Eiite Lanciers (1 of 3)

The Elite Lanciers is a variant Lancers set created by M. B. Gilbert, most famous for his couple dance collection, Round Dancing (Portland, Maine, 1890).  The Elite Lanciers does not appear in Round Dancing.  I came across it first in the Unique Dancing Call Book by Charles Link (Rochester, NY, c1893), where it did not impress me as particularly interesting.  What changed my mind about these figures was finding a second source: New Dances, by C. H. Rivers (Brooklyn, c1890), with an attribution to Gilbert.  Link trimmed the calls in his book to a bare minimum (and didn't mention the creators of the figures).  Rivers not only offered more detailed calls but also added some additional notes and gave Gilbert his credit.  Along with being a fun set of figures, this makes the Elite Lanciers an interesting example of how a minimalist set of calls can make what's actually quite a nice set of figures into something that looks too boring to bother with. 

[Edited 6/19/2019 to add]
I've just come across a third source for these figures, a quick writeup in the September 30, 1890, issue of Once a Week : An Illustrated Weekly Newspaper, wherein it was stated that "During the recent meeting of the National Association of Professors of Dancing, held at Brooklyn, the following new set of lanciers, named "the Élite," were selected.  They are by Mr. Melville B. Gilbert, of Portland, Me."  That gives a very definitive date of 1890 for Elite Lanciers.  The description given does not add anything useful to my reconstruction, and since they got Gilbert's first name wrong, I don't consider it a particularly reliable source, but I've added a few notes below. 

[Edited 7/19/2019 to add]
And I've now come across a fourth source for these figures, H. N. Grant's The American National Call Book / Guide to Quadrille Dancing (revised edition, October 1893).  The wording is almost identical to that given in Rivers, though without specifying a right-hand turn at the end of the first figure.

[end added material]

A note about music: there were at least three of different sets of quadrille music called "Elite Lancers" published; here's one (here as well), and another (from the cover of which the image at above left is taken), and a "Brooklyn elite lancers".  It's not clear to me whether Gilbert's figures were written for one of them specifically or whether, as with his Cadet Lancers, they could be danced to any Lancers tunes.  The length and repeats of the Elite Lanciers figures are Lancers-standard, so any Lancers music with the usual structure will work:

Figure 1: 8b + (24b x4)
Figure 2: 8b + (24b x4)
Figure 3: 8b + (16b x4)
Figure 4: 8b + (20b x4)
Figure 5: (48b x4) +16b

I'll go through it figure by figure, giving Link's bare-bones description and then my reconstruction based on the extra detail found in Rivers.

The first figure as given in Link:

8b   Introduction [not repeated]
4b   Head couples lead to right
4b   Chassa half round
4b   Head ladies forward & back
4b   Head gents forward & back
4b   All forward & back
4b   Swing partners to place
Sides same

The only real hint that this is a "form lines across the set" figure is the final forward and back and swing partners to place, which could be otherwise interpreted as well.  It is not completely obvious that "chassa half round" is a form of "separate into facing lines of four".  The added details given in Rivers make the "chassez out" figure clear, specify the hands for each turn, and are specific that the figure is danced four times rather than twice with a heads/sides/heads/sides alternating lead.  Edited 6/19/2019 to add: The Once a Week writeup stated that the lead is to the left on the second and fourth repeats, which means heads would always lead to the right and the side couples to the left.  I think this is an error and continue to follow Rivers.

My reconstruction:

The Elite Lanciers, Figure 1 (8b + (24bx4))
8b   Introduction [not repeated]
4b   Head couples lead to right (2b) and salute (bow/curtsy) (2b)
4b   Facing dancers take two hands and "chassez out" (away from partners) (2b) then make a half-turn forming lines of four at the head and foot of the set (2b)
4b   Head ladies (from the right ends of the lines) forward & back
4b   Head gents (from the left ends of the lines) forward & back
4b   All forward & back
4b   Turn partners by right hands to place
Second time: side couples lead to the right; lines on the sides
Third time: head couples lead to the left; lines at the head/foot
Fourth time: side couples lead to the left; lines on the sides

I've discussed "chassez [chassé] out" at great length in the past (see this post for a clear description of how the dancers end the figure in facing lines and here for some follow-up thoughts).  The salutes above replace the setting in the earlier versions.

Since the head ladies/head gents are on diagonally opposite ends of the lines, my preference is for them to go forward and back diagonally toward each other in the center of the set.  This isn't specified in either source, but it's more aesthetically pleasing than having them just potter around by themselves at the end of each line.

Turning partners to places at the end works as expected for the side couples (or heads, the second and fourth time).  For the head couples, it turns more into something more like "half-turn and the gentleman gently pulls the lady along back to their home position".  The right hand is given in Rivers only; the other sources do not specify.

Figures two through five will follow in succeeding posts!  (Updated to add: figures 2 and 3 here; figures 4 and 5 here)

Comments

[Sandra]

Hello Susan,

I let you know that this post is (incorrectly) categorized under "16th Century":)
Nice reconstruction by the way!

[Susan de Guardiola]

Oops! Thank you, I'll fix the category. No idea how that happened...