Le Militaire

(London, 1905)

General Description

This is an early English sequence two-step composed by J. H. Stirling in 1905.

The Position

Side by side facing LOD, Follow's left in Lead's right.

The Dance

Part I - Walk and Point (2 bars): Starting outside foot, walk three steps (1, 2, 3) and point inside foot forward (4).

Part II - Change and Point (2 bars): Starting inside feet, chassé into partners place (Lead behind Follow) (5-and-6), then point new inside foot forward (7, hold 8), taking new inside hands.

Part III - Walk and Point (2 bars): Starting inside feet, walk two steps (1, 2) and point inside foot forward (3, hold 4).

Part IV - Change and Point (2 bars): Starting inside feet, chassé into partners place (Lead behind Follow) (5-and-6), then point new inside foot forward (7, hold 8), taking original inside hands.

Part V - Balance Back and Forward (2 bars): Glide inside foot back, inclining forward slightly (1), then bring outside foot back to meet it, without weight, heel to instep, straightening up (2). Glide outside foot forward (3), then undercut it with inside foot, turning to face partner (4).

Part VI - Pas de Basque (2 bars): Taking both hands, pas de basque along line of dance (1-and-2), and against LOD (3-and-4).

Parts VII and VIII - Two-Step (4 bars): Two full turns of turning two-step in closed position (1-and-2, 3-and-4, 5-and-6, 7-and-8).

The Music

There's an eponymous tune composed specifically for the dance by Brigata Bucalossi, but any square, early 20th century two-step will work nicely.

Thompson (1950) specifies 56 bars per minute

Sources

J. H. Stirling. (1905). Le Militaire, New Round Dance. London.
A. J. Latimer. (1948). A Bouquet of Old Time Dances. London.
Sydney Thompson. (1950). Old Time Dance Book. London.

(Click to expand)

Historical Descriptions

Le Militaire (Stirling, Le Militaire, 1905):

For more dance descriptions, see our three books on dancing:
The Book of Mixers: 100 Easy-Teach Dances for Getting Acquainted (2022) by Richard Powers and Nick & Melissa Enge,
Cross-Step Waltz: A Dancer's Guide (2019) by Richard Powers and Nick & Melissa Enge, and
Waltzing: A Manual for Dancing and Living (2013) by Richard Powers and Nick Enge.

For full-length teaching videos, visit: University of Dance.

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