Like the Quadrille du Pas de Quatre, le Moulinet du Pas de Quatre is an experiment by French dancing master and author Eugène Giraudet in adapting the standard Pas de Quatre (a version of the schottische popular in Europe in the late nineteenth century) for small sets of dancers.
The Moulinet is a simple sequence dance, alternating between a short figure for two couples (done to schottische music) and waltzing. It involves only half of the standard Pas de Quatre step-sequence, which makes it a gentle and accessible introduction to the schottische for those new to the dance.
Unusually, we know not only the originator of the Moulinet but precisely when it was created: on March 10, 1897. Giraudet wrote in a later edition of his Traité de la danse (Paris, c1900) that it was
Créée le 10 mars 1897, pendant une récréation de leçon, avec le concours de MM. et Mlles Mourets, ses élèves, qui ont aidé le maître, par leur gracieux dévouement et leur lumière élégante, ce qui a fait de cette danse la plus belle création du siècle et du maître.
My translation:
Created on 10 March, 1897, during a break in a lesson, with the cooperation of the Monsieurs and Mademoiselles Mourets, his pupils, who have helped the master by their graceful devotion and their elegant light, which have made of this dance the most beautiful creation of the century and of the master.
Giraudet also offered his "sincères hommages" to these pupils, from which I would construe that he had as much interest in the family’s continued patronage as in the quality of the dance. "The most beautiful creation of the century and of the master" is a vast, vast exaggeration.
Was it actually danced after that one lesson?
It’s hard to say how popular any dance like the Moulinet became outside its creator’s own studio, but Giraudet certainly made an effort to promote it over the years. In the July of 1903, the Société internationale des maîtres choréographes held a congress in Westphalie. Giraudet, as president of the Société, was heavily involved, and when the dancing masters had finished making speeches bashing the “grotesque et ridicule” cakewalk and generally lamenting the state of the modern ballroom, they settled on seven more respectable dances to accept for the 1903 season. Fourth of these was the Moulinet. This backward-looking decree was reported with varying degrees of sarcasm in Parisian journals such as Le Temps and Figaro.
Nonetheless, the Moulinet seems to have achieved enough fame, at least in some circles, to be mentioned in a series of jokes about dance in late 1905:
Le Moulinet du Pas de Quatre aura pour prélude le Pas de Trois; celle-ci, sera dit-on, réservée aux mathématiciens.
My translation:
The Moulinet du Pas de Quatre [four] will have for its prelude the Pas de Trois [three]; this one, it will be said, reserved for mathematicians.
And in early 1907, the Moulinet appeared in a list of dances “en vogue” in les salons (as opposed to among “la société c’est-à-dire (la bourgeoisie) et le peuple”).
On to the practical details.
Steps for the Moulinet
The basic step involves only the first half of the Pas de Quatre, omitting the turns of the second half. In one measure of schottische (four beats):
1 Slide the right foot to the right
2 Cross the left foot in front of the right
3 Slide the right foot to the right again
4 Hop on the right foot, raising the left foot crossed over the right
The same movements are then repeated to the left. Giraudet specifies that the style of movement is a smooth glide. He does not describe how to do the step straight forward, as is also called for in the figure, but one may infer from his description of the basic Pas de Quatre in the same sources that the forward step is a brisk, gliding pas marché (walking step):
1 Slide the right foot forward
2 Slide the left foot forward
3 Slide the right foot forward
4 Hop on the right foot, extending the left foot forward, about ten centimeters off the floor, toe pointed down
The waltz segment should be done with the old valse à trois temps -- Giraudet's version is step, tuck, pirouette; step, step, pivot -- rather than the "new" box-shaped waltz.
Reconstruction
There are actually two versions of the Moulinet, one in which the two couples swap partners and then regain partners during each iteration of the dance and one couple is instructed to chase the other in the waltz, and one in which both the swapping and the chasing are absent. The latest of the three descriptions that I have for the dance uses the partner-switching version, from which I infer that that is the one Giraudet settled on as preferable. I will give both.
Starting Formation and Hold
The starting formation for the dance is in sets of two couples, one following behind the other. Each lady stands on her gentleman’s right. His right arm is around her waist and his left hand rests on his hip. Her right hand holds her gown out and her left hand is placed in the crook of his arm. This can be more-or-less seen in the illustration at left (click to enlarge). It’s not clear in the image exactly where her left hand is, but Giraudet’s written instructions about it are clear.
I will notate the figures of the dance in Pas de Quatre (PdQ) step-sequences starting on the right foot ("R") or the left ("L").
First, the simpler version, with no partner-switching and no chase specified for the waltz segment. Please refer to the following three images (click to enlarge):
Moulinet du Pas de Quatre, Version #1 (16 bars schottische, 32 bars waltz)
(take starting position and hold described above; all begin with right foot)
4b Four PdQ (R, L, R, L) moving diagonally forward
(partners separate; gentlemen face backward and ladies forward; partners take left hands; see left-hand image above)
1b One PdQ (R) making a half-turn by left hands to change places
(first lady and second gentlemen take right hands; both gentlemen put their left hands on their hips, both ladies take their skirts by the left hand)
1b One PdQ (L), first lady and second gentlemen turning by the right hand while first gentleman and second lady “cast” back behind their partners
(first gentleman and second lady take right hands, forming a moulinet; see center image above)
2b Two PdQ (R, L) in moulinet formation to return to original positions, first couple ahead of second
(couples once again take starting hold)
8b Repeat all of the above
(take waltz position — see right-hand image above)
32b Waltz
(resume original starting hold and two-couple sets to repeat dance)
Moulinet du Pas de Quatre, Version #2 (16 bars schottische, 32 bars waltz)
(take starting position and hold described above; all begin with right foot)
4b Four PdQ (R, L, R, L) moving diagonally forward
(partners separate; gentlemen face backward and ladies forward; partners take left hands)
1b One PdQ (R) making a half-turn by left hands to change places
(first lady and second gentlemen take right hands; both gentlemen put their left hands on their hips, both ladies take their skirts by the left hand)
1b One PdQ (L), first lady and second gentlemen turning by the right hand while first gentleman and second lady “cast” back behind their partners
(first gentleman and second lady take right hands, forming a moulinet)
2b Two PdQ (R, L) in moulinet formation to return to original positions, first couple ahead of second
(during the second PdQ in this secton, as the dancers come around in their moulinet, the first gentleman and second lady raise their arms and the second gentlemen gently pulls the first lady under their arms to join him as the second lady comes forward to join the first gentleman; see performance notes below)
(couples once again take starting hold with new partners)
8b Repeat all of the above, which will return everyone to their original partners
(take waltz position — see figure 5 below)
32b Waltz-pursuit: the first couple waltzes where they will and the second couple follows them
(resume original starting hold and two-couple sets to repeat dance)
Performance Notes
In the version without partner-switching, both ladies must drop their skirts and raise their left arm high enough to not be trapped by his right arm as they move back into the starting hold. The same note applies to moving into waltz position in both versions.
In the second version of the Moulinet, the partner-switching (illustrated at left; click to enlarge) requires fairly precise timing, since the four dancers are still moving around in their moulinet as the first lady is pulled to the back by the second gentleman. He needs to move his right arm counter-clockwise and quickly drop her right hand so that he can grasp her waist and she grasp her skirt as they move into side-by-side position. She once again needs to keep her left arm up high enough that it can easily slip behind his right arm and her left hand into the crook of his arm. This is not difficult, exactly, but it may take a few practice runs to make completely smooth. It is simpler for the first gentleman and second lady; she just moves forward and toward him as they complete the moulinet, with just slightly more forward travel than in the first version.
For the waltz: the second version specifies that the second couple follows "les évolutions et les circuits" of the first couple. The first version does not mention this chasing element, but since the two couples need to reunite after the waltz to restart the schottische figures, one may infer that either the first couple must sedately waltz along the line of dance or the second couple must chase them, explicitly specified or not. Possibly Giraudet changed the description because the young Monsieurs and Mademoiselles Mourets thought it was more fun if the waltz was a bit chaotic?
Sources
I have not found the Moulinet du Pas de Quatre anywhere other than in Giraudet’s own works. The three Giraudet sources I used include the two-volume set La Danse, la Tenue, le Maintien…, 55th edition (Vol I) and Traité de la danse (Vol II) (both available at the Library of Congress website) as well as his later book, Méthode moderne de danse et d’éducation (Paris, c1913). Version #1 is found only in La Danse. Version #2 is found in Traité de la danse and Méthode moderne.
Music
Specific music was composed and published for the Moulinet du Pas de Quatre by Madame Nancy Maire and Gaston Nardon. The actual sheet music is available from the Bibliothèque nationale de France.
In the absence of live musicians, a recording with the complete dance played three times through has also been published on the album Saison des bals - Belle époque, which may be purchased here. The schottische is played at about 22 measures per minute and the waltz at about 62.
Other reconstructions
The only other reconstruction of the Moulinet du Pas de Quatre of which I am aware is by Yvonne Vart, who published the second version of the dance in the liner notes for the Saison des bals CD. Vart’s reconstruction generally matches mine.
Special thanks to my Moulinet test dancers: Leo, Katya, Margarita, and Denis!
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