Country: Himmerland & Vrøgum by Oksbøl, Denmark
Type: couple dance
| Varsoviane, Himmerland:
Formation: couples in open circle, facing in LOD, waltz hold. Steps: mazurka, appel (stamp), vals (waltz) Sheet music: (1) 358:130, (2) Himmerlands Danse- og Spillemandslaug Varsoviane, (3) Foreningen til Folkedansens Fremme (FFF)/ Gamle Himmerlands-danse. 4 opl. København: Foreningen til Folkdansens Fremme, 1978, p. 17. Recordings: Rebild Spillemændene Det levende håndværk track 13; Musique du Danemark [YouTube]. |
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| Bars | Part | Dance progression: |
| 1-2 | (a) | 'Promenade': With 4 [sic] small steps (M:L-R-L-R; W:R-L-R-L) couples turn 1/2 turn CCW. On the 4th step MR/WL foot steps forward [in LOD] with a light stamp, either flat-footed or with just the heel to the floor. |
| 3-4 | Repeat with opposite footwork, turning CW. On the 4th step ML/WR foot steps forward [in LOD] with a light stamp, as above. | |
| 5-8 | Repeat (a). | |
| 9-12 | (b) | Trippevals: Couples turn twice round CW with 3 trippevals steps (9-11). Finish with a stamp with MR/WL foot [on beat 12:1]. |
| 13-16 | (c) | Waltz: Couples turn twice round CW with 3 waltz steps (13-15), finishing with a stamp, as in (b) [on beat 16:1].. |
| 17-32 | Repeat from (a) three times. | |
| Repeat from (a) as desired.
Variation 1: instead of trippevals in (b), dance waltz CW and in (c) dance waltz CCW, moving either in LOD or RLOD. Variation 2: dance trippevals CW in (b), and trippevals CCW in (c). See YouTube videos with Rebild Spillemændene 2010, Rebild Spillemændene 2010. Provenance: Documented in Fiskelejet Als by Kattegat some time before January 1931, by Minna Marie Madelung and Poul Lorenzen on behalf of FFF. Part of programme at Nordlek 2003 historic ball in Næstved and Nordlek 2012 historic ball in Steinkjer, Norway. Printed source: Foreningen til Folkedansens Fremme (FFF)/ Gamle Himmerlands-danse. 4 opl.
København: Foreningen til Folkdansens Fremme, 1978, pp. 17-18.
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| Varsovien, Vrøgum by Oksbøl:
Formation: couples in open circle, facing in LOD, open waist-shoulder hold. Steps: løbetrin (run), mazurka, vals (waltz) Sheet music: (1) Hansen, Øjvind Toft/ Danse fra vestkysten: melodier og danse. s.l.: Danske Folkedanseres Spillemandskreds, Spillemandskredsens Forlag, 2000. p. 32. (2) Folktunefinder.com varsovienne [Same tune used in Finland, Norway, Sweden and parts of Denmark.] Recordings: Folk Dance Orchestra, Victor Olof Scandinavian Dances 1939 [Internet Archive]; Gunnar Hahns Folkdansorkester Nordiska danser track 08; Michael Herman's Folk Orchestra [Internet Archive]; National Folk Dance Players European national dances 'Varsovienne' [YouTube]; Trio Tinus track 15; |
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| Bars | Part | Dance progression: |
| 1 | (a) | 'Promenade': Partners change places with 3 small running steps (M:L-R-L; W:R-L-R), W dancing in front of her partner, while turning one full turn, to finish on his L side, [with ML arm around her waist]. Meanwhile M dances almost on the spot. |
| 2 | Finishes with inside (MR/WL) heel forward to the floor, | |
| 3-4 | Repeat bars 1-2, beginning with MR/WL foot [ie opposite footwork]. | |
| 1-4 | Repeat (a). | |
| 5-6 | (b) | Mazurka: Beginning with outside (ML/WR) foot, dance 2 mazurka steps forward. |
| 7-8 | Repeat bars 1-2. Finish with W to L of partner. | |
| 9-10 | Beginning with outside (MR/WL) foot, dance 2 mazurka steps forward. | |
| 11-12 | Repeat bars 3-4. Finish with W to R of partner. | |
| 13-20 | (c) | Waltz: All take waltz hold, and dance 8 turning waltz steps.
See video from/with Herlev Gamle Danse 2022. Source: Hansen, Øjvind Toft/ Danse fra vestkysten: melodier og danse. s.l.: Danske Folkedanseres Spillemandskreds, Spillemandskredsens Forlag, 2000. pp. 32-33. |
Provenance: Seemingly unrelated to the Baroque dance of the 1600-1700s, of the same name, described in Feuillet notation in
the 1704 Recueil de dances contenant un tres grand nombres,
des meilleurs entrées de ballet de Mr Pécour, ... [pp.10-19, 176-194].
The earliest published music appears to be in:
Dannström, Isidore/
Theorie Complete De La Mazurka with sheet music for La Varsovienne and La Suédoise. (Mazurkas favorites, no. 2) Paris: Heugel, 1844
The earliest description, a quadrille dance, appears to be in:
Laborde, Corralli, E. Coulon (dance), Jullien (music)/ (c. 1845).
The Celebrated Mazurka and the Cellarius Waltz accompanying sheet music for The Original Mazurka. London: Jullien, [ca 1845].
The varsovienne as a couple dance is discussed in: Eugène Coulon/
The Warsaw Varsoviana. London: Louis Antoine Jullien,(c. 1855).
According to Böhme, "'Varsovienne' or 'Warschauer Tanz' (dance from Warsaw), a variant of masurka, also played in slow
3/4-time, was very popular in Germany around 1850-1870."
Nordstedts uppslagsbok 1948 ed,. defines it as "a mazurka-like couple dance in 3/4 time, modern in
France during the Second French Empire [Napoleon III, 1852-1870] [and] in Sweden during the 1860s.
Appears as a 'new' couple dance in Russia in 1897.
In the Nordic countries, it ccurs in
Denmark,
Finland,
Norway and
Sweden
as well as the Faroe Islands and Iceland.
See:
-- Böhme, Franz Magnus/ Geschichte des Tanzes in Deutschland. Beitrag zur deutschen Sitten-, Litteratur-
und Musikgeschichte : nach den Quellen zum Erstenmal bearbeitet und mit alten Tanzliedern und Musikproben. Teil 1.
Leipzig: Druck und Verlag von Breitkopf & Härtel, 1886. p.223.
-- Urup, Henning/ Dans i Danmark: danseformerne ca 1600 til 1950. København: Museum Tusculanums Forlag, 2007. pp. 216, 218.
-- Pedersen, Paul/ Veiledende text til familieballet før og nu ved Paul Petersen. København: Wilhelm Hansens Musikforlag, 1877 (23 p.)
-- Balling, Vilhelm/ 'la Varsoviana' in: Anvisning til at danse "Menuet", "Les Lanciers",
"Française", "Jule-Kvadrille", "Le Prince Impériale", "Eugenie-Kvadrille", "Sekstur", "Jernbane-Kvadrille", samt 50 forskellige selskabsdanse
tillige med 150 meget interessante og let udførlige Kotillons-Ture. 7 opl. reprint 2019, København: Herdahl, 1875. p.54.
-- Vogt, Margrit/ nr 18 'Warschauer (Varsovienne' in: Alte niederdeutsche Volkstänze.
(Beiträge zur Volkskultur in Nordwestdeutschland, herausgegeben von der Volkskundlichen Kommission für Westfalen, Landschaftsverband
Westfalen-Lippe, Heft 53) Münster: F.Coppenrath Verlag, 1986. pp. 59-59, 151.
-- Bakka, Egil et al (eds.)/ Waltzing though Europe; attitudes towards
couple dances in the late nineteenth century. Cambridge, UK; Open Book Publishers, 2020. p.20.
-- 'Varsovienne' in: Nordstedts uppslagsbok 1948 ed. p. 1908
-- Wikipedia Varsovienne.
Description: Laine Ruus, Oakville, 2022-08-16, rev. 2023-08-19.
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