Photo: Flávia Lacerda		 THE JUNE QUADRILLES

As well as the religious aspects, celebrated by the people during the June Cycle, there is also a very strong feeling of "partying". This feeling is manifested in the games, superstitions, and above all, the musicality and dancing. Music and dance are clear, strong expressions of what it means to be a 'Northeasterner'.

 


The June festivities actually begin on 19th March - Saint Joseph's Day - a date that exactly coincides with the time for planting maize - the basic cereal for all the culinary delights during the month of June. From this moment on, there is a strong artistic movement. Composers, singers and dancers dedicate themselves to the rhythms and dances of the period: forró, shashado, coco and ciranda, through their songs, traditional dance troupes and shows. Along side the work of the cultural producers, the young of the region break into a spontaneous ripple of square dancing rehearsals - the most traditional dance of the period.      


ORIGINS

Originally a popular dance from the rural areas of Normandy and England, the quadrille was brought to Brazil by the French dance masters Milliet e Cavalier, as a court dance much preferred by the nobility in the 18th and 19th centuries.                                                                                      The researcher Lula Gonzaga reveals that the square dance "became one of the liveliest dances in Europe, the United States and Brazil during the 19th century. This palatial dance was very popular in France during the 18th century, especially during Napoleonic times. It was registered in England in 1815 and in Berlin in 1820. It was possibly first registered in Brazil around 1820, when it was noted in numerous court commemorations and even during carnival. 
In Brazil, the imperial elite,  who were always anxious to follow European trends in fashion, literature, dance and even food, brought the customs over to Brazil at the beginning of the 19th century". Theses customs were so popular everywhere, that the court lost its certain aristocratic pose and the dance left the palatial ballrooms and took to the streets and popular clubs.

PALATIAL DANCE

At the time that it was still a palatial dance of the elite, the quadrille contained five sections of steps in French. Lula Gonzaga reveals the most important:
1st part: La chaine continue des dames (the chain continues with the ladies).
2nd part: La nouvelle Traine (the new chain).
3rd part: La corbeille (the basket of flowers).
4th part: Double pastourelle (the pastoral pair).
These sections were in Alegro e Alegretto time, and finally, a 5th part: Boulangère (the baker) or Casescroise (alternate crossing). The quadrille ended with "En avant" or "Gallope", which was later modified as the polka, mazurka or waltz.

Roberto Benjamin cites that "the quadrille today is associated with rustic weddings, and transforms itself into a playful game of great complexity. The rustic wedding is a performance where young people make free, malicious fun of the institution of marriage, the severity of parents, pre-nuptial sex and its consequences, of chauvinism etc. Such a critical representation results in the reinforcing of social roles and the values of moral traditions.                                                                          One further aspect that should also be highlighted, is how the June festivities are of the adolescents - the young. A fact which reminds us of the ancients rituals of fertility." 


Rustic Wedding. Photo: Flávia Lacerda		 The storyline is simple: the bride is almost always pregnant; the bride's parents force the father of the child to marry their daughter; he refuses; this results in police intervention; the wedding takes place with the priest conducting the religious ceremony and a judge completing the registration, with the help of the police chief and his officers. The quadrille is the wedding reception. The storyline is developed in satirical, allegoric language and often uses swear words and crude forms of language.


The Characters                                                                                                                    The rustic wedding is performed by the participants of the quadrille. The characters are: the bride and groom, the bride and gloom's parents, the witnesses and the matron of honor, the priest, and sometimes the church warden, the police chief; sometimes with his offices, the judge with his clerk, and the rest of the participants are the wedding guests. Also incorporated are the corn queen and her princesses, who are selected through the selling of votes. This is a form of raising financial resources in order to cover the costs of the party.

CHOREOGRAPHY

EN AVANT, TOUT - gentlemen take the ladies by the hand and walk to the center of the room where they meet the line in front.                                                    EN ARRIÈRE - the pairs, still holding hands, they march round until they return to their original places, they separate and the gentlemen stand in front of the ladies.  TRAVESSER - the ladies stand still and the gentlemen cross the room and stop in front of the opposite lady, whose partner does the same. On meeting, the gentlemen take the ladies by the arms and they dance round on the spot and then return to their places.
TRAVESSER GERAL - the two lines cross the room at the same time, crossing in the middle via the right-hand side. On returning to their places, the pairs face one another.                                   PARTNERS BALANCE VIS A VIS - the gentlemen follow round and, on meeting with the ladies, interlace their right arms through the right arms of the ladies. They dance round on the spot twice and stand face to face.                                        BALANCE WITH PARTNERS - the gentlemen stand in front of the ladies and holding them, do a balancing movement on the spot.
GRAND CHAÍNE - CRECHÉ OU GARRACHE - the lady gives her right hand to the gentleman, who gives his left hand to next lady's right hand. They continue round in this way, changing hands in the form of a chain, until they return to their original pairs. 
CHANGÊ DE DAME - the gentlemen go around the ladies on the left, passing the ladies one step backwards and at each command of the dance caller, they release the hands and take those of the lady in front until they once more reach their partners. 
HUMMING BIRD - the pairs go to the middle of the room, the ladies extend their right hands for the gentlemen to kiss.
COURTESY - the gentlemen take one step back without releasing the hand of the lady, and go into a half kneeling position. The ladies go round the gentlemen twice on the left, the gentlemen rise and wait for the next step. 		MALTESE CROSS - the odd pairs continue going round and the even pairs infiltrate themselves into the circle, holding hands and forming wider circles. The gentlemen hold the hands of the gentlemen and the ladies hold the hands of the ladies, forming another arm of the cross. They continue going round to the rhythm of the music. 
FIANCÉE'S PARADE - the leading pair breaks off to the right, and the next pair breaks off to the left, the line follows in this order. When they arrive back at the same point they form a line and then after, a circle in the middle of the room.
THE WAY TO THE CLEARING - with the ladies in front and the gentlemen behind, they circle the whole room and return to their places..
HERE COMES THE RAIN - all the pairs waltz round on the spot once, and begin marching in the opposite direction.
IT'S A LIE - They waltz round together again, and they continue marching round.
THE BASKET OF FLOWERS - the ladies raise their arms above their shoulders with the palms facing up. The gentlemen, behind them, take the hands of the ladies and they continue marching round.
THE BRIDGE FELL DOWN - the gentlemen, without letting go of the ladies hands, go round to the front of the ladies and continue marching.                       THE NEW BRIDGE - everyone goes round to the right without letting go of the hands and they continue marching.                  LADIES IN THE MIDDLE - the ladies form a circle on the inside and the gentlemen another on the  outside. Everyone goes round in the same direction - to the left.                                                     THE RAINBOW - the ladies go round to the right, so that the two circles are going round in opposite directions.                THE LADIES' CIRCLE - the gentlemen go through to the center of the circle without releasing the hands. The ladies now form the outside circle and everyone goes round in the same direction - to the left - looking for their partners.
LOOK OUT FOR THE TUNNEL - the leading pair holds hands, raising them to the shoulders. The next pair goes under the arms of the leading pair, and then stand by their side and take up the same position. All the other pairs repeat this movement.
SPIRAL - the pairs make a crocodile line and the lady of the leading pair begins to walk in the direction of the middle of the room. When the spiral is complete everyone awaits the order of the caller.

THE FESTIVITIES END

There are many diverging opinions between the researchers, and even between the organizers of the quadrilles, but independent of its evolution and current form, it is possible to detect in the June Cycle that the Festival of Fire still continues to unite and provoke an integrated community spirit. What is even more important, is that the feeling of happiness also prevails through dance, gestures, smiles and music - be it electronic or traditional - and maintains the elements of the 'game', the 'playfulness'. Elements which are so vital for the human soul, whether they are represented in caricatures or through the connected traditions of the man of the field.