THE ROOM

The following diagram is a ground plan of the room in which the dances are supposed to take place:-

A diagram, showing the initial disposition of the dancers, is printed at the head of the notation of each dance, and placed so that its four sides correspond with the four sides of the room as depectid in the above plan. That is, the upper and lower sides of the diagram represent, respectively, the right and left walls of the room; its left and right sides the top and bottom.

In Playford's time, the top of the room was called the Presence, alluding to the dais upon which the spectators were seated. The expression facing the presence means therefore, facing up, i.e., toward the top of the room; while back to the presence means facing down, toward the bottom of the room.

TECHNICAL TERMS AND SYMBOLS.

• = man; = woman.
• r. = a step taken with the right foot; l. = a step taken with the left foot.
• The Set or the General Set is the area occupied or enclosed by the dancers in any given dance-formation.
• A Longways dance is one in which the performers take partners and stand in two parallel lines, the men on one side opposite and facing their partners on the other, those on the men's side ffacing the right wall, those on the woman's side the left wall.
• The disposition of the dancers in a longways dance is said to be proper when the men and women are on their own side; and improper when the men are on the woman's side or the women on the men's.
• A Progressive dance consists of the repetition for an indefinite number of times of a series of movements, called the Complete Figure, each repetition being performed by the dancers in changed positions. The performance of each Complete Figure is called a Round.
• A Progressive movement or figure is one the performance of which leaves the dancers relatively in different positions.
• A neutral dancer is one who, in a progressive dance, is passive during the performance of a Round.
• In dances or figures in which two couples only are engaged, the terms contrary woman and contrary man are used to denote the woman or man other than the partner.
• When two dancers standing side by side are directed to take hands they are to join inside hands; that is, the right hand of one with the left hand of the other, if the two face the same way; and right hands or left hands, if they face in opposite directions. When they are directed to take, or give, right or left hands, they are to join right with right, or left with left.
• To cross hands the man takes the right and left hands of the woman with his right and left hands respectively, the right hands being held above the left.
• When two dancers face one another and are directed to take both hands, they are to join right with left and left with right.
• To pass by the right is to pass right shoulder to right shoulder; by the left, left shoulder to left shoulder.
• When two dancers pass each other they should always, unless otherwise directed, pass each other by the right.
• To cast off is to turn outward and move up or down outside the General Set.
• To cast up or cast down is to turn outward and move up or down outside the General Ste.
• To fall is to dance backwards; to lead, or move, is to dance forwards.
• To make a half-turn is to turn through half a circle and face in the opposite direction; to make a whole-turn is to make a complete revolution.
• The terms clockwise and counter-clockwsie are self-explanatory and refer to the direction of circular movements.

PROGRESSIVE DANCES.

THE PROGRESSIVE LONGWAYS DANCE

There are two methods of progression in a Longways Dance - the whole-set and the minor-set.

In the wole set dance the progression is effected by the transference in every Round of the top couple from the top to the bottom of the General Set, the rest of the couples moving up one place.

The minor-set dance is one in which the Complete Figure in each Round is performed simultaneously by subsidiary sets or groups of two (duple) or three (triple) adjacent couples.

The effect of every performance of the Complete Figure is to change the positions of the couples in each minor-set. In a duple minor-set dance the two couples change places, in a triple minor-set the two upper couples. This necessitates a rearrangement of the minor-sets in the following Round, and this is effected by each top couple forming a new minor-set with the adjacent couple or couples below. In this way the top couple of each minor-set will move down the Set one place every Round; while the lower couple of the duple-minor set, and the second couple in the triple-minor set, will each move up one place. As the dance proceeds, therefore, every couple will move from one end of the Set to the other, the top couples down, the rest up. In a duple minor-set each couple on reaching either end of the General Set becomes neutral in the following Round. In a triple minor-set each couple upon reaching the top of the General Set remains neutral during the two following Rounds; and on reaching the bottom for one Round only. It should be added that when the top couple of a triple minor-set dance reaches the last place but one it must, in the succeeding Round, dance the progressive portion of the Complete Figure with the last couple or change places with them.

THE MUSIC.

The several strains of each dance-air will be marked in the music-book and in the notations by means of capital letters, A, B, C, etc. When a strain is played more than once in a Part it will be marked A1, B1, C1, etc., on its first performance, and A2, B2, C2, A3, B3, etc., in its subsequent repetitions.

It will be found that many of the dances in this collection are divided into two or more Parts. John Essex quaintly but aptly likened these divisions to the "several verses of songs upon the same tune."

In non-progressive dances, the division is made merely for the sake of clearness in description; the Parts are intended to follow on without a pause.

When, however, a progressive movement occurs in one or other of the figures of a Part, that Part must be repeated as often as the dancers decree. The usual practice is to repeat the Part until the leader has returned to original place.

Progressive figures will be marked as such in the notation; while the parts in which they occur will be headed "Whole-Set," "Duple Minor-Set," etc., according to the nature of the progression.

MOTION IN THE DANCE.

The Country Dance is pre-eminently a figure dance, depending in the main for its expressiveness upon the weaving of patterned, concerted evolutions rather than upon intricate steps or elaborate body-movements. That the steps in the Country Dance should be few in number and technically simple is, therefore, natural enough. For complicated foot-work is obviously incompatible with that free, easy, yet controlled, movement needed in the execution of intricate figures. In a figure-dance such as we are now considering, the way in which the dancer moves from place to place is obviously of far greater importance than the steps, and to this, therefore we will first turn our attention. An analysis of the way in which the traditional folk-dancer moves shows that it is based upon two main principles:-

1. The weight of the body in motion must always be supported wholly on one foot or the other, and never carried on both feet at the same moment. From this it follows that the transition from step to step, i.e., the transference of weight from one foot to the other, must always be effected by spring, high enough to raise the body off the ground.
2. The motive force, although derived in part from this foot-spring, is chiefly due to the force of gravity, brought into play by the inclination of the body from the vertical. The dancer in motion is always in unstable equilibrium, regulating both the speed and direction of his movement by varying the poise and balance of his body. When moving along the straight, for instance, his body will be poised in either front of his feet, or behind them, according as his movement is forward or backward; and laterally when moving along a curved track.
   The function of the legs is to support the body rather than to help to move it forward, the actual motion being set up, regulated, and directed by the sway and balance of the body, as in skating. The body, it should be pointed out, cannot be used in this way, that is to set up and regulate motion, unless it is carried essentially in line from head to foot, without a bend at the neck, or at the waist, or sag at the knees.

The advantages of this way of moving are obvious. Motion is started and kept up with the least expenditure of muscular energy; it can be regulated, both as to speed and direction, with the greatest ease and nicety; above all, its expressive value is high in that it brings the whole body, and not the legs alone, into play. The strongest argument against "leg-dancing" is not merely that it is ugly, or that it involves superfluous muscular effort, but that the legs, being primarily concerned and almost wholly occupied in supporting and preserving the equilibrium of the body, cannot effectively be employed for expressive or any other purpose.

THE STEPS.

The following general directions apply to the execution of all the steps used in the Country Dance:-

1. Country Dance steps always fall on the main divisions of the bar, i.e., on each of the two beats in duple measure (2/2 or 6/8), and of the three beats in triple measure (3/2 or 9/8). In the case of a compound step, that is, one that comprises more than one mevement, the accented movement should fall on the beat.
2. The step should fall on the ball of the foot, not on the toe, with the heel off, but close to, the ground.
3. The feet should be held straight and parallel, neither turned out nor in at the ankle.
4. The legs should never be straddled, but held close together. Nor again should they be extended more than is absolutely necessary; the spring should as far as possible take the place of the stride.
5. The jar caused by the impact of the feet on the floor should be absorbed mainly by the ankle-joint, and very little, or not all by the knees. The knee should be bent as little as possible, so little that the supporting leg should appear to be straight, i.e., in one line from hip to ankle.
6. All unnecessary movements should be suppressed, e.g., kicking up the heels, fussing with the feet, raising the knees, etc.

THE RUNNING STEP.

This is the normal Country Dance step. It is an ordinary running-step, executed neatly and lightly, in accordance with the above instructions.

In the notation this will be marked:-
r.s. (running step).

THE WALKING STEP.

This is a modified form of the running-step, in which the spring, though present, is scarcely noticeable.

In the notation this will be marked:-
w.s. (walking step).

SKIPPING-STEP.

This is the usual step-and-hop on alternate feet. The accent is on the step, which must fall, therefore, on the beat. Care should be taken to prevent the skipping-step from degenerating into a double-hop, the two feet taking the ground together, instead of in succession. The hop should fall on the last quarter, or last third, of the beat according as the latter is simple or compound, thus:-

In the notation this will be marked:-
sk.s. (skipping-step).

SLIPPING-STEP

This is a series of springs, made sideways, off alternate feet, the major spring being on the outside foot, i.e., the left when going to the left and the right when going to the right. Although the legs are thus alternately opening and closing, scissor-fashion, the motion is effected almost wholly by the spring, not the straddle; the legs, therefore, should be separated as little as possible. The free foot should not be allowed to scrape along the grouond.

The accent falls on the foot on to which the major spring is made, that is, the left or right, according to the direction of motion, thus:-

In the notation this will be marked:- sl.s (slipping step).

THE DOUBLE-HOP.

This is sometimes, though very rarely, used in ring movements as an alternative to the slipping-step. It is a variant of the Slip, in which the feet, instead of taking the ground separately one after the other, alight together a few inches apart.

THE SINGLE.

Playford defines the Single as "two steps, closing the feet." Technically this may be interpreted in the following way: on the first beat of the bar a spring is made, forwards or sideways, on to one foot, say the right; the left foot is then brought up beside it, the weight wholly or in part momentarily supported upon it, and, on the second beat of the bar, transferred to the right foot in position.

This step is subject to various modifications, partly individual, but more often arising from the character of the dance or phrase in which the step occurs. Many dancers, for instance, never allow the foot on which the initial spring is made (i.e., the right foot in the above description) to leave the ground when the left foot is bought up beside it; but instead, rise on the toes of both feet on the intermediate accent, and then on the second beat fall back on to the ball of the right foot.

THE DOUBLE.

This is defined in The English Dancing Master as "four steps forward or backward closing the feet," i.e., four running or walking steps, the last of which is made in position (that is, beside the other foot), the weight being supported on one foot or other, according to circumstances.

THE TURN SINGLE.

The dancer makes a whole turn on his axis, clockwise (unless otherwise directed), taking four (in triple measure, three or six) low springing steps off alternate feet, beginning with the right foot. The body must be held errect, and the turn regulated so that the dancer completes the circle and regains his original position on the last step.

In the notations specific steps are sometimes prescribed, but these are not to be regarded as obligatory. When no directions are given the choice of step must be determined by the performers themselves. In such cases dancers should remember (1) that the running-step is the normal Country Dance step, and that it is only in comparatively few cases that any other step can effectively be substituted for it; (2) that slipping and skipping steps, being compound steps, occupy more time in their execution than the "simple" running-step, and should not therefore be used except in dances of slow or moderate time; (3) that it is not necessary for every dancer to use the same step at the same time; nor, again, is it necessary (4) that a single figure should always be danced to one step throughout - the arbitrary change of step in the course of a movement is not only permissible, but is in many cases to be commended. Page maintained by $hugh_stewart$