A geekier question would be why I was using the term "half figure eight" rather than the more typical plain "half figure". That was for added clarity for modern dancers, who may not be as familiar with the nuances of Regency terminology, in which a sentence like "The figure of the dance is a double figure made up of five figures, the first being the figure" makes perfect sense. Since it doesn't for everyone, let's figure out all those different usages of "figure"!
Although every Country Dance is
composed of a number of individual Figures, which may consist of "set
and change sides," "whole Figure at top," "lead down the middle, up
again," "allemande," "lead through the bottom," "right and left at top,"
&c. yet the whole movement united is called the Figure of the
Dance.
-- Thomas Wilson, in The Complete System of English Country Dancing, London, c1815.
"The figure of the dance" refers to the complete choreography (figure) set to a piece of music (dance).
"Individual figures" are the separate pieces of the choreography, of which he gives several examples. To quote Wilson again:
A Figure in a Dance is only one part of the Figure of a Dance.
"Whole figure" is an individual figure in which one or two dancers trace a figure-eight around two other dancers either across or along the set. There's also a half-figure, which can also be done across or along the set, dividing the "eight" shape either vertically or horizontally.
Single and double figure are terms referring to the musical pattern: in a single figure, each strain of the music is played once, and the dance is typically sixteen or twenty-four bars long (AB or ABC, depending on whether there are two or three strains). In a double figure, each strain is played twice, and the dance is typically thirty-two or forty-eight bars long (AABB or AABBCC).
My sentence could thus be rewritten in modern style to: "The full choreography set to the piece of music has each strain of music repeated and is made up of five separate pieces, the first being the figure eight."
Here are a few diagrams for four basic types of "figure" in the figure-eight sense. Click the images to enlarge them.
Wilson's description of the "whole figure round the second couple" in The Complete System of English Country Dancing includes:
The Lady A and Gentleman B move at the same time, the Lady in the line
a, and Gentleman in the direction b, the Lady passes round the second
Gentleman, and the Gentleman round the second Lady, back to their places
at A B...
Rival dancing master G. M. S. Chivers actually uses the term "figure of eight" in his description of the "Whole figure" in The Modern Dancing Master (London, 1822):
The first lady leads round the second gentleman, and then round the second lady, while her partner leads round the second lady and then round the second gentleman, each forming a figure of eight.
Wilson's description of the half figure:
The Lady at A moves round the second Gentleman to C; at the
same time the Gentleman at B moves round the second-Lady to. D, passing
each other at E...
Both figures can also be done up the set from a lower position, or with the dancers on opposite sides. Sometimes the active couple (from the center position) splits, with one dancer going up the set and one down the set to perform the figure. They can also be done along the sides of the set in various ways; here are a couple of examples:
Wilson's description of the "whole figure on your own sides":
The Lady A moves in the line a between the second and third Ladies, and
the Gentleman at B moves at the same time in the line b between the
second and third Gentlemen, they continue round the bottom couple as
shewn in the Figure, and then return to their situations at A B, which
finishes the Figure.
Wilson's description of the "half figure from the bottom on contrary sides up to the top":
The
Lady at A and Gentleman at B move at the same time, the Lady moves
between the two Gentlemen up to the top, while the Gentleman moves
between the two Ladies.
It's easy to extrapolate many other variations from these examples.
Earlier in the history of country dancing, a figure-eight given simply as an instruction to "go the Figure", which could refer to either a whole figure or a half figure. This usage can be seen in this dance (click to enlarge) from the tenth edition of Playford's The Dancing Master, published in 1698:
The term "figure" in its first two meanings (full choreography and individual piece) was also used in describing quadrilles and cotillions. The figure-eight itself seems to be more an English figure and is not very common in the French-descended square dances. A half figure is found in Thomas Wilson's Royal Scotch Quadrilles, which were deliberately choreographed in a non-French style.
Finally, here's an example of the "single figure" usage referring to the musical repeats, taken from the second edition (1816) of Thomas Wilson's figure manual, The Treasures of Terpsichore:
Note that the first figure in the figure of the dance in single figure is the whole figure!
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