For those who have asked about the style of the early quadrilles, please see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VSD37PF2_Dw
Thomas Wilson documented the standard stepping for country dances in the early 19th century as being three chassées, jeté, assemblé. You can see that being performed, complete with pointy toes, in this video. In modern terminology: three polka steps and a jump. Note: this is how ALL country dances were done then! Don't believe what you see in Jane Austen movies! Note also the arm shape for a hand turn. The smooth downward curve was believed to look best, rather than the elbow-down-hand-up W shape that we use now. Each sequence is only danced once by each pair of couples. But there are many sequences. Very different from a modern dance with multiple repetitions of one sequence. For lots more detail see the papers listed at https://www.regencydances.org/paper000.php People have referenced quadrilles as being sometimes done in a sort of Becket formation, by pairs of couples. As it says at https://www.regencydances.org/paper011.php, "Most early Quadrilles were not the 8 person Sets that arose in the 1810s (most notable amongst which was the First Set), but rather a variation of the Cotillion usually arranged for just four dancers." = = = = = = = = Colin referenced La Russe as having derived from a quadrille; indeed when the EFDSS published it in 1948 it was titled "La Russe Quadrille": http://contrafusion.co.uk/Dances/EFDS4806-LaRusse.html = = = = = = = = I think that we have to accept the fact that "Quadrille" has joined the ranks of words such as Allemande, Swing and Dosido which all have multiple different meanings depending on the country, century and dance genre. 'When I use a word,' Humpty Dumpty said, in rather a scornful tone, 'it means just what I choose it to mean neither more nor less.' 'The question is,' said Alice, 'whether you can make words mean so many different things.' ... 'When I make a word do a lot of work like that,' said Humpty Dumpty, 'I always pay it extra.' https://sabian.org/looking_glass6.php Happy dancing, John John Sweeney, Dancer, England j...@modernjive.com 01233 625 362 & 07802 940 574 http://contrafusion.co.uk/KentCeilidhs.html for Live Music Ceilidhs http://www.contrafusion.co.uk for Dancing in Kent http://www.modernjive.com for Modern Jive DVDs _______________________________________________ Contra Callers mailing list -- contracallers@lists.sharedweight.net To unsubscribe send an email to contracallers-le...@lists.sharedweight.net
