Thank you for showing this. It is an example of a French cotillion (or 'cotillon') from Le Repertoire des Bals of 1762 onwards. The structure of a cotillion is rather odd. Each cotillion had its own special dance, peculiar to itself, which gave the dance its name and which was repeated a certain number of times. This was what made it distinctive. However, it was combined with a more or less invariable set of figures, known as 'syncopes', which introduced each repetition of the main dance. The first of these was nearly always 'le Grand Rond' (in which the performers dance round a circle), then the main dance. The next 'syncope' was 'La Main', when partners turned each other first by the right hand, then by the left, before starting on the main dance for the second time. You can hear the 'syncopes' (e.g 'Deux mains!') being called at various points in this performance. If all the 'syncopes' were used, it made the cotillion an exhausting dance to perform! The original publication gave quite detailed written instructions, accompanied by diagrams showing the track of each dancer for every figure, as well as the music. It is good to see these interesting - and sometimes challenging - social dances being kept alive and regularly performed. Best wishes to your dance group from UK!
it's surprising because here in France we don't (or didn't, as you like) dance the branle de Bourgogne that way, as if travelling throught Europe, in it's way to Russia, the branle was slightly modified, and the result is almost two different dances (even throught you can find similarities). You can see it when searching for Branle de Bourgogne on youtube (and others places). (sorry for my english)
