“I know nothing in the whole Art of Dancing more noble, more expressive, nor more elegant, than the Minuet…The minuet is in Fashion everywhere: They dance it both at Court and in the City: It is used all over Europe.”

Lecointe (1752) [1]

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The menuet was the most famous of all the French dances, which was performed amongst all members of society, and was danced in both theatres and ballrooms where it was part of musical staged works and lavish court events. Originated in the French region Poitou, it is possible that the dance gained its name from the adjective menu meaning small or fine.[2] The dance first appeared at the French court around 1660 by composers such as Couperin and Lully before gaining great popularity at royal courts throughout Europe where it replaced the courante as the favourite to be performed at balls. Perhaps one of the most notable characteristics of the menuet is its versatility, which enabled the dance to grow and adapt whilst retaining many of its original features over a time when many changes were happening in European culture. The dance became widely used as a concert piece and was featured between the sarabande and gigue in instrumental suites. The dance continued long into the 18th century when most French dances were no longer performed, where it became a prominent form within orchestral symphonies.[3]

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The menuet is generally thought of as being an elegant and majestic dance which contains a ‘moderate cheerfulness and sometimes may be quite noble, but it certainly is not a vehicle for violent passions.’[4] The dance holds a flowing quality which is gay in nature, although differing views are taken by 18th century writers with how gay the menuet should be, with Rousseau stating that ‘it is the least gay of dances used at balls,’ whereas Brossard claims that it is a ‘very gay dance.’[5] Establishing a suitable tempo to perform a menuet can therefore be difficult. Pendulum markings from the early 18th century suggest a tempo of 71-75 per dotted minim, which to modern performers may appear very fast and too quick for the ‘natural grace of dance and music.’[6] It is often believed that the tempo of the menuet slowed down during the 18th century, however even if the same tempo that was used at Louis XIV’s court remained, the dance would still appear slow in comparison to the newer triple metre dances performed towards the end of the baroque period.[7]  When looking at how time should be beaten, some dancing masters recommend beating the arm down on the first bar, and up on the second, suggesting the music should be felt in 2 bar pairs with one pulse per bar.[8] Whereas Saint-Lambert wrote that the arm should move ‘three times per measure, down, to the side, and up,’ which would indicate a three beat pulse at a slower tempo rather than one beat per bar.[9] Musicians should therefore decide on a tempo based on the context of the overall performance, taking into account the tempi of other triple metre dances and whether the harmonic and rhythmic interest can be clearly projected at a faster or slower tempo. This difficulty is further extended to the performance of instrumental menuets which were not intended to accompany dance, as these were generally performed at a slower tempo than if dancing was involved.[10]

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The majority of menuets are written in binary form, although some can be found in rondeau form. Early menuets, such as those featured in Lully’s operas, may have irregular phrases grouped in bars of 3 as stylised by the menuet de Poitou.[11] However it became common for phrases to be built upon a balanced question-and-answer format, similar to a gavotte, which should be clearly articulated by the musician. These commonly consist of two 2 bar questions followed by a 4 bar answer. Many menuets from this period use a time signature of 3, although some early 18th century examples are marked 3/2 instead, suggestive of this slightly slower tempo that developed. Rhythmic variety is produced through the use of syncopations and hemiolas at cadence points to give contrast to the narrow range and stepwise movement which would otherwise lack interest. Cross rhythms are formed through the opposition of rhythms between the choreography and music. The ‘Z’ figure performed by dancers requires 12 bars of music to complete, whereas the music is often written in 8 bar phrases, thus creating points where ends of phrases do not coincide resulting in moments of tension and release.[12] Menuets should be performed ‘springily,’ with a sense of stretch and forward movement towards phrase endings, especially when thinking of the music being written in 2 bar pairs.[13] Inequality should be applied to successions of quavers when in 3.

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The menuet features many quick foot movements with bends and rises, resembling the noble and majestic style characteristic of the music. After the opening bows, the dance begins with movement towards the presence, the person of the highest status (notably the King) sat in the centre at the top of the ballroom, before the couple retreat on diagonals to opposite corners to complete a ‘Z’ shape. The pas de menuet, the most prominent step used, always starts on the right leg, even when couples are in opposition, and consists of 4 steps over 6 beats. The step follows a choriamb rhythm, whereby the beats are felt as ‘long-short-short-long.’[14] This is of particular importance, as the dance requires 2 musical bars to complete a whole step unit, meaning musicians should not ignore the bar line, but very much play through so that 2 bars containing 3 crotchet beats each feels like 1 bar containing 6 crotchet beats. This also draws emphasis to the cross rhythms produced by the ‘Z’ figure choreography which requires 4 more bars than the music to complete the phrase.