ANST - Dance (was-dead traditions)

[Evelyn Alden]

At 11:19 AM 1/28/98 -0600, Joanna wrote:
>Estrill,
>
>OK, your point is well taken.  We have a bunch of new people here in
>Mendersham wanting to learn to dance, but we only know the old dances. 
>You folks out there with the "new, improved, truly period" (easy to
>do/teach) dances, please tell us where we in the hinterlands can order
>music and instructions (and, if possible, videos) for these.  Thanks!

As far as I know, one of the best SCA dance manuals is still the Rose &
Nefr, which is available from several SCA merchants, as well as directly
from the publisher (they usually have an ad in TI).  The good things about
Rose & Nefr:  Music supplied for each dance (melody line and tape); dances
are dated; most extreme SCA variations are labeled.  Poor aspects of Rose &
Nefr:  Tape is a 'little' fast on some dances; original steps are not
present for comparison; no discussion.

The thing to keep in mind (and the Rose & Nefr doesn't bring this out) is
that of the forms of dance commonly done in the SCA, there are a limited
number of steps and step combinations, learn them, and all these period
dances are available to you.  When you bring in out-of-period and folk
dance, you introduce so many variables that it is no wonder that many of our
people think of dance as very difficult.  To put it in another field,
imagine if needlework classes included all the modern stitches, tossed in
randomly with the period ones, or if costuming taught Elizabethan corsets in
a class with Civil War dresses.

The basic reference books in this field are: (listing only primary resources
(or translations thereof) that are easily available)

French Renaissance: Orchesography, by Thoinot Arbea.  Dover has the Mary
Stuart Evans translation (with notes by Julia Sutton)

Italian Renaissance: Nobilita de Dame, by Caruso.  Dover has a translation
with notes by Sutton.

English Renaissance: English Dancing Master, John Playford.  Currently out
of print (as far as I know), but was in print recently enough that many
libraries have copies.  (yes, this was printed out of period, there are some
reasonable arguements for keeping some of these, and as long as we do HitW I
really don't think eliminating dances that _might_ be Elizabethan is practical)

There are a few more, most not as easily available or as easy to read, there
are also many secondary sources (some excellent.)  

I am writing this from memory, late at night, so I apologize for
misspellings and lack of ISBN numbers.  If anyone needs them, email me
privately.  I do realize that this is an incredibly brief overview, but I am
indeed a rabid dance authenticity person (just stuck in an area with no
dance)    Sorry I won't be at wInterkingdom this weekend, mundane
resonsibilities will keep me from showing up to play dance music all day : (

katriana
Shire of Bois d'Arc
Kingdom of Calontir
sometimes clerk at Tomes and Tunes

BTW, my current favorite dance is New Bo Peep (1st edition Playford)  Anyone
needing details, please email me privately.  

============================================================================
Go to http://www.ansteorra.org/lists.html to perform mailing list tasks.