Basket Figure - Quadrille
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Basket Figure - Quadrille is a Quadrille. It was devised by John Cole in about 1822 and published in Selection of Favorite Cotillions, No. 1. It was interpreted by Thomas Hillgrove in 1863 and published in A Complete Practical Guide to the Art of Dancing. It is a Square dance. It is a multipart dance. The dance lasts 200 bars. The tune is a jig.
In Baltimore, ~1822, John Cole published Selection of Favorite Cotillions, No. 1. He calls the dances Cotillions, but they look more like Quadrille sets to me, the two names being used interchangeably at this period. The first 16 bars of the figure are the same as the first 24 bars of the second set of the Plain Quadrille.
Forward two _ cross over _ chasse de chasse _ cross to place _ Four ladies forward join hands half round and back and retain position _ Four gentlemen forward join hands half round and back _ The whole form a wreath ballancez and turn partners to place.
This description continues, more or less unchanged for the next eighty years or so, however, the meaning of the terms sometimes changed slightly.
Hillgrove (New York, 1863) calls this a "Promiscuous Figure" and adds that it may be used in place of either the second or the last figure of the Plain Quadrille. He says the music should be Life let us Cherish.
I shall actually use Hillgrove's description, as he makes the timing clear (and adds some additional comments):
FORWARD TWO — Same as the first set, 16 bars BALANCE — Same as the first set, 8 bars LADIES TO THE CENTRE, 8 bars The four ladies forward to the centre and back (four bars), forward again and stop — join hands —and stand close together in the centre. (Four bars). GENTLEMEN, HANDS ROUND on the outside, 8 bars The four gentlemen join hands on the outside of the ladies, and dance round to the left of their partners (four bars) and then back again, finishing on the left of their partners (four bars.) Here the music should pause, while the gentlemen rais their hands, holding fast, and the ladies, keeping hold of their hands, stoop, pass backwards, and rise on the outside of the gentlmen's arms forming a Basket or Rreath, each lady being careful to keep on the right of her own partner ALL BALANCE, 8 bars Here they all balance (or set) in a circle, holding hands (four bars); then separate, and turn their partners to places, turning to the right (Four bars). ☞ This figure is repeated four times — twice by the head couples commencing the figure, and the ladies join hands in the centre. The third and fourth times, the side couples commence the figure, then the gentlemen join hands in the centre and the ladies outside.
Ralph Page's The Country Dance Book (New York, 1937) has a dance called "BASKET QUADRILLE" with a different figure, with the basket being formed by only two couples instead of all four.
The animation plays at 120 counts per minute normally, but the first time through the set the dance will often be slowed down so people can learn the moves more readily. Men are drawn as rectangles, women as ellipses. Each couple is drawn in its own color, however the border of each dancer indicates what role they currently play so the border color may change each time through the minor set.
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The dance itself is out of copyright, and is in the public domain. The interpretation is out of copyright, and is in the public domain. My visualization of this dance is copyright © 2026 by George W. Williams V and is released under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
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