English Country Dancing
in the Words of Cecil Sharp

The great English musicologist Cecil Sharp published his researches into the English Country Dance in a series of books called The Country Dance Book, volumes I- VI which appeared between 1909 and 1922.

These volumes are philosophical, practical, and at times even poetical in their careful depiction of England 's dance traditions.

To a large degree, most of the issues in country dancing that we concern ourselves with today-whether to Turn Single right or left, how to hold our bodies and what to do with our hands, debates about the right or wrong way to do a dance, and so forth--are present in Sharp. His writing launched the modern renaissance of English country dancing and can act as a well spring for furthering our love and understanding of this great dance tradition.

For this reason, I've reproduced some of his commentary from various parts of the Country Dance Book series.

Sharp's General Description of the Country Dance:

Early in Book 1 of The Country Dance Book, Sharp tries to communicate the nature of English country dancing. One of his techniques is to contrast it with the Morris dance in these memorable words:The Morris is a ceremonial, spectacular, and professional dance.... As practiced today it is...a formal, official dance, performed only on certain days in each year, such as Whitsun-week.... The Morris, too, is remarkable for the total absence of the love motive from all its movements. Finally, it must be understood that the Morris is not, primarily, a pleasure dance. Its function is to provide a spectacle or pageant.

The Country Dance, on the other hand, possesses none of these special characteristics. It has played altogether another part in the social life of the village. No ceremony or formality has ever been associated with its performance. It was ... and still is the ordinary, everyday dance of the countryfolk, performed not merely on festal days, but whenever opportunity offered and the spirit of merrymaking was abroad.

No special dress is needed, not even holiday clothes. The steps and figures are simple and easily learned, so that anyone of ordinary intelligence and of average physique can without difficulty qualify as a competent performer. [Book I, pp 10-12]

Movement, Carriage, and the Use of Hands and Feet

Sharp was quite specific when it came to describing how an English Country dancer should move, what steps he or she should use and what to do with hands and arms. Here are some helpful passages from The Country Dance Book.

MOTIONS IN THE DANCE

The Country Dance is preeminently a figure dance, depending in the main for its expressiveness upon the weaving of patterned, concerted evolutions rather than upon intricate steps or elaborate body movements. That the steps in the Country Dance should be few in number and technically simple is, therefore, natural enough. For complicated footwork is obviously incompatible with that free, easy, yet controlled, movement needed in the execution of intricate figures.

THE STEPS

The following general directions apply to the execution of all the steps used in the Country Dance. Country Dance steps always fall on the main divisions of the bar, i.e., on each of the two beats in duple measure and of the threebeats in triple measure. In the case of a compound step, that is, one that comprises more than one movement, the accented movement should fall on the beat. The step should fall on the ball of the foot, not on the toe, with the heel off, but close to, the ground. The feet should be held straight and parallel, neither turned out nor in at the ankle. The legs should never be straddled, but held close together. Nor again should they be extended more than is absolutely necessary; the spring should as far as possible take the place of the stride. The jar caused by the impact of the feet on the floor should be absorbed mainly be the ankle-joint, and very little or not at all by the knees. The knees, indeed, should be bent as little as possible. All unnecessary movements should be suppressed, e.g., kicking up the heels, fussing with the feet, raising the knees, etc.

ARMS AND HANDS

Nearly all the prescribed arm-movements in the Country Dance relate to the joining of hands. Of ornamental or fanciful movements there are none, nor any of formal design that are devised--like many of the arm-movements of the Morris Dance--to assist the actions of the dancer. Nevertheless, perhaps for this reason, the carriage and manipulation of the hands form a very characteristic feature of the Country Dance.

It may be taken as a general rule that when the arms are not in active use, i.e., when they are not being directly employed for some specific purpose, they should be allowed to swing quietly and loosely by the sides.... The dancer may sometimes find it necessary to make use of his arms to maintain his balance.... This is permissible, provided that such movements are made only when really necessary, simply, and without exaggeration.

Style and the Art of Figure Dancing

Sharp's comments on style and the technique of figure dancing are memorable and as sure a guide today to good dancing as in his own time.

The first requisite of the figure dancer is the capacity to move freely and easily, with complete control over direction and speed. Having attained this power, he must then learn (1) to "time" his movements accurately; (2) to phrase them in accord with the music; (3) to blend them into one continuous movement without halts or hesitations; and (4) to execute them in concert with his fellow dancers.

Timing: As the movements and the figures of the dance are but the translation, in terms of bodily action, of the music which accompanies them, the dancer when learning a dance should first of all listen carefully to the tune, and, if possible, memorize it. In particular, he should note the number and relative lengths of its several phrases and calculatethe number of steps that can be danced to each of them (two in every bar in duple, and three in triple-measure).

Phrasing: Technically, the dancer phrases his movement by gradating the accents which he imparts to his steps, giving the strongest accent to the first step of a group and the weakest to the last. The strength of the step accent depends partly upon footspring, but mainly on body balance.... The dancer must never make any movement in the dance, however insignificant, that is not phrased, i.e., executed rhythmically in accord with the music.

Continuity: In learning a dance it will probably be necessary to dissect its movements, to parse, so to speak, each component section; but in the finished dance these subordinate elements must be pieced together and merged into one continuous movement.... To this end, the dancer must think ahead, perceive the relation between that which he is atthe moment doing with that which is to follow.

Concerted movement: The expert figure dancer is probably far more conscious of the movements of his fellow dancers than of his own; indeed, his pleasure, as well as theirs, depends very largely upon the completeness with which he effaces his own personality and loses himself in the dance.

Excerpts by Paul Ross 5/7/99