contredanse

American  

[kon-truh-dans, -dahns, kawn-tr^uh-dahns] / ˈkɒn trəˌdæns, -ˌdɑns, kɔ̃ trəˈdɑ̃s /

noun

plural

contredanses

1. a variation of the quadrille in which the dancers face each other.

2. a piece of music suitable for such a dance.

---

contredanse British  

/ ˈkɒntrəˌdɑːns /

noun

1. a courtly Continental version of the English country dance, similar to the quadrille

2. music written for or in the rhythm of this dance

---

Etymology

Origin of contredanse

1795–1805; < French, equivalent to contre- counter- + danse dance, misrendering of English country-dance, by association with the characteristic arrangement of dancers in rows facing each other

Example Sentences

Many sections resemble contredanse or quadrille: ballroom arrangements of circles, lines, stars; dancers holding hands as they pass.

From New York Times • Dec. 9, 2022

The habanera and its contredanse antecedents had a highly distinctive accompanying rhythm of four beats, which in musical notation - as in the opening of the Bizet song - looks like this.

From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall

Less than a month after mid-summer, the hour was not so much into morning, and there were some tireless votaries of Terpsichore inclined for still another contredanse, by way of wind up.

From No Quarter! by Reid, Mayne

The questions passing from lip to lip, late on in the night, and after another contredanse had come to a close.

From No Quarter! by Reid, Mayne

"Not a minuet?—den a minuet de la cour, a cotillon, or contredanse, or reel; vatever mademoiselle please vill do us honneur."

From Tales and Novels — Volume 01 by Edgeworth, Maria