Dancers opened a formal ball with a series of branles. Couples lined up in an order determined by social rank. They might hold hands in a circle or take a single partner's hand and take turns dancing down a center line, as in a branle simple and branle gay. In a branle de Poictou, a couple moves to the back of the line after processing down the center.
Danses de Deux, as the name implies, were dances designed for individual couples, one at a time. The king and his entire court looked on during these dances. Baroque couples' dances were choreographed so the highest-ranking "presence," or people, sitting at the top of the hall, had the best view. Any "reverences," curtsies or bows, were directed toward the presence. Popular couple dances included the minuet and courante.
Contredanses, or country dances, were the precursors to modern-day line and square dancing. They originated in England, with Baroque France eventually incorporating hybrid versions into their ball social and theatrical dance. They were less formal than the danses a deux, and more than one couple could dance to one. Dancers might stand longways, as in the branles, or in a circular or square formation.
Baroque dances relied on some key steps that varied slightly depending on the type of dance and purpose. Plies, or bends, were typically done on a song's upbeat, while eleves, or rises, occurred on the downbeat. Legs were always rotated out from hip at a 40-degree angle. Like ballet, baroque dances required rapid and controlled, yet effortless-looking footwork. Dancers held one arm out sideways at hip level and circled the other upward and inward from the elbow, switching arms gracefully opposite the footwork. Balances, or footwork performed with feet side-by-side, required a dancer to hold both arms slightly raised at the hip level.