These pages overview the history of social dance in the western European tradition - with an emphasis on English Country dancing and its derivatives and on vintage ballroom couples dancing and its antecedants. Along the way we will read about the origins of dance in these traditions, the rise of English country dancing as an art form that travelled abroad, the reimportation into England of country dance in the form of the Cotillion, the rise and fall of the Minuet, the transformation of Cotillion's into quadrilles, the advent of the scandalous waltz, mazurka, polka, galop and schottische, the domestication and universal acceptance of these new couples dances and the decline in country dancing to the near death of some of the couples dances and the revival of the country dance tradition.

For more extensive literary quotes than those offered here, see Allison Thompson's Dancing through Time, Western Social Dance in Literature, 1400-1918: Selections (McFarland&Company, Jeferson, North Carolina and London, 1998). For the full text of many of the dance manuals referred to and for video clips showing performances of some of the dances mentioned here, visit the wonderful Library of Congress site An American Ballroom Companion. For links to many other invaluable studies and resources see our links page.

For instructions on this site to dances in the various styles mentioned, we recommend go to the Dance Index and work your way from there to dances of interest on our 5 pages of instructions - English Country, Vintage, Lost Dances, Christmas Dances and Other Dances.

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