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European Dances
European dances refers to various dances originating in Europe. Since the Middle Ages, many European dances tend to be refined, as some are based on the court dances of aristocrats. History In ancient times, European dances were performed as either sacred dances in religious ceremonies or for popular entertainment. Greek dance included religious worship, education, religious or civil ceremonies and festivities. One famous Greek dance is the dithyramb, in honor of Dionysus. Originally Rome had exclusively religious dances. As Rome gained dominance, including conquering Greece, more dance traditions were absorbed. The Bacchanalia and Lupercalia festivals highlight the importance of dance in Rome. Under Christianity, dance fell under the control and condemnation of the Church. Records of Medieval dance are fragmented and limited, but a noteworthy dance reference from the medieval period is the allegory of the Danse Macabre. During the Renaissance, dance became more diverse. Countr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Europe
Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east. Europe shares the landmass of Eurasia with Asia, and of Afro-Eurasia with both Africa and Asia. Europe is commonly considered to be Boundaries between the continents#Asia and Europe, separated from Asia by the Drainage divide, watershed of the Ural Mountains, the Ural (river), Ural River, the Caspian Sea, the Greater Caucasus, the Black Sea, and the waterway of the Bosporus, Bosporus Strait. "Europe" (pp. 68–69); "Asia" (pp. 90–91): "A commonly accepted division between Asia and Europe ... is formed by the Ural Mountains, Ural River, Caspian Sea, Caucasus Mountains, and the Black Sea with its outlets, the Bosporus and Dardanelles." Europe covers approx. , or 2% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface (6.8% of Earth's land area), making it ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cabaret
Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, casino, hotel, restaurant, or nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dining or drinking, does not typically dance but usually sits at tables. Performances are usually introduced by a master of ceremonies (M.C.). The entertainment, as performed by an ensemble of actors and according to its European origins, is often (but not always) oriented towards adult audiences and of a clearly underground music, underground nature. In the United States, striptease, American burlesque, burlesque, drag shows, or a solo (music), solo vocalist with a pianist, as well as the Music venue, venues which offer this entertainment, are often advertised as cabarets. Etymology The term originally came from Picard language or Walloon language words ''camberete'' or ''cambret'' for a small room (12th century). The first printed use of the word ''kaberet' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Music-hall
Music hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment that was most popular from the early Victorian era, beginning around 1850, through the World War I, Great War. It faded away after 1918 as the halls rebranded their entertainment as Variety show, variety. Perceptions of a distinction in Britain between bold and scandalous music hall entertainment and subsequent, more respectable variety entertainment differ. Music hall involved a mixture of popular songs, comedy, speciality acts, and variety entertainment. The term is derived from a type of theatre or venue in which such entertainment took place. In North America vaudeville was in some ways analogous to British music hall, featuring rousing songs and comic acts. Originating in saloon bars within pubs during the 1830s, music hall entertainment became increasingly popular with audiences. So much so, that during the 1850s some public houses were demolished, and specialised music hall theatres developed in their place. These t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Can-can
The can-can (also spelled cancan as in the original French /kɑ̃kɑ̃/) is a high-energy, physically demanding dance that became a popular music-hall dance in the 1840s, continuing in popularity in French cabaret to this day. Originally danced by couples, it is now traditionally associated with a chorus line of female dancers. The main features of the dance are the vigorous manipulation of skirts and petticoats, along with high kicks, splits, and cartwheels. History The can-can is believed to have evolved from the final figure in the quadrille, a social dance for four or more couples. The exact origin of the dance is obscure, but the steps may have been inspired by a popular entertainer of the 1820s, Charles-François Mazurier (1798–1828), well known for his mime and acrobatic dance, including the grand écart or jump splits—both popular features of the can-can; his greatest success was in ''Jocko, or The Brazilian Ape'' (1825). The dance was considered scandalou ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Minuet
A minuet (; also spelled menuet) is a social dance of French origin for two people, usually written in time. The English word was adapted from the Italian ''minuetto'' and the French ''menuet''. The term also describes the musical form that accompanies the dance, which subsequently developed more fully, often with a longer musical form called the minuet and trio, and was much used as a movement in the early classical symphony. While often stylized in instrumental forms, composers of the period would have been familiar with the popular dance. Dance The name may refer to the short steps, ''pas menus'', taken in the dance, or else be derived from the ''branle à mener'' or ''amener'', popular group dances in early 17th-century France. The minuet was traditionally said to have descended from the ''bransle de Poitou'', though there is no evidence making a clear connection between these two dances. The earliest treatise to mention the possible connection of the name to the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Waltz
The waltz ( , meaning "to roll or revolve") is a ballroom dance, ballroom and folk dance, in triple (3/4 time, time), performed primarily in closed position. Along with the ländler and allemande, the waltz was sometimes referred to by the generic term German Dance in publications during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. History There are many references to a sliding or gliding dance, including ''volte'', that would evolve into the waltz that date from 16th-century Europe, including the representations of the Printmaking, printmaker Sebald Beham, Hans Sebald Beham. The French philosopher Michel de Montaigne wrote of a dance he saw in 1580 in Augsburg, where the dancers held each other so closely that their faces touched. Kunz Haas (of approximately the same period) wrote, "Now they are dancing the godless ''Weller'' or ''Spinner''."Nettl, Paul. "Birth of the Waltz." In ''Dance Index'' vol 5, no. 9. 1946 New York: Dance Index-Ballet Caravan, Inc. pages 208, 211 "The ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ländler
The Ländler () is a European folk dance in time. Along with the waltz and allemande, the ländler was sometimes referred to by the generic term German Dance in publications during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Despite its association with Germany, the ländler was danced in many European countries. Composers from a variety of European nations wrote music for the ländler dance; including Austria, Switzerland, Bohemia, Moravia, Slovenia and northern Italy in addition to Germany. History The ländler is a partner dance that strongly features hopping and stamping. It might be purely instrumental or have a vocal part, sometimes featuring yodeling. When dance halls became popular in Europe in the 19th century, the Ländler was made quicker and more elegant, and the men shed the hobnail boots that they wore to dance it. Along with a number of other folk dances from Germany and Bohemia, it is thought to have influenced the development of the waltz. A number of cla ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Dancing Master
''The Dancing Master'' (first edition: ''The English Dancing Master'') is a dancing manual containing the music and instructions for English country dances. It was first published in 1651 by John Playford. History It was published in several editions by John Playford and his successors from 1651 until . The first edition contained 105 dances with single-line melodies. The 1651 book ''The Dancing Master'' by John Playford had been designed for teaching dancing. It was originally small so that the dancing master could hide it under his cloak and consult it surreptitiously. Subsequent editions introduced new songs and dances, while dropping others, and the work eventually encompassed three volumes. Dances from ''The Dancing Master'' were re-published in arrangements by Cecil Sharp in the early 20th century. In 1957 Margaret Dean Smith completed her facsimile book ''Playford's English Dancing Master''. This work had been the first publication of English dance tunes and her pu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Playford
John Playford (1623–1686) was a London bookseller, publisher, minor composer and member of the Stationers' Company. He published books on music theory, instruction books for several instruments and psalters with tunes for singing in churches. He is perhaps best known today for his publication of '' The English Dancing Master'' in 1651. Biography Playford was born in Norwich, the younger son of John Playford. He served an apprenticeship in London with publisher John Benson from 1639/40 to 1647, after which he remained in the capital, opening a shop in the porch of Temple Church. Playford was clerk to the church, and probably resided with his wife Hannah over the shop until 1659. He was, it appears (from the title-pages of his publications) temporarily in partnership with John Benson in 1652, and with Zachariah Watkins in 1664 and 1665. Under the Commonwealth (1649–60), and for some years of Charles II's reign, Playford almost monopolised the business of music publ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ballet Technique
Ballet technique is the foundational principles of body movement and form used in ballet. It is an important aspect of ballet performance because ballet (especially classical ballet) puts great emphasis on the method and execution of movement., pp. 6-7 & 21. The techniques found in classical ballet are a framework for many other styles of dance, including jazz and contemporary ballet. Aspects of ballet technique include alignment, which refers to keeping the head, shoulders, and hips vertically aligned. Turnout refers to completing movements with legs rotated outward; this promotes clean footwork, graceful '' port de bras'' (movement of the arms), and correct body positions, lines and angles. Other aspects of ballet technique include posture, toe pointing, keeping shoulders down, and pulling up, which combines proper posture and lifting of the muscles to increase turnout and enhance alignment and thus improve the quality of turns. Ballet technique is also used to exhibit '' ballon ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Glossary Of Ballet
Because ballet became formalized in France, a significant part of ballet terminology is in the French language. A À la seconde () (Literally "to second") If a step is done "à la seconde", it is done to the side. 'Second position'. It can also be a balance extending one foot off the ground in ‘Second Position’. À la quatrième () One of the directions of body, facing the audience (''en face''), arms in second position, with one leg extended either to fourth position in front (''quatrième devant'') or fourth position behind (''quatrième derrière''). À terre () Touching the floor; on the floor. Adagio Italian, or French ''adage'', meaning 'slowly, at ease.' # Slow movements performed with fluidity and grace. # One of the typical exercises of a traditional ballet class, done both at barre and in center, featuring slow, controlled movements. # The section of a '' grand pas'' (e.g., '' grand pas de deux''), often referred to as ''grand adage'', that features dance part ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
