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!

Regency Dance Style Tips

Hi everyone,

Today I'm looking at style tips that you can incorporate into the dances to make the figures even prettier! Hopefully you find some of these useful, as I have, in the dance group I am in. I will work from the feet up!

Feet

• Dance on your toes! You will be able to move more smoothly and your motions will appear and feel much lighter than if dancing on the flats of your feet. You could practise walking around your house walking on the balls of your feet to build the strength in your calf muscles.
• When skipping, or doing a jeté assemblé (any motion, really), it is really important to bend your knees! You do not want to damage your knees by landing hard on a straight leg!
• It's also helpful to be on the beat! If you are doing a skip change, take that 1st step of the skip change on beat 1. If you are doing a waltz step, make sure each step corresponds with a beat of music.
• Use up all the music allotted to each figure - what I do is find a reference or halfway point for each figure so that I know that I am on track and on time as I dance. For example, if I am doing a right-hand star, followed by a left-hand star in 8 bars, I tell myself that I need to reach the halfway point in 4 bars, to turn around and get back to place on time.
• I also try to remain in continuous motion, especially in waltz country dances, because it makes all of the figures flow into each other. In this video of the York Regency Dancers at Queen Charlotte's Birthday Ball, we perform Duke of Kent's Waltz (starting at 2:45), and I make sure I use up all of the music and remain in continuous motion if possible.

Torso

• Try to work on posture, having a straight back, instead of slouching. Dancing is made easier if you have control of the muscles in your core, especially when working with a partner in the Regency waltz!

Arms

• Give weight in figures like circles and turns... This means, tighten your biceps to create a firm arm. If you also slightly pull your arms down and out, this will create a nice firm circle or turn. This structure is really helpful to prevent a circle for 4 or 6 from collapsing and can even help you get around faster because nothing is weighing the circle down! I will try to create a little video to illustrate.
• When giving weight in a circle or star (etc.), create a pleasing arch with your arms (my ballet teacher always told me to imagine I was holding a big beach ball!). This serpentine style was very popular in the Regency period!

• However, if the ballroom is crowded, this arm hold is less practical. You and your partner should lower your joined hands between you to use up less space.
• Do not grip your partner/group's hands too hard - you want the grip to be firm so that your hands don't slip from each others, but not crushing...

Head

• Smile! If you are enjoying yourself, let everyone around you know!
• Eye contact - this is really important to making the dance feel social! After all, you are dancing and interacting with other people in the set. I find it's always nice to acknowledge their existence when performing figures together! When I first joined the York Regency Dancers, I was really shy and found the eye contact really strange and intimidating, but over time it becomes more comfortable and enjoyable.

Within the Dance

• This may develop over time, but when you are dancing with a partner, you learn to gauge what they need. It's teamwork after all, right? You can actually sense if they need more tension in your arms to get around that circle, or need to go faster or slower to complete the figure. It's a good sense to develop... being aware of your partner and his/her motions as well as your own.
• Also, I find it really helpful, particularly in the longer dances, to think of the next figure in the dance while dancing to be prepared. If you have memorized figures or know the dance well enough, you won't necessarily need to wait for the figure to be called. This helps to keep the motion continuous, as I mentioned before, and can also help your partner or your set should they be unfamiliar with the figures, or forget!
• Similar to the previous point, remember the set you are dancing within, particularly in a triple minor longways, when the positions of the 2s and 3s keep changing. Keep your mind sharp! See my post on progression.
• When leading down the set, let the set breath! What I mean by that is, if the dancers going down the middle or dancing around another couple need room, you can back up to give them space to dance comfortably. The lines along the set don't need to be rigid.

Practising without a group

• What I do at home, when I don't have a group to dance with, is "ghost" the dance. Now, this may seem a bit odd, but I swear it works! If you imagine that there are other people occupying the spaces within the set or formation (ie. quadrille), you can walk through the figures on your own. I did that yesterday with the German quadrille. Even though it may look strange to other people or feel strange to you initially, this kind of motion helps to build muscle memory for each dance!
• I will post a little video later to illustrate. It may look bizarre, but it helps to build confidence and memory, because you know what YOU are supposed to be doing, and not relying on other people.
• UPDATE: Below is a video of me "ghosting" the German quadrille. I will also post this video on the German quadrille page. I know it will seem a bit odd since there are no other people to fill in for some of the confusing figures, but I will post a video of our quadrille practise after the weekend with more people. This is just to get you started on that long dance! 
• The music I used was called The Family Party, a country dance from the Dolmetsch Historical Dance Society Dances for Jane Austen CD. Please excuse my dog barking the background - he always tosses me a ball when I dance, so I had to keep him inside!

Well, that's all for now! I hope that helps a bit - 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!