gavotte, Courtesy of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London lively peasants’ kissing dance that became fashionable at the 17th- and 18th-century courts of France and England. Supposedly originated by the natives of Gap (Gavots) in the southeastern French province of Dauphiné, the gavotte was danced in royal ballrooms as a round with skipping steps adapted from the branle. Couples concluded improvised duet performances by kissing their partners. Later the dance developed more formal figures, and flowers were exchanged instead of kisses. At the French court in the 18th century, the gavotte was at first stately and later more ornate; its slow walking steps were in 4/4 time, with upbeats on beats 3 and 4.
In a suite the gavotte appears among the optional subordinate movements called galanteries. Its three-part composition is written in its early lusty 2/2 rhythm but retains the later two upbeats; its second section is a musette, a pastoral air in which a drone bass runs throughout.