Quadrille set five person set colonial ball at the Albert Hall

Sequence dancing is a form of dance in which a preset pattern of movements is followed, usually to

music Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspe ...

which is also predetermined. Sequence dancing may include dances of many different styles. The term may include ballroom dances which move round the floor as well as line,

square In Euclidean geometry, a square is a regular quadrilateral, which means that it has four equal sides and four equal angles (90- degree angles, π/2 radian angles, or right angles). It can also be defined as a rectangle with two equal-length a ...

and

circle dance Circle dance, or chain dance, is a style of social dance done in a circle, semicircle or a curved line to musical accompaniment, such as rhythm instruments and singing, and is a type of dance where anyone can join in without the need of par ...

s. Sequence dancing in general is much older than modern ballroom dances. With the exception of the

waltz The waltz ( ), meaning "to roll or revolve") is a ballroom and folk dance, normally in triple ( time), performed primarily in closed position. History There are many references to a sliding or gliding dance that would evolve into the w ...

, invented around 1800, all dances in ballrooms were sequence dances until the early 20th century. After modern ballroom dancing developed, in England, sequence dancing continued. It included so-called 'Old Time' dances and also adapted versions of the new ballroom dances, and then versions of Latin dances. Sequence dancing is a competitive sport as well as a social pastime. The

British Sequence Championships The British Sequence Championships are ballroom dancing championships for adults and children held annually in Blackpool, England. The championships for adults take place as part of the Blackpool Sequence Dance Festival and have been running ...

is the most famous annual sequence

dance competition Competitive dance is a popular, widespread sport in which competitors perform dances in any of several permitted dance styles—such as acro, ballet, contemporary, jazz, hip-hop, lyrical, modern, musical theatre, tap, and improv—before ...

and is part of the Blackpool Sequence Dance Festival. This is held in the

Empress Ballroom The Empress Ballroom is an entertainment venue in Blackpool, Lancashire, England. It is located within the Winter Gardens, a large entertainment complex in the town centre. As part of the Winter Gardens, the ballroom is a Grade II* Listed Bu ...

, Winter Gardens, Blackpool,

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, since 1949.

Sequence dancing today

Modern sequence dancing has a repeat of the steps at every sixteenth bar, typically going on for five or six sequences in all. Specially performed sequence dance music in strict tempo is usually needed, although some 'ordinary' music may suffice provided it is played in 16 bar sections or sequences throughout. Ideally, sequence music will have a four bar introduction at the correct tempo and in the correct rhythm, followed by 5 or 6 sixteen bar sequences allowing all dancers to progress around the room and ending when the music finishes. There are many different tempo types for sequence dancing, based on the classification of each dance. Each has an accepted speed of playing so that a typical programme of sequence dancing has a wide variety of activity. Sequence dances are split into 3 different sections; 'Old Time' – also occasionally seen as 'Old Tyme' – (now referred to as 'Classical'), 'Modern' or 'Latin' with the dividing line being somewhere in the early 20th century. New sequences are being devised all the time and the number which have been published as scripts is currently (in 2010) standing at over four thousand. Old-time (Classical) dances: Old-time

Waltz The waltz ( ), meaning "to roll or revolve") is a ballroom and folk dance, normally in triple ( time), performed primarily in closed position. History There are many references to a sliding or gliding dance that would evolve into the w ...

Country dance A country dance is any of a very large number of social dances of a type that originated in the British Isles; it is the repeated execution of a predefined sequence of figures, carefully designed to fit a fixed length of music, performed by a ...

Quadrille The quadrille is a dance that was fashionable in late 18th- and 19th-century Europe and its colonies. The quadrille consists of a chain of four to six '' contredanses''. Latterly the quadrille was frequently danced to a medley of opera melodie ...

Galop In dance, the galop, named after the fastest running gait of a horse (see Gallop), a shortened version of the original term galoppade, is a lively country dance, introduced in the late 1820s to Parisian society by the Duchesse de Berry and popul ...

, Polka; Saunter,

Gavotte The gavotte (also gavot, gavote, or gavotta) is a French dance, taking its name from a folk dance of the Gavot, the people of the Pays de Gap region of Dauphiné in the southeast of France, where the dance originated, according to one source. A ...

, Two Step, Mazurka, Schottische,

Cakewalk The cakewalk was a dance developed from the "prize walks" (dance contests with a cake awarded as the prize) held in the mid-19th century, generally at get-togethers on Black slave plantations before and after emancipation in the Southern Uni ...

. Modern dances:

Tango Tango is a partner dance and social dance that originated in the 1880s along the Río de la Plata, the natural border between Argentina and Uruguay. The tango was born in the impoverished port areas of these countries as the result of a combina ...

, Foxtrot, Quickstep Latin-American dances:

Rumba The term rumba may refer to a variety of unrelated music styles. Originally, "rumba" was used as a synonym for "party" in northern Cuba, and by the late 19th century it was used to denote the complex of secular music styles known as Cuban rumba. ...

, Cha-cha-cha, Samba, Jive,

Paso Doble Pasodoble ( Spanish: ''double step'') is a fast-paced Spanish military march used by infantry troops. Its speed allowed troops to give 120 steps per minute (double the average of a regular unit, hence its name). This military march gave rise ...

, Bossa Nova,

Salsa Salsa most often refers to: * Salsa (Mexican cuisine), a variety of sauces used as condiments * Salsa music, a popular style of Latin American music * Salsa (dance), a Latin dance associated with Salsa music Salsa or SALSA may also refer to: ...

Mambo Mambo most often refers to: * Mambo (music), a Cuban musical form *Mambo (dance), a dance corresponding to mambo music Mambo may also refer to: Music * Mambo section, a section in arrangements of some types of Afro-Caribbean music, particul ...

. Regular competitions are held between dance teachers to decide which newly created sequence dances shall be 'officially' adopted and scripted for wider distribution. Most of these are tried for a short while and then disappear into the archives. Some, just a few, find great popularity and join the select group of dances which last for several years round the dance halls. Such popular dances are the basis of practically every 'Tea Dance'. Moreover, most now consider that the best dances are the older dances, and although a few clubs still teach them, interest in the new dances now seems to be rapidly diminishing. Most people who attend these functions will recognise Saunter Together, Mayfair Quickstep, Waltz Cathrine, Rumba One and many others. An alternative to the tea dance is the 'Dance Club'. These are devoted to the teaching and learning of all the approved new sequence dances.T.A. Whitworth 1997. ''Learning the essential Sequence Dances''. Hillman Printers, 1997. p9

New Vogue

New Vogue is a set of sequence dances which use modern ballroom technique. It was developed in Australia in the 1930s and is a danced socially and competitively across Australia and New Zealand. There are fifteen competition dances which cover March, Foxtrot, Tango and Viennese Waltz rhythms.

Sequence dance scripts

These are written in a shorthand form similar to phone texting or knitting patterns. The jargon is easily learned and the shorthand can be understood. Ultra keen sequence dancers subscribe to script services that distribute the scripts immediately they are issued by the competition organisers. A short example of this dance scripting is as follows: :1. :2.

References

External links

(On-Line Script Library)Sequence Dance Script ServiceSequence Dancing World
{{Dance Social dance Choreography Sixteen bar sections