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Renaissance
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Renaissance Dance




Renaissance dances belong to the broad group of Historical Dance s.

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 manuals, 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 , Pavane , Almain ) to fast, lively dances ( Galliard , Coranto , Canario ). Some were choreographed, others were improvised on the spot. One dance for couples, a form of the galliard called Lavolta , 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. Other dances, such as branles or branles, were danced by many people in a circle or line.

Related topics: Fabritio Caroso , Thoinot Arbeau , Shakespearean Dance


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