What is Gavotte?
[[Image:Gavotte Dance.jpg|thumb|right|A gavotte dance in Brittany, France, 1878]] The '''gavotte''' was a [[folk dance]], performed by the [[peasant]]s in the [[Brittany]] [[region]] of [[France]]. Later it was popular in [[France|French]] and [[England|English]] [[Royal court|courts]] in the 17th and 18th centuries. It was especially popular in the French courts of [[Louis XIV of France|King Louis XIV]]. The music for a gavotte has a four beat feel, with upbeats on beats three and four. To dance a gavotte the dancers must cross their feet twice in each step [[pattern]], with each step followed by a hop. Singers often provided the [[accompaniment]], though dancers might also be accompanied by an ensemble of such instruments as a [[violin]], a [[drum]], [[bagpipes]] or [[shawm]], a forerunner of the modern [[oboe]]. The gavotte later became a musical, rather than a dance piece. In the [[Baroque]] period gavottes were mainly found in [[binary (music)|binary]] form. When [[composer]]s began writing [[Suite (music)|suite]]s, six short dance based pieces, the gavotte usually was played between the [[sarabande]] and the [[gigue]]. The best known examples of the gavotte are found in the suites and [[partita]]s written by [[Bach|J.S.Bach]]. {{commons|Gavotte}} {{music-stub}} [[Category:Musical forms]]