About the Course ...

The 2012 Summer Course in Renaissance & Baroque Dance provides a great opportunity to learn about European court dance.
Students will be able to sample a range of dance styles and types, as well as focus on original choreographies.

About the course ...

No previous experience or partner is required.  The dances taught range from sedate to energetic.
Each session will include warm-up exercises, instruction in deportment, steps, movements and dance figures. 

Morning sessions each day will be devoted to Renaissance and Country Dances, while afternoon session will focus on Baroque Dance.
These can be taken separately, or in combination.

Students new to early dance are encouraged to attend the Wednesday sessions, which will introduce steps, figures & terms used later in the week.

The Renaissance dance course explores the world of court dance in the sixteenth century.
The focus will move from French and Elizabethan court and country dances to the sophisticated balletti of the Italian courts, revealing the diversity of the European choreographic heritage preserved in dance treatises and manuscripts from the later 16th and early 17th centuries.

The Baroque dance course introduces students to the noble dance style which graced ballroom and stage at the court of Louis XIV.
Highly disciplined and musically precise, it set the standard for dancing throughout Europe, and laid the foundations of classical ballet.
Students will learn excerpts of dances from the suite, including the Bourrée, Minuet, Sarabande & Gigue, and work towards a full dance.

Invaluable for musicians, actors, singers and anyone interested in historical performance practice, from French baroque music to movement & deportment for  restoration theatre.