Does 'the meddle' mean waist?

[yuyu0615]

"And away they all went in the dance, Twenty pairs at the same time, round and round, down the middle and up again"
In this sentence,dose "the middle" mean "weist"?
I can't imagine the scene.If possible, please explain the scene .

 

[Raymott]

"And away they all went in the dance, twenty pairs at the same time, round and round, down the middle and up again"
In this sentence, does "the middle" mean "weist"?
I can't imagine the scene.If possible, please explain the scene .

No. It's some form of 'sequence dance'.
The couples line up with ten men standing side to side, and ten women side to side facing them.
mmmmmmmmmm
wwwwwwwwww
The head couple join hands and dance up between the others (down the middle).
mmmmmmmmm
...m ->
...w ->
wwwwwwwww
Then the next head couple do the same. 'Up again' - not sure about this; maybe they dance back up to the head outside the group before the second couple take off.
...<- m
mmmmmmmmm
wwwwwwwww
...<- w

 

[mayita1usa]

"And away they all went in the dance, Twenty pairs at the same time, round and round, down the middle and up again"
In this sentence,dose "the middle" mean "weist"?
I can't imagine the scene.If possible, please explain the scene .

No, I'm sure "the middle" doesn't mean "waist" (note spelling).

Where is this quote from? When I read it, I imagine a dance from a Jane Austen novel, such as Pride and Prejudice. If you have ever seen one of those movies, you can picture a row of men and a row of women facing each other. When they begin dancing, they often meet in the middle between the rows, and then dance up between the rows to the opposite end...

I can't really describe it all, but I suggest looking for an example of English country dancing (or "contradancing") on YouTube!

 

[yuyu0615]

Thank you very much

I've never known "'sequence dance." Thank you for teaching me what it is.I'm glad to understand it.

 

[mayita1usa]

No. It's some form of 'sequence dance'

I love your diagram, Raymott! But I don't think a 'sequence dance' is the same as what you (or the OP) were describing. I'd never heard of sequence dancing before now, so I looked it up and it's more closely related to ballroom dancing (e.g. tango, foxtrot, etc.).

Here is a video clip from Pride and Prejudice of the English Country Dancing that I was talking about: Mr. Beveridge's Maggot (I hope the link works!)

 

[Raymott]

I love your diagram, Raymott! But I don't think a 'sequence dance' is the same as what you (or the OP) were describing. I'd never heard of sequence dancing before now, so I looked it up and it's more closely related to ballroom dancing (e.g. tango, foxtrot, etc.).

Here is a video clip from Pride and Prejudice of the English Country Dancing that I was talking about: Mr. Beveridge's Maggot (I hope the link works!)

You're right. Sequence dancing is quite popular in Australia. Sequence dances include the Gypsy Tap, Pride of Erin, Barn Dance, Canadian Two-Step - anything where all couples do the same steps at the same time. It's also called "Old Time and New Vogue" dancing here.
It's quite possible that the dances in Jane Austen's time were not called 'sequence dances', but they are dances with a set sequence.
Sorry for any confusion.

 

[Raymott]

PS: Here's one of my favourites, the Swing waltz
1. How it should be done
YouTube - Swing Waltz

2.How it's usually done
YouTube - The Old Swing Waltz - Old Time Bush Dance in Australia

Some modern dances are almost indistinguishable from those of Jane Austen's time (at least in concept)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GnvGVommNvM&feature=related

 

[mayita1usa]

PS: Here's one of my favourites, the Swing waltz
1. How it should be done
YouTube - Swing Waltz

Nice! This is how I pictured sequence dancing after I read about it!

2.How it's usually done
YouTube - The Old Swing Waltz - Old Time Bush Dance in Australia

Some modern dances are almost indistinguishable from those of Jane Austen's time (at least in concept)
YouTube - Bush Dance

I think we have a basic vocabulary/dialect difference! What you all call "bush dance" is what we call "contra dance" - and I imagine both of them come from English Country Dance, thanks to the imperial aspirations of the British crown! :lol:

 

[BobK]

I love your diagram, Raymott! ...

Me too. It took me back to my primary school - the Virginia Reel (YouTube - Virginia Reel - though we were three or four years younger than these guys. Girls - yuck. ;-):-oops::-(;-))

b

 

[Rover_KE]

Aren't we talking about a square dance here?

Rover

 

[Barb_D]

That diagram was inspired!

A square dance has four couples, one on each side of a square. I'm not aware of any square dancing moves that have all the ladies on one side and the gentlemen on the other.

I"m sure my children will be horrified if I admit that I really enjoyed square dancing when I was younger. It's soooo uncool.

 

[bhaisahab]

In the early 90s my wife and I were living in An Spidéal in the Conamara Gaeltacht in the west of Ireland and we went to Irish language and dance classes, this link from Raymott looks almost exactly like the kind of dance we were doing.:-D
2.How it's usually done
YouTube - The Old Swing Waltz - Old Time Bush Dance in Australia

 

[mayita1usa]

Aren't we talking about a square dance here?

Rover

No, square dancing is related, but different. Square dances have groups of 4 couples only (thus the square). In English country dancing, as in Raymott's diagram, you can have an unlimited number of couples; if the particular dance calls for an even number, an extra couple can just adapt the steps or wait out one round at the end of the line, until they're absorbed into the group again at the top of the next round. It's really fun!

 

[Raymott]

Aren't we talking about a square dance here?

Rover

No, as wikipedia says, "Square dance is a folk dance with four couples (eight dancers) arranged in a square, with one couple on each side, beginning with Couple 1 facing away from the music and going counter-clockwise until getting to Couple 4 ..."
At least, the idea is for multiples of 4 couples; the choreography is based on 4.
Some of the steps are the same though.
"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Square_dance

YouTube - The Traveling Hoedowners Square Dancing at Whirl & Twirl

 

[BobK]

...

I"m sure my children will be horrified if I admit that I really enjoyed square dancing when I was younger. It's soooo uncool.

In my youth, the 'in' word for 'uncool' was 'square'. I wonder if there's a link...:-?

b

 

[birdeen's call]

I guess every culture of European origin has produces some kind of round and round, and then down the middle. Here's a bit of the Polish kind:

How it should be done:
YouTube - Polonez - Pan Tadeusz
YouTube - "Polonez" - Krakowiak Polish Dancers of Boston

How it's usually done (polonaise has become a prom-only dance; thousands of such videos are made every year):
YouTube - XXXI LO - Studniówka - Polonez rozszerzony

I think the word prom comes from what these kids are doing: the promenade. Am I wrong?

 

[BobK]

...

I think the word prom comes from what these kids are doing: the promenade. Am I wrong?

Sounds possible. Born and raised near London, I was surprised - when my daughter came of age for that sort of thing - to learn that Prom mean anything but the series of concerts in the Royal Albert Hall in the summer, at which some of the audience (the 'prommers') have no seats. Perhaps the phrase 'prom dress' meant something in 20th-century Br English, but it was certainly a surprise to me (as was the price...) ;-)

b