The Beau's Retreat ~ Bentley
The Beau's Retreat ~ Bentley is an English Country Dance. It was devised by Nathaniel Kynaston in 1716 and published in Twenty Four New Country Dances for the Year 1716, London. It was interpreted by Bernard Bentley in 1965 and published in The Fallibroome Collection, Vol. 2. Originally a Triple Minor this version is a proper 3 Couple Longways dance. In this dance the couples are permuted by: 231. The minor set lasts 32 bars.
Bentley attributes this dance to The Dancing Master, but it appeared two years earlier in one of Walsh's collections of dances by Kynaston. Kynaston calls it simply "Beaus Retreat", John Young "The Beau's Retreat".
Note: Each Strain twiceThe 2d. wo. cast off and go below the 3d. man, the 1st. man at the same time follow her below the 3d. wo. then both cast up and turn in the 2d. cu. place the 1st. man cast off and go below the 3d. wo. his partner follow him at the same time below the 3d. man then cast up & turn the 1st. cu. figure through the 2d. cu. & change place the 1st. man fall between ye 3d. cu. & cast up above ye 2d. man, his partner at the same time slip between ye 2d. cu. & cast off the 1st. cu. figure through the 3d. cu. and change place lead up a breast with the 2d cu. 1st. cu. cast off
While John Young (of the Playford family) writes:
Note: Each Strain is to be play'd twiceThe 2d Wo. cast off and go below the 3d Man, 1st Man at the same Time, follow her below the 3d. Wo. them both cast up and turn in the 2d Cu. Place First Man cast off and go below the 3d Wo. his Partner follow him at the same Time below the 3d Man, then cast up and turn First Cu. Figure thro' the 2d Cu. and change Places; 1st Man fall between the 3d Cu. and cast up above the 2d Man, his Partner at the same Time slip between the 2d cu. and cast off First Cu. Figure thro' the 3d Cu. and change Places, lead up a-breast with the 2d Cu. first Cu. cast off
Originally a triple minor.
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.
The dance contains the following figures: hand turn (allemande), cast, lead, figure eight, siding (and probably others).
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.
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The dance itself is out of copyright, and is in the public domain. The interpretation is copyright © 1965 by Bernard Bentley. My visualization of this dance is copyright © 2021 by George W. Williams V and is released under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
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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.