La Russe Quadrille

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Princess Margaret is in the fashion in knowing and liking folk dancing.
No longer is it confined to a few remote districts, or to ladies on North
Oxford lawns.

The English Folk Dance and Song Society says that in London and
the industrial districts, the Midlands particularly, the community or square
dance has boomed in popularity since the end of the war.

“People are glad of the friendly atmosphere of the community dance
and they are not absolutely stuck with one man, as in ballroom dancing,”
says an expert.

La Russe, or the English Quadrille, which comes from the North of
England, is one of the most popular numbers to-day. Princess Margaret
danced it at the Society’s Anglo-Scottish Folk Dance party at the Dorchester
Hotel last night, and it will be seen at the forthcoming annual
festival at Straford-on-Avon.
—EXTRACT FROM THE ‘‘BIRMINGHAM GAAZETTE,’’ JULY 8TH.

LA RUSSE QUADRILLE

Intro. Honour partners, Honour corners.

A.1. All pass partners (gentlemen pass behind partners to meet ladies
     on right who advance to meet them with four balance steps).
     Balance and swing corners (set to right and left and pivot-swing
     with ballroom hold).

A.2. Pass back; balance and swing partners.

B.1. (Leading) couple swing.

B.2. Promenade inside the ring (balance step moving slowly round
     counter-clockwise visiting the other three couples).

A.3. Leading couple cross over with opposite couple (passing between
     them, partners change places) and cross back (as before) (balance
     step. The opposite couple can make an arch for the leading
     couple).

A.4. Repeat cross over and cross back.

B.3. All join hands and circle left (reel or flat hop-step).

B.4. Promenade partners back to places (counter-clockwise with reel
     or flat hop-step).

(This figure is performed four times, B.1 and B.2 being done by
each couple in turn acting as leading couple.)

TWO SIMPLE ENGLISH QUADRILLES
FROM THE BORDER

Throughout the country there is a growing
interest in the Old. Dances. In the
towns this interest is Teeny in the Old-Time
couple dances performed with a rather conscious
“olde Tyme” style. These are
mostly composed dances to composed tunes
which have never been through the “Folk
Mill” to have their crudities softened.
These tunes compare unfavourably with the
traditional melodies of the still older community
dances. Ballroom Dancers are now
beginning to show interest in these older
dances, many of which have survived in the
villages. At village dances the ice is often
broken by a spirited and unconventional
performance of the Lancers danced to traditional
tunes. The effect of this is to bring
back memories to the older people of the
Quadrilles of their young days and their
faces light up at the very thought of dancing
the Quadrilles once again.

In America, of course, considerable public
interest is being shown in these Square
Dances as well as in the Country Dances
and the Old Circle or Round Dances. The
Quadrilles were once extremely popular in
American and in England, where they were
danced with a natural grace, vigour and
skilful footwork which was passed on by
tradition in the villages and fostered by
dancing-masters in the towns.

In addition to various Square Eights, two
local versions of which have been published
by the Society, and to the many local versions
of the Lancers, there are two other
simple quadrilles still popular in the Border
villages which I think will be of interest to
folk dancers. I passed them on to members
of the Vacation Schools at
Exmouth and Felixstowe and I have since
had many requests for the details and tunes.
Like the Lancers, there is much variation
in the way they are danced in different localities,
but I think the versions given here are
the most usual. Although specific tunes
have been given for both, any traditional
tune of a similar nature can be used.

Many people will still remember La Russe,
which is danced in the Border Country and
also, I believe, in Canada. The dance is
simple as there is only one figure which is
repeated by each couple in turn without
pause. It can also be danced by sets of two,
six, eight or more couples.

The other simple quadrille, the Spanish
Waltz, is also popular in the Border villages.
No village dance is complete without
it. The movements are similar to the
Guaracha or Waltz Country Dance. Any
old-fashioned waltz or slow 6/8 tune can be
used of regular length. The dance can also
be performed in a larger set with more than
four couples so as to bring a new partner
for each waltz (this is called The Family
Circle Waltz).

PETER KENNEDY.

NOTES ON DANCE TITLES
2 — “DARGASON”

This dance has a name full of mystery and
romance. It conjures up visions of a remote
castle on the Rhine, still dreaming of the
last visit of the Crusaders.

It would appear that “Dargason,” or, to
use its older form, “Dargison,” was a
mythical town or country, but where we
don’t know. In Ben Jonson's “Tale of a
Tub” a character says: “But if you get a
lass from Dargison what will you do with
her?” In the “Isle of Gulls,” played by
the Revels in the Black Fryars in 1606, they
sang:-
“On an ambling nag, a-down, a-down,
 We have borne her away to Dargison.”
And that is all we know, except that it is a
lovely name.

(Note.—The Editor would welcome suggestions
for further titles to be included in
this series.)

“THE PSYCHOLOGIST”

I asked one of the Bacup Coconut Dancers
at Harringay why it was that only married
men were allowed in the team. He replied:
“We practice once a week on Mondays except
when we have a show on, when we
practice twice. If we had single men and
their girls asked them to go to the pictures,
they would have to say ‘yes.’ If our wives
ask us, we can always say" ‘no’!”

A. H. S.

The “Drops and Raises” in Folk Music

I HAVE often been asked for an explanation
for the grace notes inserted in my
manuscript of “La Russe ” which was
published in the Magazine. People have
complained that they not only make the
music difficult to read but that they also
spoilt the tune. I must confess that I put
them in with my tongue in my cheek in an
endeavour to show that there is more in the
playing of so simple a tune than just the
bare notes that form the basis of the tune.

When I first heard “La Russe” played
by four Shepherds near Alnwick, Northumberland,
practically every note was preceded
by a grace note as well as other forms of
melodic embellishment. The players used
no harmonic accompaniment. Two fiddles
were accompanied by two melodeons but the
bass notes and chords provided on their
instruments were not used. The result was a
melody possessing not only an irresistible
dance lilt but also full of expression. The
particular character of the tune was brought
out in a song-like and lyrical manner by
means of this skilful technique.

These country musicians do not have in
their minds a conception of a tune in terms
of notes played on specific beats; rather
they pour out from their hearts a continuous
melodic line which is continually pulsating.
This is achieved mainly by what we
erroneously call grace notes, decoration or
embellishment, and is part of the inherited
technique of both the traditional dance musician
and folk singer. They are often so
neatly introduced that they may not be
noticed even by a trained musician if no
attempt is made to sing or play with the
countryman. This same means of expression
is part of our normal speech, though
here again the countryman obtains great
effect by the “drops and raises” in his
talk.

This “lilting" technique is not simply
lack of training and cultivation. It is
achieved not only by inheritance from father
to son, but also by long hours of practice
and listening to older musicians in the farm
houses through the winter evenings. In the
remote country districts, folk music is the
main leisure-time occupation of the people,
whether singing, dancing, story-telling or
playing. Although this 1s self-education,
the traditions of country gatherings and
dances has until recently enforced an extra-
ordinarily high standard of technique. Much
of the artistry is spontaneous and peculiar
to individual character:

It is, I think, a eat pity that this technique
of melodic expression is not considered
an essential part of modern musical education.
The science of harmony with its keyboard
instruments and tempered scale has
led musicians into other fields of expression
where moods are expressed by a series of
planned chords and dischords. The radio
crooners have, however, to adopt something
of the technique for close microphone technique.
Soloists are free of the bonds of
mechanical time and tempered scale. This
technique is, however, not allowed in
modern orchestras, even by instruments
which were originally designed to be played
in this manner.

We must remember that the composers of
the 17th and 18th century and before that
time wrote for musicians who had been
trained in this technique. The grace notes
were seldom indicated in the music as
embellishments were taken for granted. This
can be seen in various handbooks that were
written for musicians, such as John
Playford’s “Introduction to the Skill of
Music,” where a table of graces is given for
viols. We are also indebted to Arnold
Dolmetsch for his “Interpretation,” which
is a scholarly study of this special technique
of expression.

Perhaps it is a failing of our Society and
others that we have only passed on the notes
of the folk tunes, not realising the skilful
technique possessed by the countryman,
which was often concealed for the collector
by the failings of old age. No wonder we
have grown tired of the “Irish Washerwoman,”
as it is often played mechanically
as recorded in the music. We must humble
ourselves and appreciate that much skill and
practice is necessary to play the dance airs
or sing folk songs so that they will survive as
popular music, The necessary appoggiaturas,
shakes, slides, turns, elevations and
“tuts” were not only the technique of
trained musicians of the 17th and 18th century,
but also of folk musicians of the
present day, whether in England, Ireland or
India.

Peter KENNEDY.