Creolizing Contradance in the Caribbean - Temple University
Creolizing Contradance in the Caribbean - Temple University
Creolizing Contradance in the Caribbean - Temple University
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Introduction 3<br />
contexts where a generic, panregional sense is <strong>in</strong>tended, while us<strong>in</strong>g <strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r<br />
terms to denote specific regional genres.<br />
The contributors to this volume are aware that different readers may use it<br />
<strong>in</strong> different ways; many, we assume, will attend only to one or two <strong>in</strong>dividual<br />
area chapters, perhaps <strong>in</strong> conjunction with <strong>the</strong> Introduction, while a few zealots<br />
may actually read <strong>the</strong> book from cover to cover. In <strong>the</strong> <strong>in</strong>terests of enabl<strong>in</strong>g<br />
<strong>the</strong> <strong>in</strong>dividual chapters to be read more or less on <strong>the</strong>ir own, we have covered<br />
certa<strong>in</strong> sorts of material <strong>in</strong> more than one chapter (and especially <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
Introduction and <strong>in</strong>dividual chapters), afford<strong>in</strong>g a degree of repetition that will<br />
hopefully be regarded with <strong>in</strong>dulgence by those who notice it. At <strong>the</strong> same<br />
time, <strong>in</strong> order to keep this to a reasonable m<strong>in</strong>imum, readers of <strong>in</strong>dividual<br />
chapters are on occasion referred to o<strong>the</strong>r chapters or to <strong>the</strong> Introduction for<br />
fur<strong>the</strong>r coverage of a given po<strong>in</strong>t.<br />
<strong>Contradance</strong> and Quadrille <strong>in</strong> Europe<br />
The contradance and quadrille reigned for over a century as <strong>the</strong> favored social<br />
dances of Western Europe, especially England, France, and <strong>the</strong> Ne<strong>the</strong>rlands.<br />
As social phenomena <strong>the</strong>y were particularly important as vehicles for collective<br />
recreation and self-def<strong>in</strong>ition on <strong>the</strong> part of <strong>the</strong> ris<strong>in</strong>g middle classes, <strong>in</strong><br />
contrast to <strong>the</strong> courtly and hidebound m<strong>in</strong>uet. As musical idioms, <strong>the</strong>ir orbit<br />
ranged from <strong>the</strong> untutored fiddler, to <strong>the</strong> petty-bourgeois dilettante composer,<br />
and on to <strong>the</strong> great Mozart himself. Yet <strong>in</strong> many respects <strong>the</strong>ir greater importance<br />
lay <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> choreographic realm and <strong>the</strong>ir place <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> broader history of<br />
European social dance, which merits some consideration here.<br />
The social dances of seventeenth- and early-eighteenth-century Western<br />
Europe reflected <strong>the</strong> class divisions of <strong>the</strong> era. The most characteristic dances<br />
of <strong>the</strong> lower classes were group (or “choral”) dances based around r<strong>in</strong>g formations<br />
or s<strong>in</strong>gle- or double-l<strong>in</strong>e formats. Some of <strong>the</strong> latter were to be performed<br />
only by men, such as <strong>the</strong> morisca/moresque and <strong>the</strong> related English Morris<br />
dance. O<strong>the</strong>rs could <strong>in</strong>volve mixed couples; <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> branle, couples arrayed <strong>in</strong> an<br />
open file or closed circle performed a series of cha<strong>in</strong>-type figures. O<strong>the</strong>r couple<br />
dances were “open,” <strong>in</strong> that <strong>the</strong> partners did not touch; <strong>in</strong> this category was <strong>the</strong><br />
Spanish zarabanda (sarabande), evidently of Afro-Lat<strong>in</strong> derivation, which featured<br />
men and women <strong>in</strong> double l<strong>in</strong>es advanc<strong>in</strong>g, retreat<strong>in</strong>g, and postur<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> a<br />
manner that was sensual enough to be <strong>in</strong>termittently banned. In <strong>the</strong> elite ballrooms,<br />
<strong>the</strong> most characteristic dances were technically difficult and complex<br />
open couple dances, especially <strong>the</strong> m<strong>in</strong>uet, which epitomized courtly ref<strong>in</strong>ement,<br />
particularly <strong>in</strong> France, prevail<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> roughly <strong>the</strong> years 1650–1750. Every<br />
aspect of <strong>the</strong> m<strong>in</strong>uet, from <strong>the</strong> strictly hierarchic order of <strong>the</strong> dancers’ entry to<br />
<strong>the</strong> measured bow<strong>in</strong>g and dipp<strong>in</strong>g of <strong>the</strong> dancers <strong>the</strong>mselves, was formalized<br />
and stylized <strong>in</strong> order to reflect a sense of aristocratic restra<strong>in</strong>t, propriety, and<br />
elegance. The development of dance notation <strong>in</strong> 1700 led to <strong>the</strong> publication of