The bourrée ( / b ʊ ˈ r eɪ / ; Occitan : borrèia ; also in England, borry or bore ) is a dance from France and includes the words and music that go with it. The bourrée is similar to the gavotte because both are played twice as fast and often have a specific rhythmic pattern. However, the bourrée is slightly faster, and its musical phrase begins with a short introductory note called a quarter-bar anacrusis, while the gavotte starts with a half-bar anacrusis.

During the Baroque era, after Louis XIV founded the Academie de Dance in 1661, the French court used the bourrée, like other dances, for concert performances. This led to the creation of a ballet step named after the dance, which involves quick foot movements while standing on the toes or half-toes. This step is called pas de bourrée.

The bourrée became an optional part of the classical dance suite. Composers such as J. S. Bach, Handel, and Chopin wrote bourrées, though they may not have intended them to be danced.

History

The bourrée dance began in Auvergne, France. It is also called the "French clog dance" or the "branle of the sabots." It was first recorded as a popular dance in 1665 in Clermont-Ferrand. Today, it is still danced in Auvergne, the Massif Central, and the Ariège department. It is performed during folk dances in France and other countries. In lower Auvergne, the dance is called Montagnarde and uses triple time. In high Auvergne, it is called Auvergnate and uses double time. Modern versions of the bourrée are danced as partner dances, circle dances, square dances, and line dances.

The bourrée was also used as a musical piece starting in the mid-16th century. Michael Praetorius wrote about it in his book Syntagma musicum and included it in his collection Terpsichore. However, there are no early written records of how the dance was performed, making it hard to compare folk and court dances. Musically, the bourrée often follows a two-part structure, sometimes with a second part added to form a three-part structure (A–B–A).

Marguerite de Navarre, the wife of the King of Navarre and sister of the King of France, introduced the bourrée to the French court in 1565. It remained popular until the time of Louis XIII (1601–1643) and was used to open many dances. However, it took time to appear in early ballet notations from the French baroque theater. The step with two movements was not shown by Feuillet but was described by Rameau as the "true" pas de bourrée. A simpler step with one movement was called the fleuret. The basic step includes one initial movement (a bend of the supporting leg) and three weight shifts in a measure. This step has many variations and appears in many 18th-century dance notations, starting with Feuillet in 1700.

The minuet step is made up of smaller steps. The one-movement pas de bourrée is the second part of the most common minuet step, which is sometimes called "one and a fleuret" by English teacher Tomlinson. The two-movement pas de bourrée, which is rarer, appears as a variation in some passepied dances and is part of a three-step minuet.

In classical ballet, the bourrée step became a quick, gliding movement, often performed on the toes or half-toes. It is one of the most common steps in ballet. A pas de bourrée, also known as "behind side front" or "back side front," is a fast sequence used to prepare for larger steps. One version begins with extending the first leg while bending the knees, closing it to the second leg, rising onto the balls of the feet, and extending the second leg to an open position. This step can be performed quickly or as part of a sequence. There are many variations, including a version where the feet are picked up between steps.

In his book Der Vollkommene Capellmeister (1739), Johann Mattheson described the bourrée as having a cheerful and relaxed character, though not overly energetic.

Johann Sebastian Bach often included the bourrée in his suites, placing it after the sarabande and before the gigue. He also wrote two short bourrées in his Notebook for Anna Magdalena Bach. His Bourrée in E minor from the Lute Suite (BWV 996) is especially well-known.

Handel composed several bourrées for his solo chamber sonatas, such as the fourth movement of his Oboe Sonata in C minor. His most famous bourrée is the seventh movement of the Water Music suite.

In the 19th century, Frédéric Chopin and Emmanuel Chabrier wrote bourrées for the piano. Chabrier’s Bourrée fantasque (1891) is an example. The Victorian composer Hubert Parry included a bourrée in his Lady Radnor Suite (1894).

In popular music

The bourrée has been used by many pop and rock music bands, especially Bach's E minor Bourrée for the lute. In 1969, both Bakerloo and Jethro Tull released versions of this piece. Bakerloo released it as a single called "Drivin' Bachwards" on Harvest Records (HAR 5004) in July and on their self-titled debut album (Harvest SHVL 762) in December. Jethro Tull included it on their August album Stand Up. Paul McCartney said the Beatles had known the tune for a long time, and it inspired his song Blackbird. Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin often played the opening section of the bourrée in E minor during live performances of Heartbreaker. He also described the acoustic guitar and recorder introduction to Stairway to Heaven as "a poor man's bourrée." Tenacious D played a short version of the bourrée in their song Rock Your Socks on their eponymous album and in Classico on their second album. Rock guitarist Blues Saraceno performed a jazz version of the bourrée at the beginning and end of the track Bouree on his third album, Hairpick.

Other adapted bourrées include:

• The instrumental song Evil Eye from Yngwie Malmsteen's album Rising Force starts with a bourrée composed by Johann Krieger
• The intro to the song Totentanz on thrash metal band Coroner's album R.I.P. is a bourrée composed by Robert de Visée
• The Fifth Estate's Ding Dong! The Witch Is Dead includes a central section featuring a bourrée by Michael Praetorius from Terpsichore
• The Family Stand's 2010 album In 1000 Years contains a jazz version of the bourrée in E minor
• Armin van Buuren's 2022 song Pas de Bouree from his Feel Again album series was loosely based on the dance
• The bourrée from George Frederic Handel's Water Music was used as the theme song for the PBS cooking show The Frugal Gourmet