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!

"Making It Work Takes a Little Longer"

Alrighty...

So, yesterday we had another practise for the Duchess of Richmond's Ball to work on that German Quadrille. Today I will share a couple of promised videos of our group working out the figures and performing them to music. I've included some tips on the German quadrille page itself!

Our practise time was spent only really working out this German quadrille (but it was worth it) so I will have to film some videos for Paine's 4th set some time this week...

Here's a video of us explaining and working out the figures! I figured this might be useful as a tutorial video:

Here's our first time all the way through with music (we used The Family Party from the DHDS Dances for Jane Austen CD)! For our first time with music, I think we did really well!

So, that's all for now! I'll update the Ecossaise page tomorrow with a new video from yesterday's practice. Until next time... Happy dancing!

A Recap

Hi everyone,

Today I'll be recapping some basics of English Country Dance and preparation for the Duchess of Richmond's Ball!

English Country Dance

This dance form can be danced in duple minor sets (2 couples performing the figures), triple minor (3 couples performing figures, or triple sets (only 3 couples do the entire dance). See my post on progression for more details!

In ECD, the 1s always progress DOWN the set, while 2s and 3s (in a triple minor dance), work their way UP the set to eventually become 1s.

To get familiarized with some of the figures used in English Country Dance, I would recommend Thomas Wilson's "An analysis of country dancing, wherein all the figures used in that polite amusement are rendered familiar by engraved lines. Containing also, directions for composing almost any number of figures to one tune, with some entire new reels; together with the complete etiquette of the ball-room."  This book is really good because it provides bird's-eye view diagrams of the individual figures and traces the path performed by each dancer!

Some basic figures we covered for the Duchess of Richmond's Ball include: 

• pousette
• 1st couple leads down and back to 2nd place OR casts into 2nd place
• swinging (turn by 1 hand)
• turning (by 2 hands)
• circles (for 4 and 6)
• changes of rights and lefts
• stars
• allemande

More complex figures: 

• promenade
• Triumph
• circle for 3 with 2nd woman or man going under the arch made by 1st couple

Footwork: skip change, slipping step, jete assemble for those who want to do more advanced footwork. Country dances can also be danced in 3/4, so you can use a waltz

Cotillion

A dance involving 4 couples in a square formation.

This style of dance includes a "chorus" figure that repeats throughout the dance, and a series  of "changes" (ie. circle for 8, ladies' star...).

The German "quadrille" for the Duchess of Richmond's Ball is more similar to the cotillion, with its repeating grand chain, than the quadrille itself! You can use a basic skip change for this dance.

Quadrille

Another dance involving 4 couples in a square formation.

This dance evolved from the cotillion, keeping "chorus" figures and removing all of the extra changes. This made the dance shorter and more concise.

The 5 parts of Paine's 4th Set of Quadrilles are a great example!

Quadrille Figures: 

• chaine anglaise (changes of rights and lefts)
• balancez (facing partner, chasse right and left)
• tour les mains (turn your partner)
• chaine des dames (ladies' chaine - Pantalon)
• demi-promenade (promenade halfway to the other side of the set)
• en avant et en arriere (advance and retire)
• traversez (cross set)
• chasse (slipping step right and left)
• dos-a-dos (back-to-back - Poule)
• chasse croise (couples chasse - women left and in front, men right and behind, and set to corner, and back - Finale)
• grand promenade (skater's hold around the set - Finale).

Basic footwork: skip change, slipping step, jete assemble.

Polonaise

This dance is performed in 3/4 time with a strong emphasis on the 1st beat of each bar.

This dance was used to open balls in Europe, less so in England.

Couples form 2 lines (as in English Country Dance) and follow the head couple around the room. In playing follow-the-leader, the couples will create patterns on the dance floor (ie. couples lead to the top of the room, women split off and go one way, while the men go the other way... something like that).

If you are interested in learning more footwork, check out my polonaise post to see my video on the polonaise step.

Footwork: Polonaise step.

Ecossaise

This dance is interesting because its form changes depending on the country.

In England, this is a duple minor dance in which 1st couple is improper (on opposite sides).

In Europe, and for the Duchess of Richmond's Ball, we will be dancing in triple SETS with 1st couple on their proper sides. The version to be danced at the ball seems less interactive, in terms of dancing with a partner, as each dancer keeps changing sides and positions throughout the dance!

If the music is in 4/4, I would suggest skip change, if in 3/4 a waltz time step.

Waltz

The Regency slow waltz is in 3/4 time and features couples rotating in a circle.

The waltz was more common in Europe and was slowly adopted in England by the bon ton!

See my video on the Regency waltz to learn how to do this dance!

That's all for now - now I need to focus on getting some sewing done! After the weekend, I will (hopefully) update the German quadrille and Paine's quadrille pages with videos from our dance practice. Until then... Happy dancing!

A German Quadrille

Alright, so today I'm tackling that confusing German quadrille for the Duchess of Richmond's Ball. Note: I roughly translated the text from German to figure out the gist of the figures. Iut I hope I will reconstruct it more clearly and carefully than the German instructions. Where the descriptions were not as useful, I relied more on the image from the dance manual, so if there is a mistake in the reconstruction, those are the reasons. However, I hope that this is an accurate reconstruction so that we can prepare for the ball!

I also made contact with Ellis Rogers of the Quadrille Club in London, England, who said that this dance looks more like a cotillion, as cotillions were frequently called "quadrilles" in Germany. That makes sense, when one notes the repeating figure of the Grand Chain throughout the dance!

UPDATE (May 31): Yesterday, our group from Canada had another practise for the Duchess of Richmond's Ball to work on the German Quadrille. I'm posting 2 videos from that practise - one with the figures being explained and learned by our group and one where we dance to music! For our first time all the way through the dance, I think we did really well!

I've also updated the figures with a few tips we worked out in this colour...

The Walk-through:

First time with music:

Here is the original diagram for the entire quadrille:

German Quadrille

Figures 1 & 2: All 4 couples do a circle for 8 right and left (16 bars - 8 bars left, 8 bars right).

• Cotillions start circling to the right!

Figure 3: This one is a bit tricky to explain. 1st and 3rd couples form a line for 4 and raise their arms forming 3 arches (between 1st couple, between 1st and 3rd couple, between 3rd couple). I would probably allocate 2 bars of music for them to get in position. Then, a lot happens simultaneously... (total 8 bars!)

• 2nd couple goes through the middle arch made by 1st and 3rd men, but then the 2nd woman crosses in front of 2nd man to go off to the left to pass under the arch made by the 1st couple (while 2nd man goes off to the right and under the arch made by the 3rd couple, and cross back to place.
• WHILE 4th couple passes through the outside arches (4th woman through the arch made by 1st couple and 4th man through the arch made by 3rd couple). The 4th woman crosses in front of 4th man and both pass through the middle arch formed by 1st and 3rd men, and cross back to place.
• I would allocate 6 bars of music for everyone to be able to complete this figure.
• TIMING: 2 bars (1s and 3s forming arches) + 4 bars (2s and 4s going through arches) + 2 bars (1s and 3s back to place).

Figure 4: This figure repeats, with 2nd and 4th couples forming a line for 4 with 3 arches (allocate 2 of the 8 bars). Then, a lot happens simultaneously... (total 8 bars!)

• 1st couple goes through the middle arch made by 1st and 3rd men, but then the 1st woman crosses in front of 1st man to go off to the left to pass under the arch made by the 4th couple (while 1st man goes off to the right and under the arch made by the 2nd couple, and cross back to place.
• WHILE 3rd couple passes through the outside arches (3rd woman through the arch made by 4th couple and 3rd man through the arch made by 2nd couple). The 3rd woman crosses in front of 3rd man and both pass through the middle arch formed by 2nd and 4th men, and cross back to place.
• I would allocate 6 bars of music for everyone to be able to complete this figure.
• TIMING: 2 bars (2s and 4s forming arches) + 4 bars (1s and 2s going through arches) + 2 bars (1s and 3s back to place).

Figures 5 & 6: All 4 couples perform a grand chain (changes of rights and lefts for 8 - 16 bars).

• 2 bars/skip changes per change of hand.
• start right hand with your partner.

Figure 7: 1st and 2nd couples circle for 4 WHILE the same is performed by 3rd and 4th couples (8 bars).

• Since there are 8 bars, perhaps they circle left and right, or just to the left slowly to use up all the music? We did to the left and right in our practise...

Figure 8: 1st and 2nd couples do a right-hand star WHILE the same is performed by 3rd and 4th couples (8 bars).

• Since there are 8 bars, perhaps they star right and left?

Figure 9: 1st and 2nd couples do 4 changes of rights and lefts WHILE the same is performed by 3rd and 4th couples (8 bars).

• Allocate 2 bars/skip changes per change of hands.
• Start right hands with your partner.

Figure 10: Taking inside hands, 1st and 3rd couples advance and retire (4 bars).

• 1 skip change + jeté assemblé forward, and 1 skip change backward + jeté assemblé.

Figure 10: Taking inside hands, 2nd and 4th couples advance and retire (4 bars).

• 1 skip change + jeté assemblé forward, and 1 skip change backward + jeté assemblé.

Figures 12 & 13: All 4 couples repeat the grand chain (or changes of rights and lefts for 8 - 16 bars).

• 2 bars/skip changes per change of hand.
• start right hand with your partner.

Figure 14: 1st and 3rd couples do a right-hand turn 1 1/4, placing the men on the inside of the set, making a line for 4 (4 bars).

• The 2 men in the middle have to stand really close together - their arms will NOT be raised in an arch, just the arms between the man and his partner will be raised.

Figure 15: 2nd and 4th couples circle for 4 around the men in the middle (4 bars). 

• It looks like the line for 4 are also holding hands, so maybe the arms are raised in an arch and the 2nd and 4th couples pass under them as they circle. The arches are only done by the partners, not the men in the middle...
• This circle has to move really fast - only 4 bars! We tried this motion both with and without taking hands, and found that taking hands actually helped everyone to get around faster.

Figure 16: 2nd and 4th couples do a right-hand turn 1 1/4, placing the men on the inside of the set (4 bars).

Figure 17: 1st and 3rd couples circle for 4 around the men in the middle (4 bars).

• Like figure 15, it looks like the line for 4 are also holding hands, so the arms are raised in an arch and the 2nd and 4th couples pass under them as they circle.

Figure 18: The 4 women form a right-hand star in the middle of the set, with their partner on the left. All go around clockwise. When back to place, the women let go of the middle of the star and do 1/2 left-hand turn with their partner, placing the men in the middle (8 bars).

• I would recommend trying to get around in 6 bars, then turning your partner halfway in 2 bars (the men continuing clockwise around into the middle, while the women back up to end up on the outside of the star).
• The original diagram shows the men going first, but the description says otherwise.

Figure 19: The 4 men in the middle do a left-hand star with their partner on their right (8 bars).

Figures 20 & 21: All 4 couples repeat the grand chain (changes of rights and lefts for 8 - 16 bars).

• 2 bars/skip changes per change of hand.
• start right hand with your partner.

Figure 22: The 4 women advance into the middle of the set and make a little loop, so their backs face into the middle (4 bars).

Figure 23: The 4 men do a circle for 4 to the left around the women in the middle (4 bars).

• The ladies will have to make sure they are close together in the middle so that the men can join hands.

Figure 24: The women form a circle for 4 WHILE the men (outside the circle), form a right-hand star ACROSS the ladies' arms. Everyone circles/stars clockwise (8 bars).

• The men should be to the left of their partner. 
• Everyone needs to take really small steps!

Figure 25: The men (outside the circle) turn to face the other direction and join left hands with the joined hands of the women in the circle for 4. Together, they form a larger star and circle anti-clockwise all the way around (8 bars).

Figure 26: This figure is a bit odd - the original instructions called this a "Double Ronde," but provided no explanation! The men release hands from the ladies' circle to form a circle for 4 around them. The men then bring their joined hands OVER the ladies' heads, with men's joined hands in front of the ladies' stomachs, and the ladies' joined hands in front of the men's stomach. Everyone circles clockwise once around (8 bars).

• Picture a wicker basket - the arms are all interwoven.
• Many thanks to Ellis Rogers of the Quadrille Club for help reconstructing this figure - the original image and lack of description had me stumped!
• Bar 1: Men takes hands in a circle, then raise their arms over the women's heads in bar 2, then start circling in bar 3...
• We tried both a slipping step and skip change for this figure and found that the skip change gave us more control over our speed and ending in the right spot.

Figures 27 & 28: All 4 couples repeat the grand chain (changes of rights and lefts for 8 - 16 bars).

• 2 bars/skip changes per change of hand.
• start right hand with your partner.

Figure 29: All 4 couples do a right-hand turn once around into 2 lines (8 bars).

• 4 bars to do the right-hand turn, and 4 bars to get into line.
• You should end up like this:

2W  2M  1W  1M

3M  3W  4M  4W

Figure 30: All 4 couples pousette (8 bars).

• All 4 men push to move the couples around each other.
• 8 bars = 2 skip changes forward (men) or back (women), 1 to the side, 2 back (men) or forward (women), 1 to the side, 1 forward (men) or back (women) + jeté assemblé.

Figure 31: All 4 couples, following the lady in each couple, trace an anti-clockwise path back to place (4 bars).

• The men swing their partner back to place.

Figure 32: Taking inside hands, all 4 couples advance into the middle and retire (4 bars). 

• 1 skip change + jeté assemblé forward, and 1 skip change backward + jeté assemblé.
• When retiring + jeté assemblé, keep the set really close because that will help the 1s and 3s get through the arches and back to place (next figure) in 4 bars more easily.

Figure 33: 2nd and 4th couples raise inside arms to form an arch. 1st couple traces an anti-clockwise path under the arch formed by 4th couple and back to place. 3rd couple traces an anti-clockwise path under the arch formed by 2nd couple and back to place (4 bars).

• When 1s and 3s get back to place, once again, keep the set tight so that the other couples can get around more easily.

Figure 34: Repeat, with 1st and 3rd couples raising inside arms to form an arch. 2nd couple traces an anti-clockwise path under the arch formed by 1st couple couple and back to place. 4th couple traces an anti-clockwise path under the arch formed by 3rd couple and back to place (4 bars).

Figures 35 & 36: All 4 couples do a circle for 8 left and right (16 bars - 8 bars left, 8 bars right).

Whew! That's a long one! Hopefully these images and descriptions help a bit... I'll see if I can make videos for some of the figures.

Here's a video I made to demonstrate how to "ghost" a dance when you don't have anyone to practise with - I'll upload a video of a group of us practising the quadrille after the weekend!

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