- Era: 1880s-1890s (America)
- Dance: schottische
The term "gavotte" has referred to a number of different dances since its earliest appearance in the 16th century. In this post, it refers not to any of these specific dances, but to a pair of schottische variations described by noted 19th-century dancing master M.B. Gilbert in his manual of couple dances, Round Dancing (Portland, Maine, 1890). As far as I can tell they have neither anything in particular to do with the earlier dances known as the Gavotte (or the mid-19th century promiscuous quadrille figure of the same name, described here), nor any distinctive choreographic feature that might supply some reason for the use of the term in their names. Nor are these variations common in other dance manuals, suggesting that they were rarely if ever danced outside the studio.
Edited 12/4/14 to add: The gavotte connection seems to be in the music, rather than the choreography. The gavotte-schottische link is found in a number of other dances of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
I nonetheless find them worthy of writeup not because they are particularly compelling sequences but because of what they reveal about approaches to varying the schottische at the end of the nineteenth century, approaches that might be exploited by the experienced late Victorian dance reenactor.
In the two variations described below, the steps are given for the gentleman; the lady dances opposite. Starting position is a normal late 19th-century ballroom hold, with joined hands (gentleman's left side) toward the line of dance. All slides are directly along the line of dance. A chassé consists of a close of the trailing foot followed by a slide of the leading foot in the rhythm "&1." For an explanation of how to perform the waltz-galop, please see my previous post here.
Gavotte (eight measures of 4/4 time)
1b Slide left foot to side (1), close right to left (2), repeat (3,4)
1b Slide left foot to side (1), chassé twice (&2 &3), close right foot to left with weight (4)
(turn a quarter clockwise to place gentleman's back to line of dance)
1b Waltz-galop twice, making a complete turn clockwise (1&2, 3&4)
(underturn second waltz-galop to leave gentleman's left side toward line of dance again)
1b Slide left foot to side (1), chassé twice (&2 &3), touch right foot beside left (no weight) (4)
(turn clockwise halfway on beat "3" of the last bar to put right side to line of dance)
4b Repeat all of the above, starting on the right foot
(turn clockwise halfway on beat "3" of the last bar to put left side to line of dance)
The turn on this is somewhat tricky because it happens on beat three of the bar and is a pivot without benefit of a following hop with which to complete the turn. It is more likely to be successful if the gentleman gets slightly ahead of the lady during the first two beats of the third bar in order to easily step across the line of dance in front of her for the turn while she steps on beat three straight between his feet. Likewise, on the eighth bar, the gentleman should guide the lady and shorten his own steps so that she is slightly ahead of him and can step across the line of dance gracefully while he steps between her feet on the third beat.
There is a natural desire to add a hop on beat four of bars four and eight. While Gilbert does not mention this, it does make the variation more graceful and easier to perform and is reasonable in terms of period practice. I would not spend much, if any, energy suppressing a hop should the dancers add it in spontaneously.
The Gavotte was published by Gilbert by permission of L.F. Segadlo of Newark, New Jersey. Originality of nomenclature does not seem to have been a priority among late Victorian dance teachers; Gilbert also includes the Gavotte Schottische and Schottische Gavotte, which are distinct both from the Gavotte and from each other.
Also distinct is the Loomis New Gavotte, published by permission of the eponymous A.M. Loomis of New Haven, Connecticut. It has the same rhythm in the first two bars as the Gavotte given above, but is a shorter sequence with two complete turns and no right-foot repeat.
Loomis New Gavotte (four measures of 4/4 time)
1b Slide left foot to side (1), cross right behind left (2), slide left to side (3), cross right in front of left (4) ("grapevine")
1b Slide left foot to side (1), chassé twice (&2 &3), close right foot to left with weight (4)
(turn a quarter clockwise to place gentleman's back to line of dance)
2b Waltz-galop four times, making two complete turns clockwise (1&2, 3&4 twice)
(underturn final waltz-galop to leave gentleman's left side toward line of dance again)
While the lady's footwork on the first bar (grapevine) is not specified by Gilbert, it is more graceful -- and easier to lead -- if the lady crosses in front on the second beat and behind on the fourth beat rather than mirroring the gentleman's steps. This is the earliest instance I can call to mind of a grapevine in a ballroom dance.
It would be convenient to conclude from these two variations that the distinguishing feature of a "gavotte" in the late 19th-century schottische is the rhythm sequence "1234 1&2&34," but other variations using the term in their names but not that sequence make it clear that this is not the case.
Since I am doubtful that these sequences ever achieved any real popularity outside the dance studios of Mr. Gilbert, Mr. Segadlo, and Mr. Loomis, I do not particularly prioritize memorizing these variations as irreducible sequences. Instead, I take from them the following puzzle pieces that may be used in assembling improvised schottische variations in a typical four-bar sequence:
For the first and second bars, these two bars repeated or alternated:
- "A," a 1234 slide-close-slide-close sequence, with or without grapevining
- "B," a 1&2&34 slide-chassé-chassé-close sequence closing with weight
This gives four possible rhythm combinations: AA, BB, AB, or BA, plus the variation of whether or not to grapevine for a total of nine different variations in the first half of the schottische from these two bars alone.
For the third and fourth bars:
- "C," waltz-galop four times
- "D," waltz-galop twice followed by a 1&2&34 slide-chassé-chassé-close sequence
The "D" option can be closed without weight and with a final turn to repeat with a right-foot lead or with weight and without a turn to start a new sequence with a left-foot lead.
It would also be reasonable period practice to simply repeat some combination of the "A" and "B" moves from the first two bars to fill the second two bars as well, or to use the "C" and/or "D" moves to fill the entire scottische. Reversing the waltz-galop or taking it without turning (backing the lady or gentleman) are also options. Taken altogether, there are over two dozen combinations which can be assembled by the experienced dancer.
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