Dances of the renaissance - Essay Example

Renaissance Dance Renaissance was an enlightening period for the people. During its it set up so many new trends that we still use today. Dancing was one of them and it was used as an elegant form of exercise and an expected social skill for the nobles. There were basically two types of social dances in the Renaissance. The first type was simple dances that were performed by an unlimited number of people dancing in circles or lines. The second type was more complex dances that required a dancing master and practice and was performed for an audience.

Dancing in the Renaissance also brought about some new instrumental compositions written primarily for dancing. The dance music of the Renaissance was written for instruments such as the sackbut, lute, viol, pipe and the tabor. Some of the most popular ones are discussed below.AllemandeAn allemande literally means ‘German’ and it was one of the most popular instrumental dance forms in Baroque music, and a standard element of a suite. The allemande originated in the Renaissance period as a duple meter dance of moderate tempo, derived from dances supposed to be favored in Germany at the time and was performed in 4/4 time.

Originally, the allemande formed the first movement of the suite, before the courante.Basse DanseThe basse danse literally means ‘low dance’ and it was the most popular court dance in the fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries. Basse danse music is always in 6/4 and in performance, 3 or 4 instrumentalists would improvise the polyphony based on this tenor. Basse danse is slow and processional, and is played with a constant speed throughout. It begins with a reverence and so there is usually no need to play any introductory bars before beginning the music, although a drumbeat or two may help.

The basse danse later led to the development of the pavane.BranleA branle is a 16th century French dance style which moves mainly from side to side, and is performed by couples in either a line or a circle and was mainly performed by commoners. Branle music is often in 4/4, although can be found in 2/4 and even with variations in timing between the bars. Branles don’t start with a reverence, and so a few introductory bars of music are usually required to get the dancers moving.According to Arbeau, every ball began with the same four branles.

The Double Branle has a simple form involving two phrases of two bars each. The Single Branle, however, consists of a phrase of two bars, followed by a phrase of one bar and appears in numerous places. Likewise the Gay Branle consists of two phrases of two bars each, but in 3/4 time, and so was also widely used. The Burgundian Branle as described by Arbeau is of the same structure as the Double Branle, but played with a lighter feel. CanarioThe Canario (or Canary) was a very popular and a lively Renaissance courtly dance.

Its sequence is in triple time, but uses a specific tune and syncopated beat of 1½ / ½ / 1 beat music in which specific canary steps are used.CouranteThe courante literally means running and is a triple meter dances from the late Renaissance and the Baroque era. In the later Renaissance the dance was done with fast running and jumping steps, as described by Thoinot Arbeau. It existed in two types: the French courante (moderate tempo in ternary meter; usually based on a 3/2 scheme which could be accented in different ways [1 2 3 4 5 6 or 1 2 3 4 5 6]) and the Italian corrente (less restrained in character and shows more rhythmic stability; it utilizes a running melodic line supported by a chordal accompaniment)GalliardThe galliard was a form of Renaissance dance and music popular all over Europe in the 16th.

In musical compositions, the galliard often filled the role of an after dance written in 6, which followed and mimicked another piece (sometimes a pavane) written in 4. The distinctive 6 beats to the phrase can still be heard today in songs such as “God Save the Queen”. Galliards should be played quickly, but not too quickly. People may be able to perform a galliard at just about any speed you choose to maintain, but the number of interesting variations that they can do at speed will be limited.

PavaneThe pavane is a slow processional dance common in Europe during the 16th century. It is a slow double time dance which generally follows the form of A, A1, B, B1, C,C1 and uses counterpoint or homophonic accompaniment sometimes. Sometimes it is also accompanied by a tabor in a rhythmic pattern of minim-crotchet-crotchet (1/2-1/4-1/4) or similar, and this was generally followed with little variation by the melody there were rarely minims in the centre of the bar. The pavan is played slowly and in procession with an even speed throughout.

The pavan does not begin with an opening reverence, and so a few bars of introductory music are required. Each repeat of the dance is 2 repeats of the music, and the music should be played 4 or 6 times through for 2 or 3 repeats of the dance.PassamezzoThe Passamezzo is a moderately fast dance and is often followed by a saltarello in a dance suite. The dance is in duple time and two basic chord progressions are used: passamezzo antico and passamezzo moderno. These represent two of the five standard ‘tenors’, or ostinato lines, which were in common usage.

SaltarelloThe saltarello means ‘to jump and during the 15th century, the word saltarello became the name of a particular dance step which had a double with a hop on the final or initial upbeat. Its music is in a fast meter and is performed in a 3/4 time.SarabandeSarabande is a slow dance in triple meter with the distinctive feature that beats 2 and 3 of the measure are often tied, giving a distinctive rhythm of quarter and half notes in alternation. The half notes are said to have corresponded with dragging steps in the dance.

It is usually written with notes of long value, although considerable ornamentation is in evidence. It begins on a strong beat, and often presents a prolongation of the second beat having two sections of eight measures each.TourdionThe Tourdion is a lively dance with similarities with Galliard dance and was popular in the fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries in the Burgundian court. The dance was accompanied frequently by the basse danse, due to their constrasting tempi, and was danced alongside the Pavane and Galliard, and the Allemande and Courante in pairs.

It was danced in a triple meter and was more rapid and smoother than the Galliard. VoltaThe volta (or Lavolta) is another popular dance for couples from the later Renaissance. This dance was associated with the galliard and done to the same kind of music. Its main figure consisted of a turn and lift in a sort of closed position, which could be done either to the right or to the left. It is a lively dance for couples in 3/4 time, in which each partner lifts the other clear of the ground in turn to do this dance.

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bohnenstengel.net/gillespie3.html 5. SCA, (2002) “Dance Notes for Musicians”, Accessed on December 15, 2007 from http://www.sca.org.au/del/ddb/sections/articles10.html 6. “Renaissance Dance”, Accessed on December 15, 2007 from http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/dihtml/diessay2.html 7. “Time and Tempo”, Accessed on December 15, 2007 from http://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/del/sections/16th_c_italian_dance2.html 8. Wikipedia Encyclopedia (2007), Accessed on December 15, 2007 from www.wikipedia.com