gavotte (redirected from gavottes)

gavotte (gəvŏt`), originally a peasant dance of the Gavots in upper Dauphiné, France. A type of circle dance characterized by lively, skipping steps, it was introduced at the court of Louis XIV and was used by Lully in his ballets and operas and by François Couperin and J. S. Bach in their keyboard suites.

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gavotte

Folk dance of French peasant origin, supposedly danced by the people of Gap (Gavots). The dance became popular as a court dance in the 17th–18th century, developing more complicated steps under the direction of ballet masters. Its slow, walking steps were danced to music in ⁴⁄₄ time. Musically it included three parts and was an optional movement of the suite.