The Maiden's Court: Historical Spotlight: Tudor Era Dances

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Historical Spotlight: Tudor Era Dances

As I have gotten more and more interested in the Tudor period I have seen and read about various dances that just about everyone at Court knew. I thought it would be interesting to know what some of these dances actually were, to help understand what I am reading about. So the following post is going to look at three of the more common dances during the Tudor period. I was even able to find some modern recreations of these dances for visual appeal!

Branles
This is a 16th Century French dance style which moves mainly from side to side, and is performed by couples either in a line or a circle.

Galliards
This is an athletic dance, characterized by leaps, jumps, hops, and other similar figures. The main feature that defines a galliard step is that the last two beats consist of a large jump, landing with one leg ahead of the other.

Pavanes
This is a slow, processional dance common in Europe in the 16th Century.

Hope you have enjoyed getting to know the dances of the Tudor period a little better. Anyone feel like dancing now?

2 comments:

Lucy June 5, 2009 at 9:46 PM
What an original post! Wonderful! I really enjoyed this. There's no way they couldn't have been in shape back then- great form of exercise and fun too:) Thanks
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Jenny GirlJune 7, 2009 at 7:37 PM
Brilliant post! The music is authentic too. I can just imagine the great hall.
Your background looks great. It suits you, and your doggie is getting so big. Oh my! Give her some pets for me.
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