The Guinness Encyclopedia

home *** CD-ROM | disk | FTP | other *** search

/ The Guinness Encyclopedia / The Guinness Encyclopedia - Wayzata Technology (3221-1B) (Disc 1) (1995).iso / mac / music / 16in_mus.ic / card_14246.xml < prev next >

Wrap

Extensible Markup Language | 1995-08-14 | 7KB | 34 lines

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?> <!DOCTYPE card PUBLIC "-//Apple, Inc.//DTD card V 2.0//EN" "" > <card> <id>14246</id> <filler1>0</filler1> <cantDelete> <false /> </cantDelete> <showPict> <true /> </showPict> <dontSearch> <false /> </dontSearch> <owner>5472</owner> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="stylesheet_3106.css" /> <content> <layer>background</layer> <id>25</id> <text>olk and Social Dancing (1 of 3)Folk dances, the traditional dances of particular areas, are dances that have evolved rather than been invented. They often retain features that once had magical and ritual significance. Emphasis is usually on the group, although pairs or individuals may be featured or encouraged to give bravura displays. Social dances developed from courtship dances and, although some may involve unison dancing by the group, the emphasis is usually placed on couples.The traditional dances of Africa, Asia and the Pacific are usually more closely related to early rituals than are European folk dances. They might best be described as ethnic dances, although they are now often performed as tourist or theatrical attractions.European folk danceEuropean dances may have become divorced from magic and ritual but their origins are often still clear to see. The horn dance performed annually at Abbot's Bromley, England, by a band of men wearing deer's antlers, is a direct link with Stone Age animal worship. The hora of eastern Europe, the sardanas of Catalonia and many similar dances use a closed magic circle with hands held or linked by handkerchiefs. There are winding chain dances - of which the conga is a modern equivalent - whose serpentine forms may have some link with snake worship. Maypole dances are reminders both of tree worship and fertility ritual. There are numerous 'battle' dances - such as the morris dance - which perhaps originally represented the fight against the darkness of winter, but which have subsequently become linked with historic battles.In most folk dances women have gentle gliding movements and small steps, while leaping and kicking is reserved for men. Male dancing often allows for a competitive display of athleticism. In the Tyro-lean courtship dance, the Schuhlplattler, the man circles his partner with much stamping and slapping of knees, thighs and heels, and sometimes even turns somersaults and cartwheels and jumps right over the woman. The Cossack kicks out from a full knees bend, and in flamenco dancing the Spanish Gypsy stamps out the staccato rhythms of the zapateado - although in this case the women are almost as exhibitionist and flamenco has always been a performance rather than a communal dance.Folk dances often incorporate imitative gestures. They may copy the movements of an animal or mimic work activities. Farmers' dances use the movements of sowing, reaping and haymaking, while sailors haul on ropes and fishermen on nets - one Danish dance even uses the actions of women washing clothes.European court dancesThe social dances of the nobility at first differed little from formal peasant dances. The basic medieval dance - the basse danse, or low dance - used small gliding steps with only a lift onto the toes, the feet scarcely losing contact with the floor. There were also haute, or high, leaping dances, but such steps were probably mainly for men, rather than for women with their long trains and high headdresses.The circling glide of the 13th-century carole was danced to grave religious music, but with the new brighter secular music of the 15th and 16th centuries came faster livelier paces, made easier when heels were added to shoes, and skirts became shorter. The pavane and the allemande were still stately processional dances, but the sarabande involved advances and retreats and couples passing between rows of dancers, while the courante included the elegant bending of the knees. Then there was the sprightly jigging galliard and the twirling volta, in which the woman was lifted from the floor and bounced upon the man's knees.Another lively dance was the gavotte, developed from a Proven├ºal folk dance. It gave each couple a chance to dance on their own and reached its greatest popularity in 17th-century France at the court of Louis XIV. Another favorite at the French court was the delicate minuet, which often followed the boisterous gavotte as a contrast. Based on a figure-of- eight folk dance from Poitou, the minuet was to become fashionable through out Europe in the 18th century.'Country dancing'In Britain in the 17th century, lively long ways (facing rows) and circle dances became very popular. They involved simple walks, runs, and skipping and hopping steps, often with couples changing position within a set. In 1650 John Playford (1623-86) published The English Dancing Master, which describes a great many different forms. They were taken up in France and Italy and taken across the Atlantic by American colonists where, with promptings from a caller, they became the popular American square dance.</text> </content> <content> <layer>background</layer> <id>26</id> <text>adies and gentlemen dancing to a flute and drum. In the 15th century European court dances derived from the village dances of medieval Europe.</text> </content> <content> <layer>background</layer> <id>23</id> <text>ΓÇó FOLK MUSICΓÇó POPULAR MUSIC IN THE 20TH CENTURYΓÇó THE WORLD OF DANCEΓÇó CLASSICAL BALLETΓÇó MODERN DANCE</text> </content> <content> <layer>background</layer> <id>36</id> <text>586588592596598</text> </content> <name>p594-1</name> <script></script> </card>