Content-Type: text/html

# Renaissance Dance

HomePage | RecentChanges | Preferences
You can edit this page right now! It's a free, community project

While we know that people danced in Europe long before the Renaissance, the first detailed dance manuals that survive today were written in 1450 and 1455 in Italy. These mauals, and later manuals from France, England, and other European countries, give us a peek at what was a very important social activity in the Renaissance.

The dances in these manuals are extremely varied in nature. They range from slow, stately dances (bassadance and pavane) to fast dances (the galliard). Some where choreographed, some were improvised on the spot. On dance for couples, La Volta, involved a rather intimate hold between the man and woman, with the woman being lifted into the air while the couple made a 3/4 turn. This dance was a favorite of Queen Elizabeth I of England, and was condemned by the clergy as being the cause of divorce and pregnancy. Yet another dance, the almain described in Arbeau's 1589 French dance manual, involved kissing one's partner.

For more information:

http://www.rendance.org/ (The Renaissance Dance Homepage)

HomePage | RecentChanges | Preferences
You can edit this page right now! It's a free, community project
Edit text of this page | View other revisions
Last edited July 31, 2001 1:00 pm (diff)
Search: