Chivers' La Grande Polonaise, 1821 (1818?)

La Grande Polonaise was published as an individual work by G. M. S. Chivers, probably early in 1821.  The first trace of its publication I have found is toward the end of an ad from London's Morning Post on Thursday, March 1st, 1821, for an Assembly to be held the following Monday.  The ad is shown at left; click to enlarge.  [see update note below for more information about the dating of this dance] 

La Grande Polonaise is not on the list of dances definitely planned for the assembly, but the author -- presumably Chivers himself -- noted that "several new Species of Dancing" would also be introduced, so it is possible it was danced at that event.  Its price of two shillings is the same at which it would later be advertised in the back of Chivers' third major book, The Dancing Master in Miniature (1825). 

I am not aware of any surviving copy of the original publication, alas, but the figures for La Grande Polonaise were also printed in Chivers' second book, The Modern Dancing Master (1822).  Chivers' description of the dance from that book:

La GRANDE POLONAISE, is generally thought to have originated in Poland, and it is a favorite Dance of the Polish Nobility.

The dance commences with a Tune in March Time, and terminates with a Sauteuse, and will require at least ten or twelve couple to perform it.

Any number of persons can join in the Dance; observing that there is an even number of couples; and no person should join after the Dance has commenced.

The figure given, is the same as was performed when the Allied Sovereigns were at Aix-la-Chappel.

I am extremely skeptical of Chivers' claim that this was danced at the Congress of Aix-la-Chappelle in 1818.  While the average London dancer might not have been familiar with the polonaise, a musical form and dance in 3/4 time, the Continental attendees probably would have been, and are unlikely to have danced a "polonaise" to march (4/4) music.  I expect they danced a polonaise (probably more than one, as the Congress lasted for two months), but I very much doubt it was this "polonaise".

Given Chivers' track record of choreographic creativity and blithe unconcern for accuracy in labeling dances, however, I do find it perfectly plausible that he created this dance himself and, out of ignorance or deliberate choice, used a march tune and an ordinary marching (walking) step rather than a polonaise step.  I thus consider La Grande Polonaise to be a purely English invention, not a Polish or even French dance, and not representative of early nineteenth century polonaise in general.  Nor, as a niche dance by a specific dancing master, would I expect it to have been widely danced outside London or even outside Chivers' own events.  But for a specifically English ball of the early 1820s, it's reasonable and unusual enough to make a pleasant change of pace.

I will give my reconstruction of the figures of La Grande Polonaise first, with notes.  A full transcription of the dance figures is at the end of the post for those who enjoy checking these things.

The March
(march tune repeated as many times as required)
Any even number of couples should arrange themselves in a column, ladies on right and gentlemen on left, taking inside hands.  The figures:

• The entire column travels around the room, probably counter-clockwise, until arriving at top-center.
• They lead down the center of the room to bottom-center.
• Ladies cast off to right (clockwise), gentlemen to left (counter-clockwise), and circle the room until they meet again at top-center.
• The lines pass each other by left shoulders, ladies on the inside and gentlemen on the outside, and continue around the room until they meet again at bottom-center.
• Partners once again take inside hands and lead up in a column to top-center.
• At the top, the gentlemen guide their ladies in front of them and the ladies continue on around counter-clockwise while their partners turn right and go clockwise around the opposite side.
• When they meet at the bottom, take left hands, the lady going clockwise under the gentleman's arm, both dancers ending side by side holding left in left and right and right, facing clockwise.
• All promenade to the left (clockwise) around the room, ending in a closed circle for the next part.

The step for the march would have been the pas marché, a plain walking step.  Chivers' contemporary and rival Thomas Wilson called for marches to begin on the left foot for both ladies and gentlemen.

The Sauteuse
(40 bars played half as many times as there are couples and at least once more)
4b    Two couples advance to the center (2b) and set (2b)
4b    Honors to vis-à-vis dancer
4b    Demi chaîne anglaise (half right and left)
4b    Set to partners (balancez)
4b    Demi chaîne anglaise (half right and left)
4b    Set to partners (balancez)
8b    Moulinet (right hands across/left hands back)
4b    Honors to vis-à-vis dancer
4b    Give both hands to partners and turn, swirling out to original places in the circle

The figure is performed first by the leading couple and the couple opposite them, then by pairs of couples in turn, working their way counter-clockwise around the circle.  Once all couples have danced the figure, all face partners, set and turn partners (8b), and finish with "waltzing", which in this case means a turning sauteuse (leap waltz).  The dancers can easily transition into a "standard" closed ballroom hold by simply dropping one hand (his right/her left) to shift holds, or can try something a little more unusual by having the gentleman place both hands on her back and the lady either rest both hands on his shoulders or tuck both her hands behind her own back.

Steps would be the standard chassé-jeté-assemblé and balancez combinations typical for quadrilles of the era.

 

Performance and Reconstruction Notes
In the march, Chivers' use of "left" and "right" for directions of travel around the room are contradictory.  I've made the choice to start the march by moving counter-clockwise, the same way as the promenade in a quadrille (in The Modern Dancing Master, Chivers describes the promenade as "to the right"), and from there have just followed the directions given until the end, when his direction to promenade to the left seems to indicate the non-standard direction, meaning clockwise.

It would be very helpful if the leading couples knew the figures; while most of the march can be directed by a master of ceremonies, there is no standard (or dignified) way to signal the underarm turn if the dancers aren't expecting it.

For the underarm turn, the choice of left hands is my decision, because I feel that it flows into the promenade more nicely for the lady.

All the sauteuse figures originally appeared in English.  I've translated some of them to French for those who are more comfortable with quadrille figures in that language. 

Chivers did not specify to whom the honors are performed in the sauteuse or that two hands were used in the "swirl" (my term) out to places.  These are my reconstruction choices.  It seems more logical to do the honors to the newly-arriving and departing vis-à-vis couple rather than the partner one has had the entire time, and two hands for a turn is standard if no hand is specified.  Note that the "swirl" figure is the same as Chivers used in the fourth figure of his Caledonians.

In order to perform the sauteuse figure smoothly, it would be wise of the leading couple to determine when assembling for the dance which the couple halfway down the set is.  The master of ceremonies should facilitate this, or be prepared to signal the correct couple at the start of the sauteuse.

The waltz at the end can last just the remaining thirty-two bars of the sauteuse tune, or the musicians can repeat the piece once or twice more, depending on the tastes and abilities of the dancers.

Music
In the continuing absence of the original sheet music, it is still possible to dance La Grande Polonaise by creating one's own only little tune medley.  As noted above, Chivers specified a tune in march time, which is generally 4/4, for the first part and a sauteuse (usually in 2/4, but possibly 6/8) with a forty-bar repeat for the second part.  There are several march tunes in Thomas Wilson's Companion to the Ballroom and numerous surviving sauteuses.  One of those marches ("La Belle Assemblée")  and two sauteuses by Parisian composer Julien Clarchies are included on the album The Regency Ballroom (Spare Parts) but the tracks are far too short for La Grande Polonaise and would have to be looped extensively to work.

Update, February 7, 2023

First: I've updated the title of the post to add (1818?).  Why?  Because while going through material for a talk, I realized I actually had a couple of earlier citations for La Grande Polonaise that take it firmly back into the actual Regency era.  The very early Chivers ad at left (click to enlarge), published in the Morning Post on Friday, November 13, 1818, listed "La Grand Polanaise" [sic] among the dances taught by Chivers. 

The association of the dance with the Congress of Aix-La-Chappelle makes much more sense now.  The Congress was still in progress at that point, and Chivers, a master of self-promotion, presumably wanted to cash in on public interest in the event.

There's no way to tell how polished La Grande Polonaise was in 1818.  The delay until 1821 in publishing it; its absence from his earlier work, The Dancer's Guide (c1820-21); and the altered spelling of the title suggest that Chivers might have worked on his choreography over time, perhaps changing it significantly.  Or perhaps he only improved his French: the advertisement below left (click to enlarge) appeared in The Observer on Sunday, April 23, 1820, offering, among other dances, a better-spelled "La grande Polonaise"

Of course, before it was published, there is even less chance that La Grande Polonaise would have spread beyond Chivers' own students and patrons.  So while I stand by the dating of the dance described here to its actual publication in 1821, I'd push the date of composition of at least a prototype back to 1818 and expect that some version of it was taught and danced in Chivers' classes and events between 1818 and 1821.  Barring some unlikely discovery of Chivers' personal dance notes, I doubt I'll ever be able to say anything more.

[end update]

 

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Transcription of the dance figures

FIGURE TO THE MARCH.
(Tune repeated until the Eighth Figure is finished.)

1. The Ladies form one line, and the gentlemen do the same (i. e. you stand the same as at the commencement of a Contre Danse).

2. All lead your partners (with one hand) round the room to top.

3. Lead your partners down the centre of the room to the bottom.

4. The ladies cast off to their right, while the gentlemen cast off to their left, all leading up to top.

5. The ladies then lead round in front of the gentlemen, to the left from the top, while the gentlemen pass on the outside of the ladies to the right from top, all meet your partners at bottom.

6. Lead your partners up the centre of the room.

7. Each lady passes before her partner at top, the ladies lead round to the right from the top, and the gentlemen do the same to the left from the top, all meet at bottom, turn the lady under your arm.

8. All promenade to the left and finish in a circle.

FIGURE TO THE SAUTEUSE.
(Tune to contain Forty bars.)

9. The first and the opposite couple advance to the centre, set and perform the honors ==

10. Half right and left —

11. Set to your partners —

12. Half right and left —

13. Set to your partners —

14. Hands across, half round and back again ==

15. Then perform the honors, join hands with partners, and each couple retire, turning round to their places ==

*** The same Figure (i. e. from No. 9 to No. 15) is performed by the couple that stand to at the right of the first couple, and the couple that stand at the right of the opposite (i. e. the centre) couple; and the same is repeated until all have performed it; then all set and turn partners, and finish the Dance with Waltzing.

Comments

[Cara King]

The March part sounds fun. But waiting for everyone else to do the Sauteuse sounds rather tedious!

[Susan de Guardiola]

Cara, I think it really depends on the number of couples. I can't fathom doing this with dozens and dozens, but with Chivers' minimum of ten or twelve couples, it's not too bad. The quadrille figure would take about 45 seconds to dance. So if you have ten couples and it's danced five times, that would mean 45 seconds of dancing and three minutes of waiting/watching/flirting for each couple. And for six of the couples, those three minutes would be broken up. With twelve couples, it would be a little under four minutes total of waiting. That seems like a lot by modern standards, I guess, but I don't think it's outrageously long.