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A country dance is any of a large number of social dances of the British Isles. Usually
couples dance together in a figure or "set", each dancer dancing to his or her partner and
each couple dancing with the other couples in the set. Morris dances are the exception
since they are danced by small groups, traditionally all men.
There are a number of types of English country dances. The types included in this section are:
Horn dances
The horn dances are probably the oldest type of these dances. They descended from prechristian rituals. The dance team usually includes sets of deer horns, a hobby horse, Maid Marian and a Fool. There are no recorded references to the horn dance prior to Robert Plot's Natural History of Staffordshire, written in 1686. However, there is a record of the hobby horse being used in Abbots Bromley as early as 1532 and it is possible that the horn dance component of the custom was also present at that time but not commented upon by the writer. A carbon analysis discovered that the antlers used in the dance date to the 11th century – though these may well have replaced an even older set. According to some, the use of antlers suggests an Anglo-Saxon origin along with other native Anglo-Saxon traditions that have survived into modern times in various forms. The dance was, like similar events throughout the country, temporarily discontinued during the Puritan Commonwealth years. Sword Dances There are several types of sword dances:
Morris dance is a form of English folk dance usually accompanied by music. It is based on rhythmic stepping and the execution of choreographed figures by a group of dancers, usually wearing bell pads on their shins. Implements such as sticks, swords and handkerchiefs may also be wielded by the dancers. In a small number of dances for one or two people, steps are near and across a pair of clay tobacco pipes laid one across the other on the floor. The earliest known and surviving English written mention of Morris dance is dated to 1448 and records the payment of seven shillings to Morris dancers by the Goldsmiths' Company in London. Further mentions of Morris dancing occur in the late 15th century and there are also early records such as bishops' "Visitation Articles" mentioning sword dancing and other dancing activities, as well as mumming plays. Like many activities, Morris dancing has a range of words and phrases that it uses in special ways: Many participants refer to the world of Morris dancing as a whole as "the morris". A Morris troupe is usually referred to as a side or a team. The two terms are interchangeable. Despite the terminology, Morris dancing is hardly ever competitive. A set (which can also be referred to as a side) is a number of dancers in a particular arrangement for a dance. Most Cotswold Morris dances are danced in a rectangular set of six dancers and most Northwest dances in a rectangular set of eight; but there are many exceptions. A jig is a dance performed by one (or sometimes two) dancers, rather than by a set. Its music does not usually have the rhythm implied by the word "jig" in other contexts. Many sides have one or more fools. A fool is usually extravagantly dressed and communicates directly with the audience in speech or mime. The fool often dances around and even through a dance without appearing really to be a part of it, but it takes a talented dancer to pull off such fooling while actually adding to and not distracting from the main dance set. Many sides also have a beast: a dancer in a costume made to look like a real or mythical animal. Beasts mainly interact with the audience, particularly children. In some groups this dancer is called the hobby (much like the hobby horse in horn dances). A tradition in Cotswold Morris is a collection of dances that come from a particular area and have something in common: usually the steps, arm movements and dance figures. Many newer traditions are invented by revival teams. Some of traditions in and around Oxfordshire are:
Contra Dances and Quadrilles While horn dances, sword dances and morris dances were usually performed by men (in more recent times, women also dance), contra dances and quadrilles are social dances in which couples dance together. A set consists most commonly of two or three couples, sometimes four and rarely five or six. Often dancers follow a "caller" who names each change in the figures. The country dance was introduced to the court of Louis XIV of France, where it became known as contredanse, now known as contra dance. The term "country dance" may refer to any of a large number of figure-dances that originated on village greens. The term applies to dances in line formation, circle dances, square dances and even triangular sets for three couples, however, the most common formation is the "longways" set in which men and women form two lines facing each other. |