Honour
Also known as: Honor, Bows and Curtsies.
An online definition may be found here.
Bars: 2.
Bow or curtsy. Playford occasionally uses this as a separate figure, and with Cotillions, Quadrilles, etc. the first 8 bars of the dance were given over to honours (even though the dance description did not mention them)
History
Playford used "honour" as a figure from the first. In Graies Inne Mask, 1651 he says: Honour all, salute. But the use died out with very few after 1700.
Cecil Sharp added quite a lot of extra honours not called for by Playford in his interpretations.
Cecil Sharp says:
This a formal obeisance made by partners to one another at the conclusion, and sometimes in the course, of the dance. The man bows, head erect, making a slight forward inclination of the body from the hips; the woman, placing her left foot behind the right, makes a quick downward and upward movement by bending and straightening the knees.
Some dances which (probably) use this figure
- Dances for which I have animations
- Dances in (R)SCDS Books
Note: This list may be incorrect or incomplete.
See Also
This website is copyright © 2021-2026 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.