For those interested in the historical derivation of our terms:

As Alan said, the Allemande was a couple dance from the late 1700s. In it, both hands were held, and the arms moved through various positions. This put the couple in much closer contact than they were in the minuet, in which the only physical contact was through hands held at arm's length. This makes the Allemande an important part of the transition of couple dancing from the minuet to the waltz.

The dance form known as Germans was shortened from German Cotillions. These were musical games which were popular in ballrooms in the 1800s.

Here's a link to an example of the Allemande being danced:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3ay1kAK0YA

Jacob

On Thu, Oct 29, 2015 at 6:00 AM, Alan Winston via Callers <

callers@lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:

On 10/29/15 2:45 AM, Jeff Kaufman via Callers wrote:

On Oct 29, 2015 4:24 AM, "Erik Hoffman via Callers" <callers@lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:
>
>
> No Hand Allemande (and I do think Allemande comes from "The German," a dance)
>

I wonder what we'll do if we discover that to some Germans the French term "Allemande" is derogatory and they prefer to be called "Deutsche".

Given that "allemande" is an incredibly-overloaded term in different dance genres - it's a progressive figure for two or three couples in Scottish dancing; it's a kind of 1700s couple dance; it's a pretzel-armed turn in cotillions, it's a not-100%-clearly-understood-thing-with-a-circular-track in Regency-era longways dances, it's an elbow turn, it's a hand turn - it wouldn't ruin my life if we started saying "hand turn" instead of "allemande".

Just sayin'. (Although I would miss "allemande left with your left hand, walk right in to a right and left grand" and the allemande alphabet.)

-- Alan

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