(Third in a series of posts discussing and analyzing the Swedish dances. Links to the full series are at the end.)
As mentioned in my introductory post in this series, there are distinct sequences of figures involving setting for dances suited only to a majority of one gender or the other and for dances suited to either an equal number of each or a majority. In this post I'll take a look at the characteristic setting figures for each type of dance.
For dances suited only to a groups with a majority of either ladies or gentlemen, the key pair of figures, always appearing in a sixteen-bar sequence, is set to top and bottom at sides and swing with right and left hands to places, as may be seen in the dance figure below, which appears twice under different tune names in The Dancers’ Guide, and again in The Modern Dancing Master:
8b Hands six half round, and back again
8b Advance and retire in two lines twice
8b Set to top and bottom at sides
8b Swing with right and left hands to places
8b Hands three your own lines, and back again
8b Two lines lead round and exchange places
Hands six half round, and back again; advance and retire in two lines twice; hands three your own lines, and back again; and two lines lead round and exchange places were all discussed in the second post in this series.
Set to top and bottom at sides is described in detail by Chivers. The center dancer in each line sets to the person on their right diagonal in the opposite trio, moving forward toward that dancer, then turns and sets to his or her right-hand partner, ending between those two dancers and changing the orientation of the set, as shown in these diagrams, with the dancers setting to each other in bold and marked with asterisks:
Start of figure Set with right diagonal Set with right-hand partner
<-- top of hall <-- top of hall <-- top of hall
L L L* L L G2* *L
*G2
G1 G2
G1*
L L L *L L* *G1 L
The asterisks indicate which pair is setting. The dancers end in the positions shown in the third diagram.
This figure is always followed immediately by swing with right and left hands to places, which should not be confused with swing with right hand, back with left (described in my previous post). In swing with right and left hands to places, the center dancers turn their own right-hand partner -- the person they just finished setting with in the previous figure -- all the way round and a bit more by the right hand, and then turn their left-hand partner by the left hand all the way round, all ending back in their original places in their trios. The sequence of who turns whom when is shown in the following diagrams, with active dancers in bold:
Right-hand swing Left-hand swing End of figure
<-- top of hall <-- top of hall <-- top of hall
L G2 --- L L L L L
|
G1 G2 G1 G2
|
L --- G1 L L L L L
This set to top and bottom at sides and swing with right and left hands to places combination is never used in dances labeled as adapted to groups with an equal number of dancers, presumably because that would leave the dancers setting part of the time to someone of the opposite sex and some of the same sex. For dances with equal numbers, with all the usual caveats about that classification, there is a different figure combination used, as shown in this forty-bar set of figures, taken from The Modern Dancing Master:
8b Cross over giving right hands, back with left
8b Hands six half round, and back again
8b Set to top and bottom your own lines
8b Chain figure of six
8b Advance and retire in two lines; all lead through
Cross over giving right hands, back with left was discussed in the introductory post. Hands six half round, and back again; advance and retire in two lines; and all lead through are straightforward figures which were all described in my most recent post.
The key pair of figures for dances with equal numbers is the combination of set to top and bottom your own lines (sometimes given as set to top and bottom, your own sides) and the chain figure of six, which are always performed sequentially and can be used in dances suited to equal number of ladies and gentlemen. This combination also works in dances suited to a majority of dancers (a formation that occurs temporarily in dances for an equal number of ladies and gentlemen), but it is never used by Chivers in dances listed as suitable only for that type.
Set to top and bottom your own lines is somewhat awkward to call if the dancers do not know the figure well. In the trio facing toward the top of the hall, the center dancer turns to his or her right and sets with that person, while in the trio facing toward the bottom, the center dancers turns to the person on his or her left, mirroring the other line. The best way to call this is usually in relation to the hall one is calling in, if it has some feature that distinguishes the two sides.
After setting with the first person for four bars, the center dancers turn and set with their other partner for four bars, then remain facing that direction to start the next figure. Here are a pair of diagrams showing which pair sets in the first and second parts of the figure:
First part of figure Second part of figure
<--top of hall <-- top of hall
G L G L
** **
L G L G
** **
G L G L
The chain figure of six is begun by two pairs of dancers who just set to each other in the previous figure taking right hands and the two other dancers taking right hands. All dancers begin simultaneously to move around their minor set, taking right and left hands alternately with the other dancers. There are eight bars of music for six changes of place, so the steps do not divide evenly, but in practice dancers generally adjust by instinct to arrive at their places at the end of the musical phrase. Here are the combinations of dancers that take hands at the start of the chain:
<--top of hall
G hands L
L G
hands hands
G L
It's difficult to know what to infer from the fact that while this figure-combination works with groups having a majority of one gender, it is never used for dances exclusively suited to a majority. Was the set to top and bottom at sides and swing with right and left hands to places combination preferred aesthetically by Chivers and used whenever possible? We have no way to know at this date, but the pattern of usage of the different figure-combinations is consistent across all three of Chivers' Swedish dance manuals.
The Swedish Dance series
Part One: Introduction
Part Two: A Trio of Swedish Dances
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