In French Caribbean culture, especially of the

Lesser Antilles The Lesser Antilles is a group of islands in the Caribbean Sea, forming part of the West Indies in Caribbean, Caribbean region of the Americas. They are distinguished from the larger islands of the Greater Antilles to the west. They form an arc w ...

, the term ''kwadril'' is a Creole term referring to a folk dance derived from the ''

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 ''Contra dance, contredanses''. Latterly the quadrille was frequently danced to a medley of ope ...

''.

Saint Lucia quadrille

On the island of

Saint Lucia Saint Lucia is an island country of the West Indies in the eastern Caribbean. Part of the Windward Islands of the Lesser Antilles, it is located north/northeast of the island of Saint Vincent (Saint Vincent and the Grenadines), Saint Vincent ...

, kwadrils are social occasions held in private homes; Lucian kwadrils were formerly viewed as old-fashioned, but are increasingly being adopted as a symbol of Lucian culture. These ''kwadrils'' are very formalized, and are accompanied by a

cuatro Cuatro, Spanish (and other Romance languages) for the 4, number 4, may refer to: * Cuatro (instrument), a family of Latin American string instruments, including: ** Cuatro (Venezuela) ** Puerto Rican cuatro * Cuatro (TV channel), a Spanish free-to ...

, rattle, chak-chak,

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

banjo The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and in modern forms is usually made of plastic, where early membranes were made of animal skin. ...

and bones (zo). It consists of five separate dances: the ''pwémyé fidji'', ''dézyèm fidji'', ''twazyèm fidji'', ''katwiyèm fidji'' (also ''avantwa'' or ''lanmen dwèt'') and ''gwan won'' (also ''grande rond''). The musicians may also use a ''lakonmèt'' ( mazurka),

schottische The schottische is a partnered country dance that apparently originated in Bohemia. It was popular in Victorian-era ballrooms as a part of the Bohemian folk-dance craze and left its traces in folk music of countries such as Argentina (Spanish ...

polka Polka is a dance style and genre of dance music in originating in nineteenth-century Bohemia, now part of the Czech Republic. Though generally associated with Czech and Central European culture, polka is popular throughout Europe and the ...

; the ''lakonmèt'', also called the ''mazouk'', is especially popular and is the only closed couple dance which originated in Saint Lucia.

Dominica quadrille

The Dominican quadrille generally has four different figures, the ''pastouwèl'', ''lapoul'', ''lété'' and ''latrinitez''. Some regions of

Dominica Dominica, officially the Commonwealth of Dominica, is an island country in the Caribbean. It is part of the Windward Islands chain in the Lesser Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean Sea. The capital, Roseau, is located on the western side of t ...

, such as Petite Savanne, are home to local variants such as the ''caristo''. Many quadrilles are found across Dominica under a wide variety of names. In addition to the standard quadrille, the

lancer A lancer was a type of cavalryman who fought with a lance. Lances were used for mounted warfare in Assyria as early as and subsequently by India, Egypt, China, Persia, Greece, and Rome. The weapon was widely used throughout Eurasia during the M ...

is also an important Dominican dance. Accompaniment for the quadrille is provided by a four instrument ensemble called a '' jing ping'' band.

Guadeloupe balakadri

Balakadri Balakadri (called balkadri or kadri) is a traditional quadrille music that was performed for balls on the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe. History Guadeloupean balakadri persisted into the 20th century and, despite disruption after World War II, ...

(called balkadri or kadri) is a traditional

music that was performed for balls on the

Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...

island of

Guadeloupe Guadeloupe is an Overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department and region of France in the Caribbean. It consists of six inhabited islands—Basse-Terre Island, Basse-Terre, Grande-Terre, Guadeloupe, Grande-Terre, Marie-Galant ...

. Kwadril dances are in sets consisting of proper quadrilles, plus creolized versions of 19th-century couple dances:

biguine Biguine ( , ; ) is a rhythmic dance and music style that originated from Saint-Pierre, Martinique in the 19th century. It fuses West African traditional music genres, such as Bélé, with 19th-century French ballroom dance steps. History Two ...

s, mazouks and valses Créoles. Instrumentation consists of variable combinations of

accordion Accordions (from 19th-century German language, German ', from '—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a Reed (mou ...

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

, tanbou dibas, chacha (either a single metal cylinder as in

Martinique Martinique ( ; or ; Kalinago language, Kalinago: or ) is an island in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the eastern Caribbean Sea. It was previously known as Iguanacaera which translates to iguana island in Carib language, Kariʼn ...

, or a spherical calabash without a handle, held in both hands), malakach (

maracas A maraca ( , , ), sometimes called shaker or chac-chac, is a rattle which appears in many genres of Caribbean and Latin music. It is shaken by a handle and usually played as part of a pair. Maracas, also known as tamaracas, were rattles of d ...

), triangle, bwa ( tibwa) and syak, a bamboo rasp one metre long, grooved on both top and bottom, held with one end on the belly and the other on a door or wall and scraped with both hands. A konmandé completes the ensemble.

References

* {{Reflist Music of Dominica Music of Guadeloupe Music of Martinique Music of Saint Lucia Caribbean music genres French styles of music

Country dance

Saint Lucia quadrille

Dominica quadrille

Guadeloupe balakadri

See also

References