(See the first and second posts in this series for the structure of the quadrille, the "chorus" figure, and the introductions to each figure.)
Completing the National Park Quadrille, here are the third and fourth figures!
Figure 3 (4b intro, A=8b, B=8b; played 4b + AABBx4)
4b Introduction (not repeated): gentlemen step to the center and turns to face partners, all quickly bow/courtesy, and the gentlemen return to places
4b Head trios forward and back
4b Head trios turn opposites by two hands
4b All twelve join hands, forward and back
4b All twelve take hands three in trios and circle round to places
16b "Chorus" figure (described in detail here)
Repeat three more times (heads, sides, sides).
Notes
(1) See Figure 1 in the previous post for notes about the introductory honors and the first post in the series for a description of the "chorus" figure.
(2) Steps are not specified for any of this except the two-hand turn, for which polka steps should be used. For the rest, it may be walking or polka steps according to the decision of the dancers.
(3) It's not crystal-clear that the final hands three in trios is done by all twelve dancers instead of just the heads. Clendenen notates the hands twelve and hands three figures separately and gives incorrect bar numbers: "all join hands, forward and back [4 bars]; three hands 'round to places [8]". Kopp makes it clearer: "all join hands, forward and back, three hands around to places [8]". I think all four trios doing the hands three is the most logical interpretation.
(4) As in Figure 2, the dancers in trios should start circling before the two ladies actually catch hands; the right-hand lady absolutely should not go backward to get the left-hand lady's hand. Just trail the free hand and she will catch up!
(Edited 12/12/2023 to denigrate this reconstruction and strike out various no-longer-applicable bits; please see the end of note 4 and the alternate figure below, now my preferred reconstruction. Notes still apply except as crossed out.)
Figure 4 (4b intro, A=12b, B=8b, C=8b, D=8b; played 4b + ABBCDDx4)
4b Introduction (not repeated): all join hands in a circle and salute to center of set
4b Head trios lead to their right side couple; all salute
4b Head trios lead to the opposite side couple; all salute
4b Head trios lead back to their original places
8b All form columns, leading couple in front (see note below)
8b All four-slide galop to right and back twice
4b Ladies counter-march; gentlemen mark time
4b All back to places (see note below)
16b "Chorus" figure
Repeat three more times as above (second head couple leading, then first side couple, then second side couple).
Notes
(1) In the first two figures as the head trios lead to the side trios, there is a ritard in the music for the dancers to extend their salute. Given the difficulty of wheeling two trios in straight lines simultaneously in the center of a reasonably-sized quadrille set, I would favor a more serpentine track, with the left-hand lady leading each trio around the set. No steps are specified for these initial twelve bars.
(2) To form the columns, as in the Lancers quadrille, the leading trio needs to wheel or lead completely around to face outward. As above, I favor the right-hand lady leading the line around (counter-clockwise) rather than trying to neatly wheel the whole trio. The timing is roughly four bars for this, then two bars for the first side couple (to the right of the first head couple's position) to swing into place (led by the right-hand lady) and two bars for the second side couple (led by the left-hand lady). No steps are specified for this either, but for the slide to the right and back (twice), the instructions state "all chassé (or glide polka to right and back twice)". This is the point at which I think the distinction between the glide polka and the four-slide galop collapses; I find it highly unlikely that the dancers are doing a slide-cut-leap at the end of the slide each way rather than simply slide-close-slide.
(3) The music then changes to a march for the next eight bars; the instructions note that the musicians should not "play march too fast, or try to double it up into polka time". No steps are specified for the ladies' counter-march, but since the gentlemen are "marking time", presumably by marching in place, I think march (walking) steps would be most appropriate for both the counter-march and the final figure below.
(4) The given final figures (before the chorus) of the fourth figure are a forward and back (two bars) and then "three hands (a)round to places" (two bars). That is ridiculously rushed. It's not possible to do the three hands round gracefully; it's hardly possible to do it at all, even using polka steps. Sweet was obviously riffing on the fifth figure of the Lancers here, but he simply did not think it through. The two possible solutions are (1) to repeat the march music, or (2) to cut a figure. I've chosen the second option, since the march strain given on the sheet music clearly does not repeat and the counter-march really does not require a full eight bars, but I'll give an alternate version below as well. (Edited 12/12/2023 to add: "the counter-march really does not require a full eight bars" turns out, upon doing this with actual dancers, to be entirely incorrect. The march music should be repeated, and the version below the first set of notes is now my preferred reconstruction.)
So, to do the final return to places in a reasonable four bars, using march steps to go with the march music, each trio must move a bit differently. The leading trio must circle halfway, pulled by the left-hand lady, though probably without the ladies ever actually catching hands. The trio at the far end can actually make a full circle, the ladies catching hands partway through then dropping them again fairly quickly. The trios in the second and third places in the column can't really circle without colliding, and in any case circling wouldn't move them back to places very well. The trio in the second place (originally to the right of the leading couple) can be pulled around by the left-hand lady, making a rather sharp turn to her left (her back to the columns) to give them room to circle clockwise into place without anyone having to back up. For the trio in the third place, the left-hand lady needs to turn the line around, starting by turning forward to her left so that she's facing the rest of her trio briefly as she starts to pull them after her.
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ALTERNATE VERSION: (now my definitive reconstruction)
Figure 4 (4b intro, A=12b, B=8b, C=8b, D=8b; played 4b + ABBCCDDx4)
4b Introduction (not repeated): all join hands in a circle and salute to center of set
4b Head trios lead to their right side couple; all salute
4b Head trios lead to the opposite side couple; all salute
4b Head trios lead back to their original places
8b All form columns, leading couple in front (see note below)
8b All four-slide galop to right and back twice
8b Ladies counter-march; gentlemen mark time
4b All forward and back
4b All back to places
16b "Chorus" figure
Repeat three more times as above (second head couple leading, then first side couple, then second side couple).
Notes
(1) For this version, tThe eight-bar C strain (the march) must be repeated.
(2) There is now a lot of time for the counter-march; the ladies can make big loopy tracks on either side. Use march (walking) steps; polka would just be ridiculous.
(3) Rather than going forward and back twice, fast (forward-close-back-close twice), which feels too stutter-like for me, I've stuck with the original one time, performing it with three march steps and a close forward and the same back.
(4) The return to places as above.
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And that's the National Park Quadrille! But why was it called that? Stay tuned...
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