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The
cotillion (also
cotillon or "French country dance") is a
social dance, popular in 18th-century Europe and America. Originally for four couples in
square formation, it was a courtly version of an
English country dance, the forerunner of the
quadrille and, in the
United States, the
square dance. It was for some fifty years regarded as an ideal finale to a ball but was eclipsed in the early 19th century by the
quadrille. It became so elaborate that it was sometimes presented as a
concert dance performed by trained and rehearsed dancers. The later "German" cotillion included more couples as well as plays and games.
