'to put their arses, by one sort of dancing, in tune for another'

pdf, with thanks to the original sharer

'The beat of the music is hastened, the dancers' movements become more rapid, more animated, more aggressive, and finally the contredanse evolves into a great gallop. . . . Though at this stage individual indecent movements are no longer seen, the dancers' behaviour and facial expression bear witness to a more intense voluptuousness ... for the music gets quicker and quicker, until one finally sees masked women, like ecstatic maenads, with flushed cheeks, breathless heaving breasts, parched lips, and half-undone flying hair, careering round the room, less on their feet than being dragged along bodily.'