Contradanse in the context of Habanera (music)

The Écossaise (in French, "Scottish") is a musical form and a type of contradanse in a Scottish style – a Scottish country dance at least in name – that was popular in France and Great Britain at the end of the 18th century and at the beginning of the 19th. Despite the Écossaise mimicking a Scottish country dance, it is actually French in origin. The écossaise was usually danced in 2/4 time in two lines, with men facing the women. As the dance is executed, couples progress to the head of the line.

Écossaise compositions were mainly written for solo piano, so that couples could dance to it. The musical form was also adopted by some classical composers, including Ludwig van Beethoven, (WoO 83 and WoO 86 for piano and WoO 22 and WoO 23, now lost, for military band); Franz Schubert, (D.145, 158, 299, 421, 511, 529, 643, 697, 734, 735, 781, 782, 783, 816, and 977); Frédéric Chopin (Op. 72 number 3) and Cécile Chaminade's Écossaise, Op. 151.

Contradanza (also called contradanza criolla, danza, danza criolla, or habanera) is the Spanish and Spanish-American version of the contradanse, which was an internationally popular style of music and dance in the 18th century, derived from the English country dance and adopted at the court of France. Contradanza was brought to America and there took on folkloric forms that still exist in Bolivia, Mexico, Venezuela, Colombia, Peru, Panama and Ecuador.

In Cuba during the 19th century, it became an important genre, the first written music to be rhythmically based on an African rhythm pattern and the first Cuban dance to gain international popularity, the progenitor of danzón, mambo and cha-cha-cha, with a characteristic "habanera rhythm" and sung lyrics.