But we're all Dancing Masters - so I wasn't going to open that can of worms! :-)
Happy dancing,
John
John Sweeney, Dancer, England [email protected] 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
-----Original Message-----
From: Amy Cann <[email protected]>
Sent: 24 February 2020 16:51
To: John Sweeney <[email protected]>
Cc: Contra Callers <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: [Callers] Re: Totally open question: what's a "quadrille" ?
Wonderful post, with one quibble: you left out the best sentence!
"The question is,’ said Humpty Dumpty, ‘which is to be master — that’s all.”
;)
On 2/24/20, John Sweeney via Contra Callers
<[email protected]> wrote:
> 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 [email protected] 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
>
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