De fire hjørner, Midtsjælland/Firkantet pirrevals, Roskildeegnen

Country: Sjælland, Denmark
Type: set dance

    De fire hjørner, Midtsjælland
Formation: couples in two rows of 2, 4, 6 or 8 couples, with sufficient space between the rows. Waltz hold. Seen from the front of the set, the foremost half of the R-hand row faces away from the front, the hindmost half faces the L-hand row; in the L-hand row, hindmost couples face the front, and the foremost couples face the R-hand row. 
            facing              facing
            ↓  c5         c4  ← 	
            ↓  c6         c3  ← 	
            →  c7         c2  ↑
            →  c8         c1  ↑
                   Front
Steps: sideløbstrin (slip-steps), stamp, vals (waltz)
Sheet music: (1) 358:26, (2) 'the four corners' in: Burchenal, Elizabeth (trans.)/ Folk dances of Denmark, containing seventy-three dances.... New York, NY: G. Schirmer, 1915. p. 75.
[AABB are same tune as Grisen faldt og brak sit laar, CC is in waltz rhythm; the same tune also occurs in Galopaden fra Århus (P&P II), Kavaleri galop fra Vejle (358:320), Russisk kavalerie (P&P II)]
Bars Part Dance progression:
1-6 (a) Slip steps: All couples dance to the place of the couple towards which they are facing [ie couples 1 and 2 (c1 and c2) dance to c3 and c4's places respectively. Meanwhile, couples c3 and c4 dance to places of c6 and c5 respectively, c5 and c6 dance to places of c7 and c8 respectively, and c8 and c7 dance to places of c1 and c2 respectively.] 6 sideløbstrin.
7-8   All couples turn 3/4 turn CW with 3 stamps.
1-8,|:9-16:|   All couples repeat (a) 3 times to return to original place [ie moving CCW around a rectangle, one side at a time. N.B.: M are always facing out of the set.]
17-32 (b) Waltz: The couples in each 'corner' of the set dance turning waltz CCW around each other [ie c1 with c2, c3 with c4, c5 with c6 and c7 with c8], 16 waltz steps. All couples finish in original places.
    Repeat from (a) as desired.

See video from KØST2017

Provenance: almost identical to one of two Rutscher or Galop dances, devised in Germany in 1825, and danced to one of the hits from the 1824 musical 'Ein Wiener in Berlin', one of the composers of which was Wenzel Müller. The musical premiered in Copenhagen in May of 1825 and became very popular. [Sørensen, below].

Printed source: Foreningen til Folkedansens Fremme (FFF)/ Folkedanse beskrivelser hefte II. 6:e opl. København: Foreningen til Folkdansens Fremme, 1995, pp. 14-15.
See also:
-- Sørensen, Per. 'Grisen faldt og brak sit laar' fra Fyn og 'Grisen brak'te laaret' fra Møn', p. 15 in: Dansens og musikkens rødder nr. 13. Feb. 1997. [in Danish]
-- 'the four corners' in: Burchenal, Elizabeth (trans.)/ Folk dances of Denmark, containing seventy-three dances.... New York, NY: G. Schirmer, 1915. pp. 75-76.
-- 'the four corners' in: Hanson, Lida Saboni & Laura Wolcott Goldsmith (trans.)/ Old Danish folk dances described by the Association for the Promotion of Folk Dances (Foreningen til Folkedansens Fremme). -[ first part]. Copenhagen: Foreningen til Folkedansens Fremme, 1906. p.20.

   
    Firkantet pirrevals, Roskildeegnen, Østsjælland
Formation: 4 people ('bedposts') stand in the corners of a square, 2 steps apart, and facing out of the set. By each 'bedpost' stands a couple, in waltz hold, M with back to the set, W facing into the set.
Steps: sideløbstrin (slip-steps), stamp,
Sheet music: Sørensen, Pia & Per/ II: 26 gamle folkedanse fra forskellige egne. 3:e opl. Kolding: Pia & Per Sørensen, 2005 p.14.
Recordings: Skov, Ole Baldanse cd 1 track 06; Tivoli Symphony Orchestra [YouTube]; 'galopade' Trio Tinus track 03; 'galopade' Æ Tinuser Gammeldans og knågstykker cd A track 06 [or could be danced to gallop music with appropriate speed and structure, AABB where A=B=8, e.g. most of Lumbye's galop tunes]
Bars Part Dance progression:
1-3   Slip steps: [Beginning with outside (ML/WR) foot,] couples dance along the side of the square to reach the next corner CCW. 3 slip-steps
4   Couples turn 1/4 turn CW, so that M is now facing into the set, his partner facing out. 1 slip-step.
5-7   [Beginning with inside (MR/WL) foot,] couples dance 3 slip-steps along the current side of the square, to reach the next corner.
8   Couples turn 1/4 turn CW, so that M is now facing out of the set, his partner facing in.
1-8   Repeat along remaining sides of the square.
|:9-16:|   Repeat all of the above.
Couples continue to move CCW around the square.
The 'bedposts' take a few small steps diagonally out of the set [eg, each time the dancers have made a full circuit of the set] so that the square becomes larger and larger, and more difficult for the dancing couples to reach the corners with 3 slip-steps. The 'winner' is the couple that lasts the longest.

Provenance: This was danced in the area of Roskilde, but has gone out of fashion for some time. Both the music and the dance description are from local musician Per Andersen, Tune [Godvin, 1919].

Source: Sørensen, Pia & Per/ II: 26 gamle folkedanse fra forskellige egne. 3:e opl. Kolding: Pia & Per Sørensen, 2005. pp.14-15.
See also:
-- Godvin, Carl/ Sanglege og folkedanse. s.l.: Wilhelm Hansen, 1919.


Translation: Laine Ruus, Oakville, 2021-05-24, rev. 2022-09-28.

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