Quadrille is a lively, fast dance. Varieties of quadrilles

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Some dances of world culture, having acquired certain distinctive features, have become widespread not only in their homeland, but also beyond its borders. These include the square dance - a pair dance, which was once a salon and eventually spread among the people.

There have been certain changes in the movements and manner of performance today, but the main compositional features of this peculiar historical dance have survived to this day.

Dance history

Few people know that a square dance is a French dance. But there is another version, according to which it originally arose at the end of the 17th century in England and had the name "country dance". This is a dance that originated among the peasantry. There is another opinion about the origin of the name. Its essence is that the performers are located opposite each other, and the word “contre” is translated from French as “against”. It became especially popular in the performance of several couples in France, and the name "quadrille" was given to it.

Dance after decades became very popular and appearedin almost the entire European territory, including Russia, where its wide distribution began in the 19th century. Finding itself in an unusual atmosphere, the French quadrille absorbed real Russian traditions. Some differences were also noted depending on the geography of distribution: in various regions, this magnificent dance was given movements that were characteristic only of local traditions. For example, in some regions, there are kisses during its performance.

Quadrille is a dance that was presented even at the assemblies of Peter I at the beginning of the 18th century.

Having conquered the visitors of the higher salons and the spectators of the dance halls, the square dance rapidly began to spread among the common people and turned into one of the favorite dances.

Old figures began to be processed, modified, and new ones began to appear. All these changes ensured a long life for this truly folk dance.

History of the name

The name of the dance "quadrille" clearly has common roots with the French "quadrille", with "cuadrilla" in Spanish and with "quadrum" in Latin. In this regard, there are doubts about the country in which this dance originated.

And yet, historical sources confirm the origin of the French, originally as a ballroom dance, formed from the English country dance. The latter was danced by peasants in England as early as the 17th century, and the square dance itself had already spread to France, and then to other European countries in the 18th and 19th centuries.

Description

Quadrille is a lively, fast dance. Previously, couples were located opposite each other, according toquadrilateral, and alternately performed their parts. Moreover, the dance consisted of five figures, which always ended with a common movement of all couples.

Despite the complexity of the figures, the movements were perfectly practiced and brought to perfection by salon dancers.

The quadrille has changed a lot over time, and the names of the movements, many of which have disappeared, have simply been replaced with numbers. Some movements have been simplified.

Types of quadrille and their features

Folk quadrille is a dance that has many varieties: Russian and Lithuanian, Ukrainian, Latvian, Estonian, Belarusian and even American. All of them are distinguished by diversity and originality.

Also, there may be local variations. For example, a Russian quadrille can be called Ural, Moscow and Volga.

Ukrainian quadrille is composed of many figures, reaching 12 in number.

Belarusian quadrille is a complex of simplicity with a variety of constructions. The total number of figures is from 4 to 12. A distinctive feature in the Belarusian quadrille is the inclusion of a solo, either separately or in pairs.

Russian variety of quadrille

It should be noted that the genre of ditties that appeared later was quite closely intertwined with this cheerful dance. What does it look like? Performers during the dance can sing ditties in any order: all together, singly or in pairs. Often the quadrille is performed to many well-known songs.

Russian square dance is a dance that has a feature associated with an increase in the number of dancing couples and the fact that in some elements a dance appeared and each successive figure is separated from the previous movement by stopping the movement simultaneously with the music.

Russian quadrille presents the following three groups according to the shape of its construction: angular or square, two-row or linear and circular.

Russian folk dance quadrille has several figures with their own names: a passageway, an asterisk, an acquaintance, a gate, etc. They are either announced as the leader, or a sign for their performance is given with a stamp or a handkerchief.

Thanks to the combination of amazing perkyness with simplicity, the square dance has firmly established itself in the culture and life of the Russian people. This dance has absorbed many national traditions. Thanks to this, it has changed a lot, compared to its original form - a quadrille from France.