Stephen D. Corrsin - A History Sword Dancing In Europe

Sword dancing, one of the most far-reaching and dramatic styles of folk dance performance throughout Europe, is by no means an ancient, timeless mystery, deriving from the magical rituals of primitive humanity, insusceptible to historical study. It is a relatively modern phenomenon, widely distributed from the mid-fifteenth century on, and popular in different eras in many parts of western, northern, and central Europe and Britain, in cities, towns, and villages.

Sword Dancing in Europe surveys the history of European styles of linked sword dancing, from its recorded beginnings in the late Middle Ages, to the present day, drawing on original sources in over ten different languages.

1997, 290 pgs. E

• European Linked Sword Dancing: An Overview
• The Low Countries, Late Fourteenth to Mid-Eighteenth Century
• Central Europe and Scandinavia, Fifteenth to Mid-Eighteen Century
• Spain and Portugal, Fifteenth to Mid-Eighteenth Century
• Great Britain, Sixteenth to Mid-Eighteenth Century
• Belgium and the Netherlands, Mid-Eighteenth to Twentieth Century
• Southeastern France and Northwestern Italy, Mid-Eighteenth to Twentieth Century
• Spain, Mid-Eighteenth to Twentieth Century
• Austria-Hungary and its Successor States, Mid-Eighteenth to Twentieth Century
• Germany, Mid-Eighteenth to Twentieth Century
• England, Late Eighteenth to Earlier Twentieth Century
• The Shetland Islands, Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries
• Since The Second World War