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Renaissance style dancing from England, France, Italy,
Russia, Spain, and Greece! Beginners encouraged to come! Find out more by contacting Gustavo de Taveiroos about dance practice on Tuesday evenings from 8-9 PM
Upcoming Dance Events:
Frequently Asked Questions
| What
happens at Dance Practice? |
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At dance practice, you will learn actual dances from the 16th, 17th,
and 18th centuries, most of which involve dancing with a
partner. Unlike most modern dance classes in which technique
is primarily drilled, you will actually be dancing during
your first session. (Of course, you'll have to learn how to do
the steps, but we'll be teaching them as we break down the dances into their easy to learn sequences.
You'll immediately get to use each technique we teach.) During
the 90 minute rehearsal you'll learn about three different dances, depending on the simplicity or difficulty of each dance. |
| Is it hard to learn? |
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Not really. These dances were designed to be easy to remember
and danceable for all different kinds of people-- for the majority
of the dances, if you can walk, you can dance. However, these
dances are not so simple that they'll be likely to bore you.
Many are quite fast in tempo, involve flirting, or have curious
"storylines"-- one dance for two couples reenacts a salacious love
triangle! |
| What
do these dances look like? |
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Depends on the dance. Italian dances look a bit like the
ballroom scene in the original Romeo & Juliet
movie. Russian dances are often done in circles and involve
"swing-dancing" style moves. And the sort we do most often, English
country dances, might remind you of extremely high-class square
dancing, although most aren't done in "squares" (and nobody yells
"yee-haw!") |
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(Interesting bit of dance history: English country dances, first
published in 1651, are the three-hundred-year-old prototype for
modern American square dancing. When English settlers came
over to the US in colonial times, they brought this style of dancing
with them, modifying it into its current form.) |
Keith,
Dance Master for St Joan
Last updated Nov 17, 2006 |
