History of Social Dance

Early Development of Ballroom Social Dance

The early social dances of the fourteenth to mid sixteenth centuries involved processional dances with limited movement. These simple Burgundian dances of the late Middle Ages and early Renaissance consisted of limited steps and body movements. The next one hundred years, circa 1550 – 1650, is known as the High Renaissance. During this time there were two general categories of social dance, simple dances and complex dances. Simple dances included dancing in lines, circles or columns and required very little, if any, practice. Complex dances involved fancy footwork and were mainly done in couples. Dances of this era included the pavan and the branles.

From Renaissance to Baroque Dance

As the years progressed, dance styles began to change. A strong emphasis was put on the bending, known as the plie, and rising, called eleve, motion of the body. English country dance grew in popularity in England and France and by the end of the seventeenth century it had moved into French ballrooms. During these dances, couples stood in a circle or square. The elaborate footwork of the earlier decades was replaced with spatial patterns. The Baroque style of dancing remained popular throughout the next century.

The Rage of the Seventeenth Century - The Waltz

The Waltz was introduced by the Austrian court in the seventeenth century. The popularity of this dance, with its graceful movements, spread rapidly and it soon grew to be the most popular dance of the times. By the later part of the eighteenth century, the waltz was common in cities such as London and Paris. To many of the people of the times, the waltz was more than a dance; it was a way to express their freedom of movement. Different from the restricted movements and set poses of the earlier courtly dances, the waltz allowed the dancers to glide around the dance floor with only their partners. The waltz remained popular through the early part of the twentieth century.

Social Dances of the Late Eighteenth Century

Social dance styles underwent a major change in the later part of the eighteenth century. The complicated couples dances of earlier days were replaced with large group dances called contredances. Generally these dances were made up of four couples facing each other in a square pattern. These dances were also known as figure dances as the couples were required to dance a specific number of figures. In England and the United States the contredances were known as cotillions.

Social Dancing – Not Just for the Aristocrats

For many centuries social dance was considered to be only for the aristocracy. The eighteenth and nineteenth centuries saw political upheavals that brought about many changes including the popularity of social dance amongst the common people in both the United States and Europe.

The Many Dance Forms of the Nineteenth Century

During the early part of the nineteenth century, group dances remained extremely popular. Evolving from the contrredance francaise, also known as the cotillion, the quadrille was the fashionable dance of the time. The figures of the 1700s were replaced with sets which were a combination of the earlier individual figures. The quadrille was made up of four couples facing each other in a square. The dance began with a bow to each other and to the corners. Within the next fifty years the bows had disappeared from the dance and the couples would just stand and wait for the first eight bars of music to be played. Examples of the parts of the figures include:

• Forward and Backward
• Crossing Over
• Balance (also known as Set to Partners)
• Going to the Left and the Right
• Hands Around
• English Chain

The English Country Dance remained popular throughout the first half of the nineteenth century. In addition to the waltz, there were many other dances of the times including:

• Scottish Reel
• Quadrille
• Polka
• Pavan
• Esmeralda
• Mazurka
• Polonaise
• Cotillion – known as the German
• Two Step - referred to as the Washington Post

The History of Social Dance in the Twentieth Century

The twentieth century saw major changes in social dance as music and culture changed dramatically. As the previous century came to a close, the influence of [History of African Dance| African based dance] was seen as the Cakewalk was introduced to audiences in the United States. Considered scandalous by many with its strong rhythms and strutting style, a modified version of the cakewalk found its way into the stately ballroom dancing of the time.

As society changed in the twentieth century, the dances reflected the freedom felt by the people -- freed from the dress constraints of the earlier years, women were becoming much more physically active. Dances of the early part of the century included a lot of hugging, swaying and grinding to the strong rhythms of the music. Several of the dances of the times included the turkey trot, the grizzly bear and the bunny hug. These dances were followed by ballroom versions of the South American tango and maxixe also became popular at this time. After World War I ended, dances such as the Charleston, Lindy Hop, Fox Trot and Twist spread rapidly. Motion pictures featured dances and the viewing public quickly incorporated them into their dance styles. The early forms of contras grew into modern day versions of the Western square dance. The later part of the nineteenth century saw social dance continue to incorporate Caribbean and African rhythms. Popular dances of the time included swing, the twist, the jitterbug and disco dancing.

Conclusion

Throughout the history of social dance, one constant has always remained. Social dance is the beautiful marriage of movement and music.