I rarely have the opportunity to teach a wide range of Regency-era setting sequences, but there are dozens of them extant and suitable for use in French quadrilles such as the first set.  Using variant setting sequences when setting to one’s partner is one of three ways to jazz up the oft-danced first set (the other two being using more exotic sequences for the other figures and changing the figures themselves) as well as in other French quadrilles for the setting part of the omnipresent “Balancez et un tour de mains” (set and turn your partners) figure.

The following selection of eight four-bar setting sequences is drawn from two sources in particular: the Scottish manuscript Contre Danses à Paris 1818 and the useful Elements of the Art of Dancing by Alexander Strathy (Edinburgh, 1822).  Curiously, the best sources for quadrille steps other than the actual French manuals come from Scotland — the Auld Alliance revived in dance!

I classify all of these sequences as easy because they use a limited repertoire of actual steps (glissade, jeté, assemblé, sissone) and because they are are symmetrical: you dance them first as given (two bars) and then reverse right and left to dance them in the other direction to fill out the four bars of setting.

Following are abbreviated instructions for performing the steps used.  These are intended only as summaries and do not include all the niceties of bending and rising required for excellence in period practice.

Glissade: sliding one foot to the side and closing the other foot to fifth or third position.  A glissade dessous indicates closing the trailing foot behind; a glissade dessus indicates closing it in front (“before”).  The slide to the side is performed on the upbeat (“and”) with the close coming on the downbeat (“ONE”).  Dessous and dessus are so nearly indistinguishable both on the page and when spoken aloud that I have written them out below as “behind” and “before.”

Jeté: extend one foot out directly to the side (second position raised) then leap onto it, bringing it in either behind or before and raising the other foot to point straight down, close along the leg.  This is an “out-and-in” motion rather than a curving ronde de jambe.  Practice flicking the foot in and out of second position raised will be useful.  The step is initiated on the upbeat and lands on the downbeat.

Assemblé: extend one foot out directly to the side (second position raised) then bring it in either behind or before while hopping into the air, landing in either third or fifth position with weight equally on both feet, bending the knees slightly when landing rather than locking them.  Again, this is an “out-and-in” motion.  The step is initiated on the upbeat and lands on the downbeat.

Sissone: hop on one foot while pointing the other foot straight down, close along the leg, either behind (dessous) or before (dessus).  The sissone is also performed with the free leg extended in a raised second position, but this is not used in any of these particular sequences.  The hop is initiated on the upbeat and lands on the downbeat.

The Sequences

1. (CDaP #2)
1b   Glissade behind to right, assemblé right behind
1b   Assemblé left behind, assemblé right behind
& reverse
(count: “and ONE, TWO, THREE, FOUR” twice)

2. (CDaP #14)
1b   Assemblé right behind, assemblé left behind
1b   Assemblé right behind, glissade behind to left
& reverse
(count: “ONE, TWO, THREE and FOUR” twice)

Note that the previous two sequences are variations on a theme, as are the next three.

3. (CDaP #10)
1b   Glissade behind to right, glissade behind to right
1b   Jeté right before, assemblé left before
& reverse
(count: “and ONE and TWO, THREE, FOUR” twice)

4. (CDaP #11)
1b   Glissade before to right, glissade before to right
1b   Jeté right before, assemblé left before
& reverse
(count: “and ONE and TWO, THREE, FOUR” twice)

The only difference between these two sequences is how the glissades are closed.  In #3, because the right foot is already in front, the jeté is effectively replacing it almost exactly where it was before.  This is not an issue in #4 or in #5 below.

5. (CDaP #7, Strathy)
1b   Glissade behind to right, glissade before to right
1b   Jeté right before, assemblé left before
& reverse
(count: “and ONE and TWO, THREE, FOUR” twice)

6. (CDaP #13)
1b   Glissade behind to right, glissade behind to right
1b   Glissade behind to right, assemblé right behind
& reverse
(count: “and ONE and TWO and THREE, FOUR” twice)

7. (CDaP #3)
1b   Glissade behind to right, sissone right behind
1b   Sissone right before, assemblé right behind
& reverse
(count: “and ONE, TWO, THREE, FOUR” twice)

8. (CDaP #5, Strathy)
1b   Glissade before to right, sissone right behind
1b   Jeté right before, assemblé left before
& reverse
(count: “and ONE, TWO, THREE, FOUR” twice)

The difference between sissone-sissone (#7) and sissone-jeté (#8) is that in the former one hops twice in a row on the same foot, moving the free foot back and forth, while in the latter one hops once and then leaps onto the other foot.