Chorus Jig (triple) is an American Country Dance. It was published by Saltator in 1802 in A Treatise on Dancing, Boston. Found in Cracking Chestnuts. It is a proper Triple Minor dance. The minor set lasts 32 bars.
In A Treatise on Dancing (Boston, 1802) Saltator writes:
First couple down the out side, up, down the middle, up brise, promenade contrary corners, first couple dance address, change sides.
I next find it in Hillgrove's The Scholars' Companion and Ball-Room Vade Mecum (New York, 1857)
He describes three dances he calls "Contra Dances": Money Musk, Chorus Jig, and The Waterman. His instructions for Chorus Jig are:
First couple down the outside and back; down the centre and back; swing contra corners; balance and swing to place.
When Hillgrove says "swing" he appears to mean a "hand turn" or "allemande"
Howe's Complete Ball-room Hand Book (Boston, 1858)
First couple down the outside, up — down the centre, up (cast off) — swing contra corners — balance and turn in places.
Burchenal's American Country Dances (Boston/New York, 1918)
Down the Outside and back
Down the Centre and back
Swing Contra Corners
Balance Six
Balance and Swing Partner
When Burchenal says "swing partner" she means a modern swing.
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.
An online description of the dance may be found here.
A | 1-8 | 1s cast to bottom, take a peek, cast back up |
B1 | 1-4 | 1s lead down center |
5-6 | Skip back up | |
7-8 | Cast off | |
C | 1-4 | 1s pass right shoulders, turn 1st corner right |
5-8 | 1s pass right shoulders, turn 2nd corner right | |
B2 | 1-4 | Lines of 3 forward and back |
5-8 | 1s two hand turn once and a half |
If you find what you believe to be a mistake in this animation, please leave a comment on youtube explaining what you believe to be wrong. If I agree with you I shall do my best to fix it.
If you wish to link to this animation please see my comments on the perils of youtube. You may freely link to this page, of course, and that should have no problems, but use one of my redirects when linking to the youtube video itself:
https://www.upadouble.info/redirect.php?id=ChorusJig-triple
The dance itself is out of copyright, and is in the public domain. My visualization of this dance is copyright © 2020 by George W. Williams V and is released under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
This website is copyright © 2021,2022,2023,2024 by George W. Williams V
My work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Most of the dances have more restrictive licensing, see my notes on copyright, the individual dance pages should mention when some rights are waived.