The gigue or giga (ˈdʒiːɡa) is a lively baroque dance

Baroque dance

Baroque dance is dance of the Baroque era , closely linked with Baroque music, theatre and opera.- English country dance :...

 originating from the British jig

Jig

The Jig is a form of lively folk dance, as well as the accompanying dance tune, originating in England in the 16th century and today most associated with Irish dance music and Scottish country dance music...

. 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.

In early English theatre, it was customary to end a play's performance with a gigue, complete with music and dancing.

A gigue is usually in 3/8 or in one of its compound metre

Metre (music)

Meter or metre is a term that music has inherited from the rhythmic element of poetry where it means the number of lines in a verse, the number of syllables in each line and the arrangement of those syllables as long or short, accented or unaccented...

 derivatives, such as 6/8, 6/4, 9/8 or 12/16, although there are some gigues written in other metres (for example, the gigue from Bach's first French Suite (BWV 812), which is written in 4/4). They often have a contrapuntal

Counterpoint

In music, counterpoint is the relationship between two or more voices that are independent in contour and rhythm and are harmonically interdependent . It has been most commonly identified in classical music, developing strongly during the Renaissance and in much of the common practice period,...

 texture. It often has accents on the third beats in the bar, making the gigue a lively folk dance.

Composers known to have famously used the gigue include Johann Sebastian Bach

Johann Sebastian Bach

Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer, organist, harpsichordist, violist, and violinist whose sacred and secular works for choir, orchestra, and solo instruments drew together the strands of the Baroque period and brought it to its ultimate maturity...

 and George Frideric Handel

George Frideric Handel

George Frideric Handel was a German-British Baroque composer, famous for his operas, oratorios, anthems and organ concertos. Handel was born in 1685, in a family indifferent to music...

.

Etymology

An early Italian dance called the giga probably derives its name from a small, accompanying stringed instrument called the 'giga'. Historians, such as Charles Read Baskerville, claim that use of the word in relation to dancing took place in England prior to such usage on the Continent. Also, giga probably has a separate etymology.
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Cultural references

Jonathan Littell

Jonathan Littell

Jonathan Littell is a bilingual writer living in Barcelona. He grew up in France and United States and is a dual citizen of both countries. After acquiring his bachelor degree he worked for a humanitarian organisation for nine years, leaving his job in 2001 in order to concentrate on writing...

's novel The Kindly ones is structured in different parts, each one of these named after a Baroque

Baroque music

Baroque music describes a style of Western Classical music approximately extending from 1600 to 1760. This era follows the Renaissance and was followed in turn by the Classical era...

dance, the last part being called Gigue.