Longways Set
Also known as: Longways Dance, Line Set
History & Cultural Context
Longways set dances emerged in England during the 18th century as a formalized version of country dances performed in two parallel lines. Couples advanced and retreated, executing figures with partners and others in the set. These dances remained popular through the 19th century and influenced American square dance traditions. The precise geometric patterns reflected 18th-19th century aesthetics.
Cultural Significance
Longways set dances represented Regency-era formalization of country dances and influenced American colonial dancing traditions.
Peak Popularity
Signature Figures
- Dos-à-dos
- Allemande
- Cast
Notable Codifiers
- John Playford
Dance Lineage
Track Your Longways Set Progress
Practice Longways Set figures between lessons with Figure Focus — step-by-step breakdowns, floor diagrams, and progress tracking. Free to use.
Longways Set Playlists
Curated collections on the LODance YouTube channel — performances to watch, lessons to learn from, and the right music to practice with. Tap a collection to play.
▶ Lessons · Open on YouTube →
Longways Set Music & Tempo
Drawn from 43 Longways Set tracks in the LODance music library.
Example tracks at practice tempo
- Well Hall — John Playford Collection116 BPM
- Morning Star — Gary Roodman116 BPM
- Grimstock — Traditional (Playford)120 BPM
- Picking Up Sticks — Traditional (Playford)120 BPM
- Upon a Summer's Day — John Playford Collection112 BPM
- A Trip to Paris — Traditional116 BPM
Who governs Longways Set
Federations, councils and examining bodies with a recorded role in this style. No single organisation can tell you this — each one knows only itself.
Longways Set in performance
One staged work in the Limelight catalogue contains Longways Set.
- Gambols2014Ballet · Jenna Simpson · defining style
The whole dance — The dance's entire structure is organised as a longways set of four couples, the defining formation for the figures danced. Source: "The dance is composed for four couples longways."
Every claim above is quoted from a cited source and names where in the work the style appears. Claims we could not place or could not quote are held back from this list and shown on the work’s own page instead. Browse the full performance catalogue →
What to Wear
Attire guidance for Longways Set and other Historic Regency Country dances. Each card below is sized to the moment — class, practice, social, or competition — because the wardrobe shifts as the stakes do.
Reading the cards
In Class
Soft-soled shoes, comfortable clothing. Long skirts optional but helpful for learning to manage period movement.
Social Dancing
Regency balls are popular: women in Empire-waist gowns and long gloves, men in breeches and tailcoats or period-adjacent formalwear. Jane Austen societies maintain active social dance calendars.
Competition
Not competed; performed at historical events in full Regency costume.
Shoes
Women: flat ballet-style slippers or character shoes without heel. Men: flat dress shoes or period boots. The dances were designed for flat shoes on polished wood floors.
In Practice
The dances were built for flat shoes on polished wood floors — heels work against the geometry of the figures.
Price Range
- Budget: Flat ballet slippers or oxford-style flats $40–90; modern formal-adjacent clothing.
- Mid: Period-styled Empire-waist gown $200–600; men's tailcoat and breeches $250–700.
- Premium: Bespoke Regency reproduction costume $1,200–4,500.
Quick Tips
- •Suede-soled shoes allow controlled sliding and pivoting — essential for most partner dances.
- •Avoid rubber soles on dance floors; they grip too much and can cause knee injuries.
- •Bring a separate pair of clean shoes for the dance floor to keep it in good condition.
Recommended Gear for Longways Set
Essential equipment and apparel selected for dancers learning Longways Set.
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Sources & Further Reading
Where This Dance Is Documented
Playford collections; Regency-era compilations
An editor's note on where the technique for this dance is actually written down — sometimes a named book, sometimes the fact that no such book exists. A judgement, not a count of what we hold.
Cultural & Historical Context
Longways Set emerged from England during the 1700s—1850s. Understanding the cultural roots, musical traditions, and social circumstances of this era enriches appreciation for the dance's characteristics and significance.
Formative Influences
Codifiers & Standardizers:
John Playford
Signature Movement Vocabulary:
Dos-à-dos, Allemande, Cast
Primary Source Documents
The Library of Dance contains public-domain primary sources for dance history. Copyrighted modern syllabi are indexed with purchase links to their respective copyright owners. Search by dance name or codifier to discover primary source documents.
Last reviewed: September 2026 — This dance profile synthesizes historical research, cultural documentation, and contemporary practice knowledge to provide authoritative context.
Related Dances
More in Historic Regency Country
English Country Dance
English Country Dances were group dances in line or square formations, performed to lively music and featured alternating partner exchanges and figures. They became enormously popular in 17th-18th century England and influenced American colonial dance.
Cotillion
The Cotillion was a square dance for four couples that emerged in 18th-century France as the contredanse française. Its memorized figures alternated with a set of "changes," and it spread to English and American ballrooms in the later 18th century.
Quadrille
The Quadrille was a highly structured square dance for four couples, systematized with five figures and remaining popular throughout the 19th century in aristocratic society.
Scottish Reel
The Reel was a rapid Scottish couple or group dance featuring continuous turning and was related to English country dances. It became popular throughout the UK and influenced American square dance.
Round Dance
Round dance was the 19th-century ballroom category for closed-position couple dances — waltz, polka, schottische, galop, mazurka — that travel counterclockwise around the room, distinguishing them from the era's square dances (quadrille, cotillion) and country dances. Origins are debated; see Sources.
Grand March
A processional in march time used to open a formal ball, in which the assembled couples form a single column and are then divided and recombined into twos, fours and eights as they travel the room. It is less a dance than an organising device: it presents everyone in the room to everyone else and delivers a crowded floor into order for the dancing that follows.
Lancers
A five-figure quadrille set with its own distinct figure content, including a visiting figure in which couples call on each other in turn and a closing figure built on a grand chain danced to march time. After an initial vogue it faded, was revived around the middle of the nineteenth century, and became the set that outlasted every other in the ballroom.
Plain Quadrille
The standard five-figure set of Le Pantalon, L'Ete, La Poule, La Trenis or La Pastourelle, and the Finale, danced by four couples in a square. This was the default set of the nineteenth-century ballroom, the one a dancer was assumed to know, and the frame against which every other quadrille set was described.
Historic Regency Country in art
Browse the gallery →Works from the wider Historic Regency Country tradition — we have not yet identified enough that depict Longways Set specifically.
Le Bal paré
Augustin de Saint-Aubin
The drawing-room dances
Unknown artist · 1847
Wehman's complete dancing master and call book: containing a full and complete description of all th
Unknown artist · 1889
Waltzes, cotillions, dances, &c.
Unknown artist
Ballroom scenes
Unknown artist
Ballroom dancing
Unknown artist
The Devonshire minuet
Unknown artist
The dance
Unknown artist
Dancing a cotillion
Unknown artist · 2019
Scene de ballet
Unknown artist
The dancing lesson
Unknown artist · 2019
The cotillion dance
Unknown artist
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