but was included in the figures sent out by Mr. Baert, so I will break down another waltz country dance for you! Maybe he will use this music for a turning waltz (since he posted a French image of a couple waltzing beneath it), or maybe we will be doing the figures paired with this dance... I don't know. I guess we'll find out!

Prince William of Gloucester was the son of the Duke of Gloucester, who was King George III's younger brother. In 1816, Prince William of Gloucester married his cousin Mary (daughter of George III and Queen Charlotte). He was also known as "Silly Billy" by his contemporaries - however, the music for this country dance is lovely!

Prince Wm of Glos'ter's Waltz

This dance is a duple minor dance... See my post on progression!

A1: 1st lady sets to 2nd man (4 bars) and changes places with him (4 bars).

• I would recommend always crossing by right shoulders so that there is no confusion.

A2: 1st man sets to 2nd lady (4 bars) and changes places with her (4 bars).

B: 1st and 2nd couple pousette 1x around back to 2nd place (8 bars).

C: "Right and left quite round" (as found in the original instructions - 8 bars).

• Now, one reconstruction has right- and left-hand stars (4 bars each), but I would think they would do circles for 4 (due to the use of the work round), using 4 bars to circle left and 4 bars to circle right.
• Maybe it's 4 changes of rights and lefts (2 bars per change of hands)

NOTE: Now, this dance does pose an interesting problem... getting back to place. 1st and 2nd couples never cross back to proper sides, even in the original instructions! This is what would happen for the next repetition of the music...

So, the women and men would be setting to each other and changing places... I'm pretty positive that this would not happen. All couples HAVE to get back to proper place. Here's what I recommend (hopefully Mr. Baert will have figured out how to fix this problem for the ball!)...

1) Here's a reconstruction to get back to place!

A1: 1st lady sets to 2nd man (2 bars) and changes places with him by right shoulders (2 bars); 1st man sets to 2nd lady (2 bars) and changes places with her by right shoulders (2 bars).

A2: Repeat back to place (8 bars).

B: 1st and 2nd couples pousette 1.5x to progress (8 bars).

C: Star right and left OR circles left and right OR 4 changes of rights and lefts (8 bars).

2) Here's another possibility...

A1: 1st lady sets to 2nd man (4 bars) and changes places with him (4 bars).

A2: 1st man sets to 2nd lady (4 bars) and changes places with her (4 bars).

B: 1st and 2nd couple pousette 1x around back to 2nd place (8 bars).

• NOTE: at the end of the pousette, both couples will keep hands and do a 2-hand turn halfway to place.

C: "Right and left quite round" (as found in the original instructions - 8 bars).

I think that the 1st option would be most correct, since everyone would be back to place BEFORE starting another figure.


That's all for now - until next time... Happy dancing!

An updated ball list + Northdown Waltz

Alright, we have an updated dance list for the Duchess of Richmond's Ball! I've included a chart to show the difference between the old list and the new list:

Old Dance List	New Dance List
Paine’s 4th set of Quadrilles (1815)	Paine's 4th set of Quadrilles 1815
Brussels Waltz 1815	REMOVED
Russian Waltz 1815	Common Waltzing for Couples around 1815
Duke of Wellington Waltz 1815	Duke of Wellington Waltz 1815
Leamington Dance 1811	Leamington Dance 1811
The Triumph 1816	Triumph 1816
3 Anglaises/Almanach Geselligen Vergnügen : Tanztouren Roller 1814	3 Anglaises from Almanach Ges. Vergnügen 1815
3 ecossaies/Almanach Geselligen Vergnügen : 1815	3 ecossaises from Almanach Ges. Vergnügen 1815
Quadrille 1/Almanach Geselligen Vergnügen : 1815	2 Special Quadrilles from Almanach Ges Vergnügen 1815 and from Tanzmeister Helmke.
Polonaise/Music from Pamer.	Polonaise
Opera Reel	REMOVED
Reel for 5	REMOVED
	ADDED: Miss Bedford Waltz
	ADDED: Northdown Waltz
	ADDED: Sir Roger de Coverley

So, over the next few days I will look at the few dances that were added. I've already looked up the Miss Bedford Waltz in my personal collection, Regencydances.org, the Colonial Dance and Music Index and Google in general and haven't had any luck in finding the original music or figures, so I will move on to the Northdown Waltz, which was published in Goulding's 1820 publication. Here are the figures:

The Northdown Waltz

A1 & A2: 1st lady and 2nd man change place; 2nd lady and 1st man change place (8 bars). Repeat to places (8 bars).

• The modern reconstruction for the figure includes a balance, in which 1st corners take right hands, balance forward and back and change places.
• One can use the balance and turn under the arm version, but one only starts with the right hand and crosses diagonals, instead of finishing with the left hand. See video:

• For those of you who have seen the BBC production of Wives and Daughters, Miss Cynthia Kirkpatrick and Mr. Preston dance this one together at the Easter ball.

B: 1st couple lead down the middle and back to 2nd place to progress, and the 2nd couple moves up (8 bars).

C: 1st and 2nd couples pousette once around (8 bars).

The recording for the Northdown Waltz can be found on the Volume 6: At the Ball CD from the Country Dance and Song Society.

That's all for now - until next time... Happy dancing!

We're making progress!

Hi everyone,

Instead of looking at a specific dance today, I thought I would take a look at the concept of "progression" in English Country Dancing for those dancers who are newer to this style.

As always, the 1st couples (or active couples) progress down the set, with either 2nd or 3rd couples working their way up the set to become active couples.

Duple Minor

In modern English Country Dance, many dances are duple minor (meaning that the figures are performed by 2 couples only). This is to ensure that as many dancers as possible are active throughout the dance. Here is a diagram I created showing the duple minor progression:

Green = 1st couple
Yellow = 2nd couple

Once the dance has progressed through one repetition, the 2nd couple who just danced with the active couple is left out at the top with no one to dance with. They wait out for one repetition at the top of the set and then return to the action as an active couple.

The same happens at the bottom of the set, as the 1st couple makes their way down to the bottom of the set, there is no one to dance with. They wait out for one repetition and return to the action as a 2nd couple.

Triple Minor

A triple minor dance (in which 3 couples are active and performing the figures) is the historically accurate dance form which would have been found in the Regency ballroom. This form entails that the 3rd couple often has little to do, as 1st and 2nd couples perform the majority of the figures. However, the progression is not as simple as in a duple minor dance.

Green = 1st couple
Yellow = 2nd couple
Pink = 3rd couple

This diagram shows that, once the 2nd couple in the 1st repetition have completed the figures, they wait out 2 repetitions of music before they return as a 1st couple and have 2 more couples with whom to complete the figures.

For the 2nd and 3rd couple it is very important to keep track of who you are dancing with, because your role will keep changing, repetition by repetition, until you reach the top of the set. If you start the dance as a 3rd couple, you will start as a 3 in 1 repetition, then be a 2 the next round. It will continue alternating (3, 2, 3, 3...) until you reach the top. The same happens if you are a 2 in the middle of the set (2, 3, 2, 3...). Be very aware so that there is less confusion within the set! Here is a diagram describing this changing role for the 3rd couple. 

At the beginning of the 1st repetition of the dance, the 3rd couple is, obviously, in 3rd place. By the end of the figures, as the 1st couple progresses down 1 place and the 2s progress up one place, the 3s are now directly below the 1st couple. Now they have to perform the figures as a 2nd couple in the 2nd repetition. At the end of the 2nd repetition, the 1st couple progresses down 1 place again and the 2nd couple move up one place, now above the 1st couple. This 2nd couple has to change roles again and be ready to dance as a 3rd couple in the next round. 

I hope that makes some kind of sense. At some of the balls I have attended, whenever there has been a triple minor longways dance, there has been some confusion in the ballroom as to which group of people the 2nd or 3rd couples are dancing with. Once you are aware that this is what is happening on the dance floor, hopefully we will be able to avoid some of that confusion and have the dances go much more smoothly at the Duchess of Richmond's Ball!

Here is the dance list, according to dance form, for the ball so far:

Dance	# of couples	Dance Form
Leamington Dance	2 or 3? * The figures found in the Dance & Danceability CD cover do not include figures for 3 couples. I don’t know if the original instructions would be different.	Duple Minor
3 ecossaises	2 * The ecossaise is a duple minor dance in which 1st couple is improper. See my blog post on that dance form.	Duple Minor
Brussels Waltz	3	Triple Minor
Duke of Wellington Waltz	3	Triple Minor
The Triumph	3	Triple Minor
Opera Reel	3	Triple Minor
3 Anglaises	? * Don’t have access to this source	?
Reel for 5	5 PEOPLE (not couples)	Reel
Paine’s 4th set of Quadrilles	4	Quadrille
Quadrille 1	4	Quadrille
Polonaise	As many as will	Polonaise - Follow the leader!
Russian Waltz	As many as will	Turning Waltz

I hope that clarifies things a bit and that the dances will run smoothly on the night of the ball! That's all for now - until next time... Happy dancing!