Analysis of information sources in references of the Wikipedia article "Contra dance" in English language version.
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Littré's theory, that there was already in 17th c. a French contre-danse with which the English word was confused and ran together, is not tenable; no trace of the name has been found in French before its appearance as an adaptation of the English. But new dances of this type were subsequently brought out in France, and introduced into England with the Frenchified form of the name, which led some Englishmen to the erroneous notion that the French was the original and correct form, and the English a corruption of it.
Dudley [Laufman] began calling Prince William and Childgrove, among others, at the Dudley dances. Ted [Sannella] was writing more and more contras and triplets with English figures (including heys and gypsies).Soon the contra tradition, via Ted and Dudley and others, would embrace the figures, flow, and faster tempos of the English and Southern mountain dances, culminating in the "zesty contra" style.
Littré's theory, that there was already in 17th c. a French contre-danse with which the English word was confused and ran together, is not tenable; no trace of the name has been found in French before its appearance as an adaptation of the English. But new dances of this type were subsequently brought out in France, and introduced into England with the Frenchified form of the name, which led some Englishmen to the erroneous notion that the French was the original and correct form, and the English a corruption of it.
