Today I'll be reconstructing the diagrams Mr. Baert sent for the Ecossaise! When I last wrote on the subject of this dance form, I noted that the English Ecossaise was a duple minor dance in which 1st couple was improper (man on the woman's side, woman on the man's side). However, the Ecossaise on the European continent seems to have taken a different form.
The Ecossaise that the dance master will call is a triple set (not longways), so only 3 couples dance in each group. 1st couple is also "proper", although the lines change sides throughout the dance. I made contact with Mr. Baert and he said that the instructions sent out are actually for 4 Ecossaises, but that he will be doing 2 or 3 on the night of the ball. The figures provided all seem to flow into each other, so I don't know how he will choose which figures to call. So, I will reconstruct the figures in the order that he has sent out. I have redrawn the figures in colour so that you can trace the path of each dancer.
** I will look into timings and footwork for this dance and update once I have the information. I will also try to create video clips for some of the figures.
The 1st image in each diagram demonstrates the figures, and the 2nd image is to reflect the position in which the dancers end each figure.
UPDATE: A group of us in Canada got together to
try out the figures and do some troubleshooting, so underneath certain figures,
I will provide some tips and potential timings that we worked out, in a different
colour.
Ecossaise 1
Figure 1: All 3 men cross the set by left shoulders and loop anti-clockwise around their partner, ending up in front of them in a single file line (4 bars).
Figure 2: Taking hands in a single file line for 6, all promenade to the men's side, placing 1st couple at the bottom and 3rd couple at the top (4 bars).
Figure 3: 2nd couple advances and retires WHILE 1st and 3rd couples change places on the outside of the set. I'm not certain but, to take up less room in the ballroom, perhaps 1st and 3rd couples use a slipping step and skip sideways up or down the set (4 bars).
- Instead of skipping sideways with a slipping step, one could face up (1st couple) or down (3rd couple) and use a skip change in a single file line with hands.
- Women should lag behind and take small steps so that the men can cross around them faster in 4 bars of music. If the women are already in position on the other side of the set, the men have to go even wider around them, which makes it harder to for them get back to place in 4 bars.
Figure 5: 1st couple casts to 3rd place (2nd and 3rd couples move up - 4 bars).
Figure 6: All couples cross the set by left shoulders, placing men on the ladies' side and ladies on the men's side (4 bars).
- When we crossed the set by left shoulders, we also did a little loop (women downward, men upward) so that the partners are opposite each other, rather than on a diagonal.
Ecossaise 2
Figure 7: Men will promenade anti-clockwise in a single file line on the outside of the set to the men's side, placing 2nd man at the bottom WHILE the ladies promenade clockwise in a single file line on the inside of the set to the ladies' side, placing 2nd woman at the bottom. These 2 lines move at the same time (4 bars).
Figure 8: 3rd couple (in the middle) do a back-to-back WHILE 1st and 2nd couples circle around them. I'm not sure if this is with hands or without - there might not be much room to do the back-to-back if the circle with hands is small (8 bars?).
- For this figure, the back-to-back would be really tiny and cramped in the middle if 2nd and 1st couple took hands and circled around them.
- When practising, we also found that it was really hard to get all the way around the circle in 4 bars, so maybe it’s done in 8 bars? That means, the 3rd couple in the middle might need to do 2 back-to-backs to fill up the music.
Figure 9: 1st couple casts down to the 3rd place, WHILE 2nd couple casts up (1s on the outside, 2s on the inside) AND 3rd couple (in 2nd place) leads through the bottom couple (without hands) and casts back up to 2nd place (4 bars).
- For this figure, it almost seems like the 3rd couple are following the 2nd couple, who cast up to 1st. The 3s still end up in 2nd position, but that’s the track they seem to follow.
Figure 10: 2nd couple crosses down the set diagonally, and loops around 1st couple (2nd man beside 1st woman, 2nd woman beside 1st man) to form a line for 4. The gentleman should always allow the lady to cross diagonally in front of him (4 bars).
Figure 11: 3rd couple does a 2-hand turn WHILE the line for 4 promenades anti-clockwise in a single file line around them (8 bars?).
- We couldn’t get around 3rd couple in 4 bars, so we allotted 8 bars to complete this figure. However, that means the 3rd couple would do a 2-hand turn 2x around.
Figure 12: 3rd couple dance, moving outside the set (3rd woman clockwise; 3rd man anti-clockwise) around the line for 4. They come together in the middle behind the line to lead under the 1st couples arms (raised in an arch) and back to place (4 bars).
- For the 3rd couple, it was pretty tricky trying to get around in 4 bars,
- Also, in the video (at the end), I accidentally called the figure backwards, so the dancers start by going through the middle and around the 1s and 2s, when it should be the other way around… Whoops!
Ecossaise 3
Figure 13: 2nd couple crosses up diagonally, in front of 1st couple, back to their place at the top of the set. Like last time, the man should let the lady cross in front of him first (4 bars).
Figure 14: The 3 ladies dance anti-clockwise around the men's line and place themselves beside the men in a line for 6. 2nd woman (being at the top) has to go furthest on the man's side, to place herself next to 1st man. 3rd woman (in the middle) has to reach the middle position on the man's side, to place herself next to 3rd man. 1st woman (at the bottom) loops around 2nd man and takes her place next to him at the top of the line (4 bars).
Figure 15: 1st man and 2nd woman raise their arms in an arch WHILE the other 4 dancers take hands and promenade clockwise in a single file line under their arms. Make sure the lady ends up on the right side of the man to form 2 lines (8 bars?).
- Passing through the arch and getting into position was tricky in 4 bars. The 3rd couple barely made it through the arch, let alone into proper positions for the next figure. It would work better if 8 bars of music were allotted to this figure.
Figure 16: The set for 3 couples then take inside hands and "re-sets" itself into beginning formation (like an English Country Dance with men on one side and women on the other - 4 bars).
Figure 17: The 3 woman turn over their right shoulders to dance in a little (clockwise) loop back to place WHILE the 3 men take hands in the single file line and follow 2nd man (at the bottom) and cast up. This returns 2nd man to his partner and 1st man to his partner (4 bars).
I hope that helps to clarify the diagrams - I spent a lot of time thinking about how best to describe the action in each figure. They look a bit confusing to start but they can be worked out!
Here's a little video showing each figure - we were troubleshooting to see what worked with timing and footwork!
NOTE: There is a small error in this video. In figure 12, the 3s go through the arch and around the line for 4, when it was supposed to be going around and then through. I wonder if that order would change the timing...
It was also a surprisingly cold May day, so we had to bundle up to practise!
We did try the steps with a skip change, waltz step, strathspey etc. Since we don't know what the music sounds like, or even the time signature, it's hard to know which one we will be using at the ball - probably skip change.
ANOTHER UPDATE!
We had another dance practise to
prepare for the ball - this time with music... Not perfect, but it's getting there! We used the tune "Royal Chase" from the DHDS CD Dances for Jane Austen!
We did come up with some pretty
interesting short names for the figures to jog our memories - ie. sliding
doors (fig. 3), donut hole (fig. 4), "not a hey" (fig. 9), reset
(fig. 16)... so you aren't hearing things! It definitely helps with so many figures. Try coming up with your
own - see what works for you!
That's all for now - until next time... Happy dancing!
