The Plain Quadrille ~ 6 Couples

Payne's 1st Set of Quadrilles The Plain Quadrille ~ 6 Couples The Plain Quadrille ~ Facing Couples The Plain Quadrille ~ Hillgrove

A brief history of the introduction of this quadrille to England may be found at The Regency Dance site.

In this set of dances the heads and the sides do not interact. It as if there were two separate dances going on: First the heads alone do things, and the sides watch and learn, then the sides alone do things and the heads rest. This appears to have been a feature of many early quadrilles, which could be danced with just 2 couples (as opposed to cotillians which required four). Indeed the dance The Sicilian Circle is an improper duple minor dance which consists of the first three figures of the first number followed by progression.

• This dance for two facing couples.
• This in a square formation (expected format).

Hillgrove says of this dance:

...which is commonly called a plain Quadrille, and is really the only popular set that has ever been introduced; and is so universally approved that it has never been superseded by any other as a general dance, although it has had many rivals.

Hillgrove does not mention what music to play. One may infer from his directions that there should be 2 counts per bar and 8 bar phrases.

Hillgrove says "In all the following descriptions the words that are printed in Capitals are those called by the musicians, or the director of ceremonies, and should be strictly observed..." I include his calls, but also text to explain them. Several of his calls ("BALANCE" for one) are used with multiple meanings, so I find them confusing.

The figures of the quadrille evolved over time, in particular the "FORWARD TWO" figure originally had only the active lady and her vis-à-vis (opposite) advance, but later their partners were included in the movement. See The Prompter, page 41.

In the right and left, Hillgrove does not specify taking right hands with your opposite, but De Garmo (in The Prompter) does. The turn at the end of the right and left through or the ladies chain is different from the modern courtesy turn. "the entlemen then present their left hand to the left hand of their partners, and turn them half round, and then turn themselves, so that each couple may face the opposite couple."

In the calls I number couples the way modern square dances do, not the way quadrilles used to (as I expect more people are familiar with square dances than quadrilles now).

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