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Elizabethan Era
Dance
Anne-Marie Weiser
Basic Facts
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Extremely popular pastime in the Elizabethan Era
Considered "A wholesome recreation of the mind and also an exercise of
the body."
The emerge of different styles of music and new musical instruments
combined with various experiments of combining different instruments led
to new dances being created.
Queen Elizabeth encouraged music and dancing amongst all of her subjects,
she had been taught to play musical instruments as part of her education
and was a skilled musician of the lute and the virginal, her education also
included dance.
Queen Elizabeth and her court used dance as a daily exercise.
The Christmas festival included the carole which was the most popular
dance-song, it could be danced in a circle, in a chain, or as a processional.
Our modern Christmas carols are derived from this practice.
Elizabethan dance varied according to the social class.
Many of the dances originated in Europe, notably in Italy, France and Spain
Dances of The Upper Class
• Court dances enjoyed by the royalty, nobility, and
Upper Class were often imported from Spain, Italy,
or France.
• Most of the court dances were performed as
couples.
• The Pavane or Pavan-processional dance where Elizabethan
couples paraded around the hall lightly touching fingers.
• The Almain-one
of the Elizabethan principal accompanied by
keyboard instruments and lute music
• The Galliard-lively dance, originating from the fifteenth•
century, which usually followed and complemented the Pavane
The Volt-only dance which allowed the dancers to embrace
closely. In this suggestive dance the women were lifted high
in the air by their male partner
Dances of The Lower Class
• The dances of the Lower Classes would have
been performed at fairs and festivals, many of
which were dictated by the changing seasons
and the calendar of Church events
• The Jig or Gigge, aka Port-The jig traditionally
involved 'leaps'
• The Hornpipe-Lively
dance resembling a jig which
eventually became associated with sailors. Often accompanied
by a pipe with a reed mouthpiece
• The Roundal-Any
dances which were performed in circle
also called a ring-dance
• The Buffoons-Comic characters who originally
featured in ritual dancing such as Morris dances
Dancing Masters
• The dance requirements of the English
Elizabethan court required Dancing Masters.
• The most famous Dancing Masters were
Thoinot Arbeau (1520 - 1595 - French),
Fabritio Caroso (1536 - 1605 - Italian) and
Cesare Negri (1535-1604 - Italian). These
Elizabethan Dancing Masters each produced
Dance Manuals which were printed and
distributed.
• In these manuals, the steps included, walking
steps, cutting steps, sliding, stamping, leaping,
jumping and hopping.
A video of a Renaissance Dance.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=he7Dbk4f2R
Y&feature=related