page_title: Social dance
section_title: Social dance in the west
hierarchical_section_title: Social dance / Social dance in the west
caption_attribution_description: "Il Ballo" (in English "The Dance"; caption "A cheerful dance awakens love and feeds hope with lively joy.") from Giuochi, Trattenimenti e Feste Annue Che si Costumano in Toscana e Specialmente in Firenze. Firenze: Pagni &amp; Bardi, 1790 (illustration no. 16 of 25)
context_page_description: Social dance is a category of dances that have a social function and context. Social dances are intended for participation rather than performance and can be led and followed with relative ease. They are often danced merely to socialise and for entertainment, though they may have ceremonial, competitive and erotic functions.
  Many social dances of European origin are in recent centuries partner dances but this is quite rare elsewhere, where there may instead be circle dances or line dances, perhaps reserved for those of a certain age, gender or social position.
context_section_description: The types of dance performed in social gatherings change with social values. Social dance music of the 14th century has been preserved in manuscript, though without proper choreography, for dances such as the ballo, carol, stampita, saltarello, trotto and roto. The 15th century is the first period from which written records of dances exist. A manuscript from Brussels highlights the Burgundian court dance, which spread all over Europe, referred to as the basse dance in which a large group perform a series of steps in triple time. Italian courts danced balli, with a wide array of choreographed rhythms, steps and positions for the dancers. These were documented in instruction books written by the dance masters who choreographed them for the courts.
  Social dances of lower classes were not recorded until the Late Renaissance. According to Richard Powers, courtiers in the late 16th century continually had to "prove themselves through their social skills, especially through dance." Recorded social dances of the late 16th century include the pavane and the Canary dance. Thoinot Arbeau's book Orchésographie describes peasant branles as well as the 16th century basse danse and la volta. The peasants from the countryside supplied new dances to the court as the old ones' novelty wore out.
  During the Baroque Era court balls served to display social status. A formal ball opened with a branle in which couples stood in a line in order of their place in the social hierarchy, the most highly regarded couples dancing first. The Menuet and the Gavotte gained popularity. Balls often ended with an English country dance. France gained a pre-eminence in dance, but the French Revolution created a shift away from formality.
  During the Regency Era, from 1811-1830, the Quadrille became the most popular dance in England and France. The Quadrille consisted of a large variety of steps that skimmed the ground, such as chassé and jeté. Most other dances of this era, such as the Mazurka, were performed in lines and squares.
  The waltz, which arrived in Britain toward the end of the Napoleonic Wars, was a partner dance in which partners danced more closely than had previously been considered acceptable. In the waltz, neither partner led. Individuals danced as equals, which was new at the time. The Polka was another dance that arose during ths time in which partners were scandalously close. According to Powers, the dances of this time were "fresh, inventive, youthful, and somewhat daring," which mirrored society at the time.
caption: Eighteenth-century social dance.  Translated caption: A cheerful dance awakens love and feeds hope with lively joy, (Florence, 1790)
exif: {"Image Make": "Phase One", "Image Model": "P 45+", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "300", "Image YResolution": "300", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop CS Windows", "Image DateTime": "2008:12:31 12:49:39", "Image Artist": "Library of Congress", "Image ExifOffset": "236", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "594", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "7982", "EXIF ExposureTime": "11566/520523", "EXIF FNumber": "8", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Unidentified", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "50", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0220", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2008:08:13 09:50:14", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2008:08:13 09:50:14", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "1373/250", "EXIF ApertureValue": "6", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF FocalLength": "70", "EXIF ColorSpace": "Uncalibrated", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "4499", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "3142"}