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The Dances and Music
An Dro
An Dro Retourné
Bal Limousine
Bourrée (Cercle et Bourrée, Bourrée des Grande Poteries, Bourree a 4, Bourree planiere, Bourrée de Thiers)
Branles (Branle d'Ossau, Branle de Noirmoutier)
Gavotte
Hanter Dro
La Chapelloise
LaridéRondeau (Rondeau en chaîne)
Schottische (Schottische en ronde, Scottisch a Clementine)
An Dro: The an dro or en dro is a round or chain dance from Lower Brittany. It is one of the ancient forms of dance already practiced in the seventeenth century and still today. Dancers hold each other by the little finger and move obliquely to the left with slight backwards, three steps forward to the left and then three small steps backwards on the spot. The arms swing and make a spiral pattern in the second half of dance phrase.
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Sample Dance Videos for An Dro:
Balfolk Québec 2017-11-30: https://youtu.be/SpVVu8kq70g?si=-f5m_jjoBJUJYvMD
Bal Folk à Paris: https://youtu.be/TYa18YZpUIw?si=3A7mlfwh5f7-hml8
Sample Music for An Dro:
Topette!! "Just Heavy": https://youtu.be/hgygYNcyGms?si=GsKigDb6K-qO7SRT
The Rogues: https://youtu.be/MHuvPGsmVDo?si=Uzq86qnoH72loNsr
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An Dro
An Dro Retourné: Traditionally done to the song "Changerez Tu?" this variation on the popular An Dro dance is done throughout Brittany. An Dro Retourné is not a "choreography". This is an actual traditional dance based on the An Dro form and is always done to this song. People often do it with no instrumental accompaniment, just singing (and dancing simultaneously).
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Sample Dance Videos for An Dro Retourné:
Dance: https://youtu.be/c929UzOos6c?si=nCV4VKtyJ5paxM2I
Instructional: https://youtu.be/4pIINdCQFuQ?si=5hLqxG3qXYN5qxTB
Sample Music for An Dro Retourné:
Music: https://youtu.be/Kh2t7rpvx4M?si=GeQ8PkpE54Aaq-We
Lyrics: https://paulboizot.co.uk/lyrics/changerais_tu.htm
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An Dro Retourne
Bal Limousine: Limousin (Lemosín in Occitan) consists of three departments: Corrèze, Creuse, and Haute-Vienne. Located almost entirely in the Massif Central. The Limousin is bordered to the north by the Centre, to the west by Poitou and Aquitaine, to the south by Midi-Pyrénées and to the east by Auvergne. This dance belongs to the 3-beat bourrée family. It is a bourrée from Poitou. The name suggests a relationship with the bourrées of Limousin, Limousin is a region adjacent to Poitou. Instead, the name refers to the second figure of the dance, specifically the way women progress along the circle in which they dance.
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Sample Dance Videos for Bal Limousine:
Dance: https://youtu.be/Fdk3kn6us0U?si=kSdYM9yGU2qSb4g6
Dance: https://youtu.be/eIO3DDX8clQ?si=Whgid66oYeyw_Vpg
Sample Music for Bal Limousine:
Arrangement di Piergiorgio Graglia per " Aria ": https://youtu.be/dxWlXrm9wPY?si=UU-10JJiQ6HgA6ub
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Bal Limousine
Bourrée: The bourrée is perceived as originating in Auvergne since the seventeenth century, although this is not certain. The name bourrée comes from the bundles of small wood that fed the fire around which the dance was practiced. It was very fashionable under Louis XIV. George Sand, who liked to dance the bourrée du Berry, characterizes it in his writings as "our classical dance, supple, well rhythmed" and very graceful in its simplicity. The 3-beat bourrée comes from the Massif Central (Auvergne/Limousin) but is danced almost everywhere now.
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Sample Dance Videos for Basic Bourrée 2 Temps :
Video notes tutorial: https://youtu.be/yDCbfE0p3_Q?si=fBKUNVXLJqDnqGz3
Dance (short video): https://youtu.be/jkJCFcLGfGo?si=bYHAsnL0imt_1OAY
Sample Music for Basic Bourrée 2 Temps:
Les pattes velues: https://youtu.be/JV-ZjEal1qU?si=bXDauzquJj9rH-Xn
Sample Dance Videos for Basic Bourrée 3 Temps :
Basic step: https://youtu.be/iGn087unmns?si=-dDeMdCBnyPn5E2g (at 0.00 for 1.30 minutes)
Sample Music for Basic Bourrée 3 Temps:
Music: https://youtu.be/PobTWGQVRY0?si=4UJ6wGicz_GGzvWJ
Sample Dance Videos for Cercle et Bourrée:
Dance: https://youtu.be/PynIGPFxeB4?si=sEBBic8SMRynQ3PK
Sample Music for Cercle et Bourrée:
Music: https://youtu.be/2c0uvcUlwBg
Sample Dance Videos for Bourrée des Grande Poteries:
Dance: https://youtu.be/j0UfIGSoD_4?si=fF9ZTtxSKjz7qfI_
Dance: https://youtu.be/8S_jL0XEMvE?si=ZmUUKrI_YFmSJ36A ("croisées")
Sample Dance Videos for Bourree a 4 (type Auvergne):
Dance: https://youtu.be/iGn087unmns?si=-dDeMdCBnyPn5E2g (at 5.20 minutes)
Sample Dance Videos for Bourrée La planière:
Dance at party: https://youtu.be/eHnTsgYV_aQ?si=SXb7J1QBIeOxHruz
Dance: https://youtu.be/-mX6pf0XD6s?si=wtON16RXl2jQ8xHj
Sample Music for Bourrée La planière:
Diga donc Janton: https://youtu.be/3fGFQ9d9vrk?si=hYgb942-m-oeO3Y5
Remi Geoffroy: https://youtu.be/ALhH9jP7E-Y?si=U7ZASDq8amwtL8tS
Sample Dance Videos for Bourrée de Thiers:
Dance: https://youtu.be/HswZ2Ft4TTI?si=zKhbSEjsYDbpHj_T
Sample Music for Bourrée de Thiers:
Music: https://youtu.be/2c0uvcUlwBg
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Bourrée
Branles: The branles are an open or closed chain dance, with the dancers oscillating from one side to the other. In the 1500’s these dances were part of the repertoire of good society and the working class. Branles are from the Alsace region of Eastern France and the name refers to the side-to-side swaying motions typical of this style of dance. L'Homme qui Marche ("The man who walks" or “The walking man”) is a very popular Branle danced in North American and western Europe.
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Sample Dance Videos for L'Homme qui Marche:
Dance: https://youtu.be/HSBRw4AGAdg?si=bfoxGj3n1NSiGNyF
Sample Dance Videos for Branle d'Ossau:
Dance: https://youtu.be/Hta-FIcl2nI?si=KUyw7-wPoTrXvBPx
Dance tutorial: https://youtu.be/Hta-FIcl2nI?si=KUyw7-wPoTrXvBPx
Dance (festival): https://youtu.be/FHd0r7F6V24?si=tknifYy5dG5GEjK_
Sample Dance Videos for Branle de Noirmoutier:
Dance: https://youtu.be/F_xBzRADRvg?si=Q0Q-JwKwGiZcUZdJ (at 3:40)
Dance: https://youtu.be/Hta-FIcl2nI?si=KUyw7-wPoTrXvBPx
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Branles
Gavotte: The gavotte is a French dance, taking its name from a folk dance of the Gavot, the people of the Pays de Gap region of Dauphiné in the southeast of France, where the dance originated. From the end of the sixteenth to the end of the eighteenth century, it was a court dance that was very popular in France. It is derived from the branle. It is generally danced in a circle, although some regions dance it in chains. It is a very old and very popular dance in the Bretagne region.
Sample Dance Videos for Gavotte de l'Aven:
Naragonia - Les Deux Frères: https://youtu.be/qFbyOqFIzKk?si=pOMA264qm_nVaDBB
Sample Music for Gavotte de l'Aven:
Shoes Off - DAHU: https://youtu.be/a_8-RM_HY5E?si=ae_vj2BYUMp3kLxo
Sur le Fil, gavotte glissando: https://youtu.be/Nj1dferawjQ?si=Jt8Z0cRj9Wk0WLUf
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Gavotte
Hanter Dro: The han dro, the hanterdro, is a round dance from the Vannes region of Lower Brittany. It is also called hanterdans or hanterzans. If an dro means the turn, hanterdro means to turn around. The Breton word “hanter-dro” means about-turn in French. Sometimes named hanterdañs, then it means half-dance. The hanterdro is often sung, but there are probably few hanterdro tunes. It is also played on traditional instruments.
Sample Dance Videos for Hanter Dro:
Prague Bal Folk Weekend: https://youtu.be/6oF3lMLZIfI?si=K4vui8gb699ESIZb
Retz Celtic Danse: https://youtu.be/Mz99e6DbWiw?si=VjH4_ZzS-XXb6P0o
Sample Music for Hanter Dro:
Birds On a Wire: https://youtu.be/cIx3UZn6KqE?si=Li4d5_85wo3hxlNN
Lyrics for Duhont duhont àr ar mane: https://lyricstranslate.com/en/birds-wire-duhont-ar-ar-mane-lyrics.html
La Sourde: https://youtu.be/wiIchz1CFWU?si=X5_miRvokdtjTl_i
Digabestr: https://youtu.be/w03g9zpCDmA?si=TU1lIvqK2PDQ0cFP
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Hanter Dro
La Chapelloise: The Chapelloise (France) or Belgijka (Poland) is a traditional folk dance with change of partners. It is a Swedish mixer, called Aleman's marsj brought to France in the 1930’s and practiced under its original name and commonly known as "La Chapelloise". The dance has garnered other names such as the "champenoise", the "gigue", the "other Cercle circassien", the "Irish rock" etc., except in England, where the Swedish mixer is naturalized as "English Gay Gordon’s".
Sample Dance Videos for La Chapelloise:
Danses du bal folk: https://youtu.be/oeqQZKvSyNE?si=zGdkKR6ZQhSIHsys
Sarah Loughran & Paul Young: https://youtu.be/jdu-4ciS-Uk?si=4a5KAiPsXq0j8KjL
Contra form: https://youtu.be/b0vAQSwtP0U?si=BVOTpbKqTpB3l44J (at about 2:20 in video)
Sample Music for La Chapelloise:
La marmotte: https://youtu.be/CHNH9-6GCvQ?si=zo7EpscAKb0r6FcN
Oblique Jig / Miss Heidi Hendy: https://youtu.be/QJddK-684RI?si=S2w0dDkI6kTwYNyc
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La Chapelloise
Laridé: The laridés are round dances from Lower Brittany. They are not danced in a chain, the circle always remaining closed (ancient). The dancers hold each other by a finger or by the hand and literally make the arms dance more than the feet. This arm dance is important, it binds the dancers, it is the cohesion of the circle. The steps can be in 6 or 8 beats, depending on the region. In Breton (a Celtic language) the name of this dance is "Dañs à Laride". In Gallo, the romance language of Brittany it's "La Ridée", in French it's "Le Laridé".
Sample Dance Videos for Laridé:
Danse bretonne: https://youtu.be/b6fWofSPrD8?si=itNscRHbaGDmGyqq
Dance: https://youtu.be/8zjg4N-WpiM?si=JKr-O-iFZdAf1F1p
Sample Music for Laridé:
Laridé de Josselin: https://youtu.be/j1UgiUeSRX8?si=lff8rIdAiiJWurJy
Ground Folk: https://youtu.be/v8S-WnFy82k?si=bYEn5Tjfhv-gVWLV
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Laride
Rondeau: A rondeau in Bal Folk is a traditional dance from the Pays des Landes de Gascogne, typically performed in variations such as rondeau chain and rondeau couples. The dance involves movements that often go clockwise and can include a mix of steps depending on the region. In a Rondeau en chaîne the dancers form a line, moving in a clockwise direction. This form is more traditional and involves a larger group. In the couple version, dancers pair up, maintaining a clockwise movement. This form has evolved from the chain version and is more modern.
Sample Dance Videos for Rondeau en chaîne:
Dance: https://youtu.be/w27smBpcIWc?si=8hjgvWqwoMr5d9ee
Dance: https://youtu.be/e4vhSw2dBPw?si=shDJ9_LcquuQj0n9
Sample Music for Rondeau en chaîne:
La Réveilleuse: https://youtu.be/G5556WqeNHY?si=iM9Cxo93Pkh5yd52
Ground Folk: https://youtu.be/e4vhSw2dBPw?si=shDJ9_LcquuQj0n9
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Rondeau
Schottische: The schottische basic step is made up of two sidesteps to the left and right, followed by a turn in four steps. In some countries, the sidesteps and turn are replaced by strathspey hopping steps. Schottisches danced in Europe (in the context of Bal Folk), where they originated, are different from how they are danced in the United States. The European or Continental version (often pronounced "skoteesh"), is typically danced to faster music and is quite restrained in its movements. The American version (often pronounced "shodish") is often large and open, with a slower tempo than the European schottische. The first part is often expressed equally as promenades, individual or led twirls or similar moves, and the second part is most often expressed as a close pivot. In Missoula the dances incorporate both styles.
Sample Dance Videos for Schottische::
Bal Folk Scottisch en ronde tutorial: https://youtu.be/nIVD2J3BVI4?si=lSXiTW83Iq6icI1d
Scottisch en ronde dance: https://youtu.be/oQiJLPaEwI8?si=oxNN49xox-ssY1oy
Bal Folk couple: https://youtu.be/y0cmOR6f0Vk?si=dJpdH8CMCpAkDjLK
Sample Music for Schottische: :
La Forcelle!: https://youtu.be/irfWl4DamI8?si=aVr4DMJ4eOtN9Lgl
La p'tite bête: https://youtu.be/uiB4lEQ3ck4?si=M-72M-mSUXOzYA4F
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Schottische
Last updated January 13, 2026
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