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English Country Dance, sometimes abbreviated ECD, is a form of folk dance. It is a social dance form, which dates from the late 16th century. Queen Elizabeth I of England is noted to have been entertained by "Country Dancing". Although her time was the late Renaissance, ECD was popular well into the Baroque and Regency eras. English Country Dance was derived from the interpretations of traditional rural dances by the urban elite, hence the name. Whereas several figures common to English Country Dance, e.g. arming and the straight hey, are found in the traditional dances and display dances such as morris, ECD's origins rest among the gentry, first at court, then spreading to bourgeois-London, finally moving into country manors around England. Folk dancers in Prague Folk dance is a term used to describe a large number of dances, mostly of European origin, that tend to share the following attributes: They were originally danced in about the 19th century or earlier (or are, in any case, not currently copyrighted); Their performance is...
Social dance is a major category or classification of danceforms or dance styles, where sociability and socializing are the primary focuses of the dancing. ...
(15th century - 16th century - 17th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 16th century was that century which lasted from 1501 to 1600. ...
Elizabeth I (7 September 1533 – 24 March 1603) was Queen of England, Queen of France (in name only), and Queen of Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. ...
Raphael was famous for depicting illustrious figures of the Classical past with the features of his Renaissance contemporaries. ...
Adoration, by Peter Paul Rubens. ...
The English Regency, or simply the Regency, is a name given to the period from 1811 to 1820 in the history of England. ...
Rural area in Dalarna, Sweden Qichun, a rural town in Hubei province, China Rural areas (also referred to as the country, countryside) are sparsely settled places away from the influence of large cities. ...
An urban area is a term used to define an area where there is an increased density of human-created structures in comparison to the areas surrounding it. ...
A morris dance is a form of English folk dance. ...
This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...
Bourgeoisie (RP [], GA []) is a classification used in analyzing human societies to describe a class of people who are in the middle class nobility, whose status or power comes from employment, education, and wealth as opposed to aristocratic origin. ...
This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ...
Generic plan of a mediaeval manor; open-field strip farming, some enclosures, triennial crop rotation, demesne and manse, common woodland, pasturage and meadow Manorialism or Seigneurialism is the organization of rural economy and society in medieval western and parts of central Europe, characterised by the vesting of legal and economic...
Motto: (French for God and my right) Anthem: God Save the King/Queen Capital London (de facto) Largest city London Official language(s) English (de facto) Unification - by Athelstan AD 927 Area - Total 130,395 km² (1st in UK) 50,346 sq mi Population - 2006 est. ...
History
In the early 20th century, ECD was revived in England by Cecil Sharp, who also was known for collecting folksongs. ECD continues today as a social dancing form, in Britain, the United States, and around the world. There are several related dance forms, such as Scottish country dance, Contra dance, and perhaps square dance. There is also English Ceilidh style; a very energetic form that uses simple country dances, newly composed dances and traditional dances that were collected in the twentieth century. (19th century - 20th century - 21st century - more centuries) Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s As a means of recording the passage of time, the 20th century was that century which lasted from 1901–2000 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar (1900–1999...
Cecil James Sharp (1859-1924) was the founding father of the folklore revival in England in the early twentieth century, and many of Englands traditional dances and music owe their continuing existence to his work in recording and publishing them. ...
Scottish country dancing at the 2005 Skagit Valley Highland Games in Mount Vernon, Washington Scottish country dancing, SCD or reeling is a form of social dance involving groups of mixed couples of dancers tracing progressive patterns according to a predetermined choreography. ...
You may also be looking for a style of classical music called contredanse. ...
Square dance is often used as a general term for modern Western square dance. ...
Céilí (Irish reformed spelling), or Ceilidh (Scottish and older Gaelic spelling), pronounced Kay-Lee in either case, is the traditional Gaelic social dance in Ireland and Scotland. ...
The first published instructions for English Country Dance is John Playford's The English Dancing Master, which was first published in 1651 and was reprinted and enlarged many times, with a final edition published sometime around 1728. [1] John Playford was born in Norwich in 1623 and died in London in 1686. ...
The Dancing Master was a dancing manual containing the music and instructions for English country dances. ...
Despite the title, English Country Dance was also popular in France. Raoul Auger Feuillet visited the English Court in the late 17th century and published a book, Orchesography, with instructions for English Country Dances, in 1705. This book used a novel system for notating the dances and contained some dances invented by the author. It was subsequently translated into English and printed in England. Copies of these books may be found online. [2] Raoul Auger Feuillet (c1653–c1709) was a French dance notator, publisher and choreographer most well-known today for his Chorégraphie, ou lart de décrire la danse (Paris, 1700) which described Beauchamp-Feuillet notation, and his subsequent collections of ballroom and theatrical dances. ...
(16th century - 17th century - 18th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 17th century was that century which lasted from 1601-1700. ...
Some (modern) English Country Dance terms Active Couple - for long-ways sets with more than one couple dancing, the active couple is the couple doing the more complicated movement during any given portion of the dance. For duple dances, that is every other couple, and for triple dances, or every third couple is the active couple. The term is applicable to triplet dances, where typically the active couple is the only couple that is active.
Arm right (or left) - couples link arms and turn half way.
Back to back - facing another person, move forward passing right shoulders and fall back to place passing left. May also start by passing left and falling back right. Called a do si do in other dance forms (and dos-à-dos in France). Dosado (also writted do sa do) or Dos-a-dos (also written dos a dos) is a basic dance step in such dances as square dance, contra dance, polka, various historical dances, and some reels. ...
Balance back - a single backward.
Both hands - two dancers face each other and give hands right to left and left to right.
Cast off - turn outward and dance outside the set.
Cast up (or down) - turn outward and dance up (or down) outside the set.
Changes (starting right or left) - like the circular hey, but dancers give hands as they pass (handing hey). The number of changes is given first (e.g. two changes, three changes, etc).
Chassé - slipping step to right or left as directed. Chasse or chassé is a dance step used in many dances in many variants, all of them being three-step patterns of gliding character, steps going basically step-together-step. ...
Circular hey - dancers face partners or along the line and pass right and left alternating a stated number of changes. Usually done without hands, the circular hey may also be done by more than two couples facing alternately and moving in opposite directions - usually to their original places. This name for the figure seems rather modern, since "hey" also means certain long, and not circular, objects (e. g. fences). Nonetheless, some early country dances calling for heys have been interpreted in modern times using circular heys. In early dances, where the hey is called a "double hey", it works to interpret this as an oval hey, like the modern circular hey but adapted to the straight sides of a longways formation.
Clockwise - in a ring, move to one's left. In a turn single turn to the right.
Contrary - your contrary is not your partner. In Playford's original notation, this term meant the same thing that Corner (or sometimes Opposite) means today.
Corner - in a two-couple set, the dancer diagonally opposite, i.e., the first man and the second woman, first woman and second man.
Counter-clockwise - the opposite of clockwise - in a ring, move right. In a turn single, turn to the left.
Cross hands - face and give left to left and right to right.
Cross over - cross with another dancer passing right.
Cross over one couple - cross as above and go outside below one couple ending improper.
Double - four steps forward or back, closing the feet on the 4th step (see "Single" below).
Fall (back) - dance backwards.
Figure of 8- a weaving figure in which dancers pass between two standing people and move around them in a figure 8 pattern. A full figure of 8 returns the dancer to original position; a half figure of 8 leaves the dancer on the opposite side of the set from original position. In doing this figure, the man lets his partner pass in front of him.
Forward - lead or move in the direction you are facing.
Gip or Gypsy - two dancers move around each other in a circular path facing outward or towards the center as directed (4 bars). Tzigane redirects here; for the composition by Maurice Ravel, see Tzigane (Ravel). ...
Hands across - right or left hands are given to corners, and dancers move in the direction they face.
Hands three, four etc. - the designated number of dancers form a ring and move around in the direction indicated, usually first to the left and back to the right.
Hey - a weaving figure in which two groups of dancers move in single file and in opposite directions (see circular hey and straight hey).
Honour - couples step forward and right, close, shift weight, and curtsey or bow, then repeat to their left. In the time of Playford's original manual, a woman's curtsey was similar to the modern one, but a man's honour (or reverence) kept the upper body upright and involved sliding the left leg forward while bending the right knee. A curtsey (also spelled curtsy) is a traditional gesture of greeting, predominantly done by women, in which the woman bends her knees while bowing forwards. ...
Bowing is the act of lowering the head, or sometimes the entire upper body from the waist, as a social gesture. ...
Lead - couples join inside hands and walk up or down the set.
Mad Robin - a back to back with your neighbor while maintaining eye-contact with your partner across the set. Men take one step forward and then slide to the right passing in front of their neighbour, then step backwards and slide left behind their neighbour. Conversely women take one step backwards and then slide to the left passing behind of their neighbour, then step forwards and slide right in front of their neighbour. The term Mad Robin comes from the name of a dance which has the move. Dosado (also writted do sa do) or Dos-a-dos (also written dos a dos) is a basic dance step in such dances as square dance, contra dance, polka, various historical dances, and some reels. ...
Neighbour - the person you are standing beside, but not your partner.
Opposite - the person you are facing.
Pass - change places with another dancer moving forward and passing by the right shoulder, unless otherwise directed.
Pousette - two dancers face, give both hands and change places as a couple with two adjacent dancers. One pair moves a double toward the right wall, the other toward the left wall. In this half-pousette, couples pass around each other diagonally. To complete the pousette, move in the opposite direction. Dancers end in their original places. In a similar movement, the Draw Pousette, the dancing pairs move on a U-shaped track with one dancer of the pair always moving forwards.
Right & left - like the circular hey, but dancers give hands as they pass (handing hey).
Sides - Two dancers, partners by default if not otherwise specified, go forward in four counts to meet side by side, then back in four counts to where they started the figure. As depicted by Feuillet, this is done right side by right side the first time, left by left the second time.
Single - two steps in any direction closing feet on the second step (the second step tends to be interpreted as a closing action in which weight usually stays on the same foot as before, consistent with descriptions from Renaissance sources).
Straight hey for four - dancers face alternately, the two in the middle facing out. Dancers pass right shoulders on either end and weave to the end opposite. If the last pass at the end is by the right. the dancer turns right and reenters the line by the same shoulder; vice versa if the last pass was to the left. Dancers end in their original places.
Straight hey for three - the first dancer faces the other two and passes right shoulders with the second dancer, left shoulder with the third - the other dancers moving and passing the indicated shoulder. On making the last pass, each dancer makes a whole turn on the end, bearing right if the last pass was by the right shoulder or left if last pass was by the left, and reenters the figure returning to place. Each dancer describes a figure of eight pattern.
Swing - a turn with two hands, but moving faster and making more than one revolution.
Three hands across or Three hands star - two dancers join right or left hands. Third dancer places right or left hand on top. Dancers move in the direction they face.
Turn - face, give both hands, and make a complete circular, clockwise turn to place.
Turn by right or left - dancers join right (or left) hands and turn around, separate, and fall to places.
Turn single - dancers turn in four steps clockwise.
References - ^ http://www.earthlydelights.com.au/english2.htm Online Playford Dance Reconstructions from The Dancing Master by John Playford (editions 1651 through 1728)
- ^ http://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/weaver/ Orchesography (1706) by Raoul Auger Feuillet, 1706 and also A Small Treatise of Time and Cadence in Dancing (by the same auathor) (1706)
The Dancing Master was a dancing manual containing the music and instructions for English country dances. ...
John Playford was born in Norwich in 1623 and died in London in 1686. ...
Raoul Auger Feuillet (c1653–c1709) was a French dance notator, publisher and choreographer most well-known today for his Chorégraphie, ou lart de décrire la danse (Paris, 1700) which described Beauchamp-Feuillet notation, and his subsequent collections of ballroom and theatrical dances. ...
See also You may also be looking for a style of classical music called contredanse. ...
You may also be looking for a style of classical music called contredanse. ...
Folk dancers in Prague Folk dance is a term used to describe a large number of dances, mostly of European origin, that tend to share the following attributes: They were originally danced in about the 19th century or earlier (or are, in any case, not currently copyrighted); Their performance is...
This article is about the dance. ...
Square dance is often used as a general term for modern Western square dance. ...
Social dance is a major category or classification of danceforms or dance styles, where sociability and socializing are the primary focuses of the dancing. ...
A cèilidh (pronounced ) is the traditional Gaelic social dance in Ireland and Scotland. ...
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