About Gigue

The gigue (; French pronunciation: ​[ʒiɡ]) or giga (Italian: [ˈdʒiːɡa]) is a lively baroque dance originating from the British jig. It was imported into France in the mid-17th century and usually appears at the end of a suite. The gigue was probably never a court dance, but it was danced by nobility on social occasions and several court composers wrote gigues. A gigue is usually in 38 or in one of its compound metre derivatives, such as 68, 64, 98 or 128, although there are some gigues written in other metres, as for example the gigue from Johann Sebastian Bach's first French Suite (BWV 812), which is written in 22. It often has a contrapuntal texture.