If you’ve ever seen a Jane Austen film adaptation, then you’ve seen English country dancing—or at least something similar to it. The dances in these films are often changed or adapted somewhat, either to suit the camera’s eye or to capture character or plot development. Sometimes they’re nothing like what English country dance should look like. But the examples below are some of the ones we feel stay closest to the original written instructions, and capture the spirit of the time.

English country dances date from the 1650s all the way up through today—and new dances are being composed all the time. (Read more about English country dancing on our What is English Country Dancing? page.) Though English country dancing is what most people envision in Jane Austen’s time, and yes, she wrote about and often named particular dances in her novels, there is discussion among dance historians as to whether these dances were still popular in Austen’s lifetime. As you’ll notice, the latest of the dances below is from 1788—some 20-plus years before the time depicted in the films.

Today, dancers enjoy capturing the elegance, propriety, and romance of Jane Austen’s stories by attending formal dances and costume balls while wearing period costumes (but fear not: casual dress is encouraged at our regular dances). There are a number of such local balls in California, including our annual Playford-to-the-Present ball. See some photos of our past balls here, and perhaps consider joining us in the future!

Here are a few of our favorite English country dance clips from Jane Austen film adaptations:

Becoming Jane: “Hole in the Wall” (1721)
The first two times through the dance is how it’s written traditionally (if performed a bit slowly); then it changes for the sake of the story.

Pride and Prejudice (BBC 1995): “Mr. Beveridge’s Maggot” (1695)
There are some changes in choreography here, but some of the figures are the same.

Emma (1996) uses the same dance, “Mr. Beveridge’s Maggot,” but it’s closer to how the dance was written (at least the first time through).

Pride and Prejudice (BBC 1995): “Grimstock” (1651)
You can’t see much of the dance, and they’ve changed the set and turn single to look very static and boring, but the dance is similar to how it’s composed traditionally.

Pride and Prejudice (2005): “Tythe Pig” (1695)
They’ve changed the choreography slightly here, especially the A part, and it doesn’t seem to be repeated the same way every time. The B part is almost the same as written, except more like a double figure eight instead of lead up and cast. This film captures the energy and excitement of country dancing in this period, especially compared to the more slow and stately versions above.

Pride and Prejudice (2005): “Young Widow” (1788)
This is one of our favorite dance scenes from a Jane Austen film adaptation. It captures so well the energy and fun of the dance, and clearly shows how young people in this period celebrated! They’ve taken a few liberties with it in this adaptation, but it’s very similar to how Young Widow was written.

Read more about English country dancing on our What is English Country Dancing? page.

See more videos of English country dancing on our CCECD Videos page, or subscribe to our YouTube channel.