contra

…used only the country dance’s “longways” formations, in which each couple danced its way to the head of a double line (men on one side, women on the other). At the head of the line, the pair danced a duet before relinquishing the position to the next couple in line.…

…of couples (“round” dances), (2) “longways” set, double-file line for an indefinite number of couples, men on one side, women on the other, and (3) geometric formations (e.g., squares, triangles) or sets, usually for two, three, or four couples. The dancers execute a succession of varied patterns of figures. In…

The longways, dances with double lines of dancers facing one another, became contredanses anglaises; the rounds became the contredanses françaises, which were also known as cotillions and quadrilles. These figure dances, which quickly spread to Spain, Germany, Poland, and other countries, were the dances of the…

…from comparable dances called the contra, or longways dance, for a double file of couples, and from the round dance for a circle of couples. Historians trace the origin of the square dance to both the Kentucky running set of English derivation and to the cotillon, a stately French dance…