Ecossaise no. 6 from Pierre Laurent

Country: Denmark
Formation: longways progressive set
Formation: any number of couples in 2 lines, M to R, W to L as seen from the music. Numbered 1-2-3-4 etc. from the music (top of the set).
Steps: chassé (change step). sideløbstrin (slip step).
Sheet music: Laurent, Pierre Jean/ Lommebog for dandseyndere - VI nye skotske dandse. København: C.C. Lose, 1816 [pp. 6-21 of the pdf file]
Recordings: [any ecossaise or anglaise with appropriate structure (AABB,A=B=8) and tempo]

Bars Part Dance progression:
1-8 (a) Switch sides: M1 holding inside hands with M2 dance CCW around to opposite places. Meanwhile, W1 holding inside hands with W2 dance CCW around to opposite places. Finish in order 2-1-3. 8 slip steps.
1-8   R-hand star: Couples 2 and 1 form R-hand star and dance half-way round [to original places], 4 chassé steps.
9-16 (b) Promenade: Couple 1 [holding inside hands] dances down the set. 4 chassé steps.
9-16   Couple 1 [turns individually and holding inside hands] dances up the set. 4 chassé steps.
[Finish in couple 2's place, couple 2 having stepped up.]
    Repeat from (a) as desired.
[When the dance repeats, couple 1 dances with couple 3, while couple 2 rests. When couple 1 dances with couple 4, couple 2 dances with couple 3. If there are many couples in the lines, every 3rd couple may start.]

Provenance: Laurent's Lommebog for dandseyndere is thought to be the only source of ecossaise (also called 'skots' in some areas) dance descriptions known from Denmark. It contains 6 ecossaises and a 'Wals', described with text and diagrams, as well as music composed by Møller. No indication of steps. Musicians' notebooks of the period, however, contain numerous 'skots' or 'ecossaise' tunes. The above is my interpretation of the text and diagrams - other interpretations are possible.
Source: Laurent, Pierre Jean / Lommebog for dandseyndere - VI nye skotske dandse. København: C.C. Lose, 1816 [p. 5 of the pdf file]
See also:
-- Nørgård, Kjeld " Engelskdanse og skotskdanse, 2. del" in Dansens og musikens rødder nr. 31, Oct. 1998.
-- Koslovsky, Joseph/ Trois polonoises, trois ecossaises et une quadrille. Saint Petersbourg: s.n.(c. 1808).
-- Allabieff, Aleksandr/ 3 Masurques, 2 ecossaises, valse et quadrille. Moscou: s.n. (c. 1810).
-- Müller, Carl Friedrich/ Quatre quadrilles ecossaises. Hanovre: s.n. (c. 1814)
-- Liller, Johann Nicolaus/ Tanz-Kunst Leipzig: s.n., 1842. (pp. 27-28, pp. 31-32 of the pdf file)
-- Powers, Richard/ "The 1825 ecossaise" s.l.: s.n., n.d.
-- Renausy, [Jacques]/ Méthode de Danse Paris: Margueritat, 1861. (p. 34, p. 40 of the pdf file)
-- Willock, H. D./ Ball-Room Guide, A Manual Of Dancing Rev. ed. Glasgow: John Cameron, ca 1868. (p.51, p.14 of the pdf file)
Translation: Laine Ruus, Oakville, 2021-10-11, rev. 2022-03-18.


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