Gavotte

A gavotte is a medium paced French folk dance of the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries which takes its name from a folk dance of the Gavot, the people of the Pays de Gap region of Dauphin&Atilde;&copy; in the southeast of France. The gavotte is first mentioned as the last of a suite of another French dance, the branles. The gavotte then became a stylized member of the Baroque dance suite, performed after the Spanish dance the sarabande. It was considered a pastoral dance, written in 2 or in cut time and sometimes with a drone suggesting bagpipes. It originally began as a folk dance but was soon performed at court functions. In early courtly use the gavotte involved kissing, but this was replaced by the presentation of flowers.<br>