CHAPTER XI
THE CELEBRATED SOCIAL DANCES OF THE PAST
The Pavane and the Courante; the Allemande and the Sarabande; the Minuet and the Gavotte; the Rigaudon and other dances.
Since we have devoted a chapter to the folk-dances, it will be fitting to describe a few of the most noted dances of the nobility in order to complete our comparative treatment of such a vast subject, so little systematized and so much ignored. While the general tone of all the folk-dances is masculine, that of all the social dances seems predominantly effeminate, rather soft and delicate. Their exceedingly graceful plastic lines, shaded movements, soft forms and subtilized gestures speak of gilded ball-rooms, silk and perfume, affected manners and the artificial air of a Rococo style. It seems as if a woman’s mind had worked out their embroidered figures and timid steps. They belonged to no particular nation, but to the rich class of all the world. The same Allemande that was danced by the French nobility was copied at the castles of the German barons, English lords, Italian and Russian counts.
The oldest and most ceremonial of the Middle Ages’ social dances was the Pavane, the celebrated peacock dance, in which kings and princes, lords and ladies took part, the men wearing gorgeous uniforms, the ladies flowery trains. It was distinguished by rhythmic grace, and by slow and stately measure. The dancers attempted to enshroud their very souls in majestic dignity, gracefully rounding their arms, while crossing and recrossing, keeping their heads away from each other. One big step and two small ones accompanied one bar of the music, which was sung by a chorus of hidden singers. Beginning side by side, hand in hand, with a curtsey and bow, the couple started with a pas marché down the floor, making four steps, the cavalier taking the lady’s left hand. After making a turn with four steps, they danced backward with four steps. He took her right hand and turned with four steps. Thus it went on in four different movements. The Pavane was a dance for cortèges and processions, and the lady’s trains were spread out like the tail of a peacock.
The next most conspicuous nobility dance was the Courante, which was practised for nearly three centuries at the European castles and courts. It was a great favorite of Louis XIV, and no one else danced it so well as he. It was danced at the court of Charles II and Queen Elizabeth was fond of it. The ladies danced it in short soft velvet skirt; bodice with basques and lace berthes. It had three movements and started usually with a deep curtsey, a springing step forward and back, both arms raised and each dancer turning outward. These movements occupied four double bars of the music. Handel and Bach wrote many Courantes, but they were too elaborate and quick, therefore they were used only by professional dancers.
Bach and Handel have also written numerous Chaconnes, which were dances in slow triple time, of a stately character, light and graceful. In the Chaconne two or three people could participate. This dance was said to be of Spanish origin, though the Italians claim that one of their blind musicians composed it in the sixteenth century. Cervantes writes in ‘Don Quixote’ that it was a mulatto dance for negroes and negresses, imported by the French. It is composed of a springing and walking step on the toes, at the end of which the heels must be so placed that the body is firm. The rhythm is slow and well marked. The dance has seven different movements. The fourth and sixth movements are in Mazurka steps, the fifth in skating steps and the last in bourrée step. In the third movement the lady turns under her partner’s arm.
A celebrated dance of more than four centuries was the Allemande, in which the head and arm movements played the foremost rôle. It had five movements, danced by any number of couples, placing themselves behind each other. The Allemande step is three pas marchés and the front foot raised. The lady stands in front of the gentleman and he holds her left hand with his left and her right with his right hand. For four bars they go forward and pose, repeat this four times and turn. The second movement has four steps around, after which the gentleman turns the lady with arms over head, and the lady turns the gentleman. The third movement is a polka step backward and forward and turned. In the fourth the lady takes four steps in front of the gentleman and turns. In the last they take four steps across the room, turn and pose; two steps back and pose, and repeat.
A dance of pretty music and more original design was the Sarabande of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, which was danced as a solo by a man or a woman, although later it was danced by couples. It had a slow and stately step and consisted of four different figures. In the first figure the dancer raised the right foot and took a step forward, turned to the right and posed, and repeated to the left and the right. The second figure was a pas bourrée to the left and the right, with some turning in between. The third figure consisted of an accentuated hip movement, coupé, a pose with head movement, and a repetition to the opposite direction. The last figure consisted of springing on the left foot, stretching the right leg to the back, and bowing. This was carried on in several repetitions. The most effective Sarabande music was composed by Lully. For this the ladies wore a picturesque dress of cloth of gold, the sleeves and tunic in the form of gigantic oak leaves of red and gold, tipped with sequins; red shoes and stockings.
Probably the most celebrated and widespread of old social dances was the Minuet, which demanded much repose and dignity on the part of the dancers. It was performed by men and women, but was given also by ladies only. It began with a deep reverence on the part of the lady and a bow on the part of the man, the dancers turning towards each other at right angles to the audience, the lady with her left hand holding her dress, the elbow prettily rounded. They advanced, the lady turning around and assuming the position in which they started. This was repeated, and the dance ended with a bow and a curtsey. Then the lady held her dress in both hands, her head being turned over her right shoulder, while her partner’s head was turned to the left. A favorite step was that of lifting the foot high, rising on the toes, and then taking three little steps on tip-toes to the next bar. The Minuet requires much grace and deliberation, with every movement thought out and studied. The main rule is that in passing each other the partners should make a deep curtsey and bow. The fingers of the hand should be moderately open, the arms curved and graceful. The women often carried a feather fan. Louis XV was a virtuoso in the Minuet. The English kings used to take lessons in the dance. It is the one dance that England has looked on kindly. It created a perfect sensation in France and was in vogue until the Revolution swept it away. Many celebrated composers have written fine Minuet music, Lully’s being probably the best. It had nine different movements. The ladies wore for the minuet a satin petticoat, bordered with a deep flounce. The bodice had a pleating round à la veille, which was carried down to the open front of the skirt, on either side of the bodice, and round the back, which left a plain pointed front with a rosette in the centre of the neck. The sleeves were elbow length, the hair powdered and worn very high, a ribbon tied across the back from which rose three large bows of white plumes, the shoes pointed.