Book
Dances of England and France from 1450 to 1600, with their music and authentic manner of performance.
This classic in the history and performance of dance brings back to life the elegant dances of the Renaissance and Baroque courts in England and France. Working from an extensive collection of rare books and treatises by 15th- and 16th century dancing masters, Mabel Dolmetsch has painstakingly rendered into modern form the beautiful and spontaneous Pavanes, Basses Danses, Branles, Galliards, and Corantes that engaged and delighted Western Europe for more than two centuries. Each dance form is presented with detailed instructions for performing it today, accompanied by representative illustrations of the ornately costumed dancers who first danced them. Mrs. Dolmetsch’s descriptions of the dances and their history, including the haunting, melodious airs to which they were performed, provide a vivid recreation of the formal and popular dances of England and France — dance forms that were the outcome of centuries of art and culture.
