- Era: 1840s to early 1900s, America
Continuing on from my earlier post on promiscuous or fancy quadrille figures, which may be substituted for individual figures in the first set of quadrilles or other well-known sets, here are two more particularly interesting figures. Both make use of an unusual figure known as "Sides Four," in which the dancers form diagonal lines across the set and then trade partners and reform the lines. The Gavotte Figure is a lengthy one with one couple per repetition having a sequence of solo moves while the other six dancers watch. The Minuet Figure is a shortened and simplified version which keeps more of the dancers moving throughout. Once the essential Sides Four figure is mastered, the figures are easy to call and perform and can be used today as they were then, to add variety to a familiar quadrille, generally as a replacement for either the second or fifth figure.
Neither figure has any choreographic relationship to the gavottes and minuets of previous centuries.
Dancers in position to begin the Sides Four figure (Wehman's, early 1900s)
Gavot(te) Figure (56 bars x4 plus 8b intro)
8b Head couples ladies' chain
4b Sides four: diagonal lines forward and back
Head couples turn diagonally right, side couples diagonally left; first and fourth couples take hands in a line facing second and third couples in a similar line. All go forward and back toward each other. See illustration above.
4b Sides four (continued): change partners
Turn the person opposite by two hands, each lady maintaining her own place in the lines but acquiring her former corner gentleman as partner. The lines will be: third man/first woman and second man/fourth woman facing first man/third woman and fourth man/second woman. Men should be to the left of their new partners. See illustration below.
8b First lady forward and back twice (toward first gentleman, standing opposite)
8b First gentlemen forward and back twice (toward first lady, standing opposite)
8b First lady and gentleman cross, giving right hands, then cross back, giving left
4b First lady and gentleman forward and back
4b First lady and gentleman dos-à-dos (back to back)
8b All forward and back in lines; forward again and turn partners two hands to places
Notes on the Gavotte Figure
1. The figure is repeated four times, the head couples leading to the
right the first two times and the side couples leading to the right the
third and fourth. When the side couples lead, the lines will be angled
the other direction. The first, second, third, and fourth couples alternate taking the lead in the second part of the figure.
2. The second eight bars, in which the head couples lead to the side,
salute, and change partners, is known historically simply as "Sides Four,"
though some sources use the term somewhat differently. Since this call
is not well-known to modern dancers, I have expanded the instructions
to include the individual parts of the figure.
3. The name of the figure, which is shown as both "Gavotte" and "Gavot," is said to be taken from the music used for part of it, that of the "Gavotte de Vestris". Auguste Vestris was a well-known French dancer (called "the god of dance") in late 18th and early 19th century; his gavotte dates to 1785.
Dancers in lines for the first two repetitions of the Gavotte and Minuet figures (Hillgrove, 1863). Note that this diagram and the previous have drawn the set differently, with the first one having the first couple at the top of the illustration and this one having the first couple at the bottom. They are still the same set performing the figure in the same way.
Minuet Figure (32 bars x4 plus 8b intro)
4b Head couples forward and back
4b Head couples forward and turn opposites two hands
4b Sides four: diagonal lines forward and back (as in Gavotte)
4b Sides four (continued): change partners (as in Gavotte)
8b Ladies' chain all (two separate chains side by side)
8b All forward and back in lines; forward again and turn partners two hands to places
Notes on the Minuet Figure
1. The figure is repeated four times, with heads leading twice and sides leading twice, as in the Gavotte.
2. It is an intentional abbreviation of the Gavotte, and some sources confuse the two, calling this figure by the other's name.
3. Some sources have the head couples performing a dos-à-dos with their opposites rather than a two-hand turn at the beginning of the figure.
4. One source suggests that the figure was named Minuet because of its close relationship to the Gavotte Figure and the association of the two original dances.
The earliest version of a "sides four" promiscuous figure that I have found is in an anonymous 1841 manual, The ball-room instructer [sic], which gives it no particular name. A minimal sixteen bar sequence (the "sides four" and the "forward and back in lines, forward and turn to places" parts) is given as the basic figure. The author notes that the caller can also insert other figures between the two parts, including the entire sequence for a single couple which matches the later Gavotte and a ladies' chain as in the later Minuet.
Sources
While not as common as the Basket and Star, these two figures appeared in many sources in the mid- to late nineteenth century. A representative sample includes:
Anonymous. The ball-room instructer [sic]. New York, 1841.
Anonymous. Wehman Bros.' book on the way to dance. New York, early 1900s.
Brookes, Laurence De Garmo. Brookes on modern dancing. New York, 1867.
Cartier, [P. Valleau]. Cartier's practical illustrated waltz instructor, ball room guide, and call book. New York, 1882.
De Garmo, William. The dance of society. New York, 1875. (Updated edition; original edition 1865)
Hillgrove, Thomas. A complete practical guide to the art of dancing. New York, 1863.
Rivers, Charles H. A full description of modern dances. Brooklyn, c1885.
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