What is English
Country Dancing?
A Brief History
All cultures have had some kind of folk dancing since the beginning, but English country dancing appeared on the historical record fully formed in 1651 with the publication of John Playford's dance manual The English Dancing Master. It continued to be the most popular form of social dancing in England until the Victorian period when it was replaced by the Waltz and other ballroom styles.
Scottish country dancing and French Contredanse evolved alongside the English version and all three dances were brought to America by colonists and eventually developed into Contra dancing which is still popular
However in the late 1900s two English country dance societies were started to save the old tunes and dance steps and merged in 1932 to form the English Folk Dance and Song and Society and the popularity of English country dancing has been on the rise since then. Scottish country dancing is protected by the Royal Scottish Country Dancing Society (RSCDS) which has rigorous training for it's teachers and clubs all around the world.
1
Longways sets, for as many as will
The most common form of English country dancing; lines of couples form starting at the top of the room where the caller stands with the gentleman on the callers right and the ladies on the callers left. Within each line, sets made of two couples dance together before moving up or down the line to dance with new couples as the steps repeat.
2
Three, Four & Five Couple Sets
Some longways dances are written for a specific number of couples. Three couple dances were especially popular during the late 1600s and Scottish country dancing usually has four couples to a set.
3
Circle Dances
Circle dances are among some of the oldest dances that were published but they become outnumbered by the more popular line dances since they require a much larger space. Partners either stand next to each other facing the center with the lady to the gentleman's right or the couples stand in promenade all facing counterclockwise with the gentleman on the inside of the circle and the lady on the outer edge. There are a few more configurations, but these are two of the most popular.
4
Square Dances
Square dancing is a style that evolved out of English country dancing but there are some dances within English that are in the shape of a square with two couples at the top and bottom of the set and two couples on the sides all facing the center. Many of these are also quite old and lost popularity during the 18th and 19th centuries.
5
Folk Dance Games
Circle and "chaos mixer" dance games have become more popular since the rise of English country dancing clubs attended by school age children in the US. These dances are sometimes borrowed from other folk dance traditions or have been written more recently.
6
Scottish Country Dancing & Irish Set Dancing
Scottish country dancing evolved along side English while Irish set dancing was adopted a bit later. Both forms tend to be a bit more complex in their footwork and dance figures, although some English country dancing groups do teach a more formal style as well. They tend towards longways sets with the occasional circle dance.
7
Country Western Line Dancing
While it is a very distant cousin of the other types of country dances since it is danced without a partner and has a focus on footwork alone, we do enjoy teaching a few simple Country Western line dances if they are requested for a party or event.