In dance, the galop, named for the fastest running gait of a horse (see gallop), a shortened version of the original term galoppade, is a lively country dance, introduced in the late 1820s to Parisian society by the duchesse de Berry and popular in Vienna, Berlin and London. In the same closed position familiar in the waltz, the step combined a glissade with a chassé on alternate feet, ordinarily in a fast 2/4 time. The galop was a forerunner of the polka, which was introduced in Prague ballrooms in the 1830s and made fashionable in Paris when Raab, a dancing teach of Prague, danced the polka at the Odéon Theatre, 1840. For other uses, see Dance (disambiguation). ... Horse gaits are the different ways in which a horse, either naturally or through human training, can move. ... Charles Ferdinand, duc de Berry (1778 - February 13, 1820) was the younger son of Charles X of France and Marie-Thérèse de Savoie. ... The waltz is a ballroom and folk dance in 3/4 time, done primarily in closed position. ... Glissade is the usually voluntary act of descending a steep slope of snow in a controlled manner either for the sheer thrill of the ride and/or to bypass tedious scree. ... 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. ... Polka is a type of dance and genre of dance music; it originated in the middle of the 19th century in Bohemia, and is still a common genre of Czech folk music; it is also common both in Europe and in the Americas. ...

The galop was particularly popular as the final dance of the evening. The "Post horn Galop" written by the cornet viruoso Herman Koenig was first performed in London, 1844; it remains a signal that the dancing at a hunt ball or wedding reception is ended. The Post horn (also posthorn or post-horn) is a valveless brass instrument used to signal the arrival or departure of a mounted courier or mail coach. ... Bâ™­ cornet The cornet is a brass instrument that closely resembles the trumpet. ...

Numerous galops were written by the "Waltz King" Johann Strauss II.Dmitri Shostakovitch employed a "posthorn galop" as the second, Allegro scherzo of his Eighth Symphony, 1943. Johann Strauss II The Waltz King coming to life in the Stadtpark, Vienna Johann Strauss II (or Johann Strauß Sohn - Johann Strauss son - or Johann Strauss the Younger, or Johann Strauss Jr. ... Dmitri Dmitrievich Shostakovich (Russian Дмитрий Дмитриевич Шостакович) (September 25, 1906 – August 9, 1975) was a Russian composer of the Soviet period. ... A scherzo (plural scherzi) is a name given to a piece of music or a movement from a larger piece such as a symphony. ... The Symphony No. ...

References

• Streetswing's Dance History: "Galop"
• William Geary "Bunk" Johnson, Well-known Soloists From All Walks of Life: Herman Koenig