Mosquitoes at Dusk - Paine's Quadrille

Yesterday evening we had a little dance practise of Paine's 4th Set of Quadrilles so that we could do some more filming for those who are interested in learning this dance. It is exactly 2 weeks before the Duchess of Richmond's ball! Since we didn't have the music for Paine's 4th Set, we were using the music from his 1st Set for the videos.

You'll notice that the light levels in each video gets slightly darker, but hopefully the motions will still be pretty clear...

Paine's 4th Set:

Le Pantalon

L'Ete

La Poule

La Pastourelle

It got pretty dark outside, so pay close attention to the figures in this video... It was chaos on the dance floor - we couldn't see a thing! 

Just joking! I'll post videos of the last 2 segments hopefully tomorrow!

June 4 UPDATE: The last 2 videos of the quadrille!

La Pastourelle

La Finale

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

Paine's 4th Set of Quadrilles: Part 4 La Pastourelle

We're almost there - today I'll break down the 4th part of Paine's 4th Set: La Pastourelle with appropriate steps and footwork for those who are interested! 

The tune for this figure is a bit different than a regular quadrille, as it is 36 bars long, rather than a standard 40 bar tune! Therefore, in, what I call the 'A' section, I've grouped the movements into a 12 bar sequence rather than the typical 8 bars. 

As usual, here is an image of the original figures.

4th Figure: La Pastourelle

A: Honours (8 bars).

B: 1^st couple En Avant et en Arriere twice (or, advance and retire - 8 bars).

• With inside hands, the 1^st couple advance (1 skip change + jeté assemblé) and retire (1 skip change + jeté assemblé). They advance again (1 skip change + jeté assemblé), then the 1^st man retires WHILE the 1^st woman continues to advance and takes her place on the left of the 3^rd man (1 skip change + jeté assemblé).

A: 3rd couple and 1st lady Tour de mains trois (or, circle for 3 - 4 bars); 1st Gentleman En Avant et en Arriere twice (8 bars). This section is a bit odd because it's a 12 bar section, rather than the standard 8 bars. 

• The group of 3 circles left (3 skip changes + jeté assemblé).

• 1st man then advances (1 skip change + jeté assemblé) and retire (1 skip change + jeté assemblé) TWICE.

C: 3 opposite En Avant et en Arriere twice (8 bars).

• 1^st lady and 3^rd couple opposite join hands and advance (1 skip change +  jeté assemblé) and retire (1 skip change +  jeté assemblé) TWICE. See the bottom section in the image below.

A: Head couples (1^st and 3^rd) Circle for 4 halfway (4  bars); demi-chaine anglaise (4 bars).

• Head couples advance toward the middle of the set (2 skip changes) and circle left halfway to the opposite side (2 skip changes).
• Head couples do 2 changes of rights and lefts (2 skip changes for the right hand, 1 skip change +  jeté assemblé for the left hand) back to place.

Repeat for the other pairs of dancers (ie. 2nd couple, 3rd couple, 4th couple).

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