[Ansteorra] iso european dancers ??

[Charlene Charette]

On Tue, Feb 14, 2012 at 4:17 PM, Jeffrey Clark <jmclark85 at gmail.com> wrote:
> Is there also, perhaps, an issue with the availability of music? I would also like to pint at the lack of "individualisation" currently available in EuroDance. We teach dancers some basic steps, and then focus on existing choreographies; whereas -- IIRC -- ME dance teaches "moves" and then allows for a great deal of room for personal interpretation. Perhaps we should shift the way that wester dances are taught and thought about.
>
> I had a very interesting discussion with one about the idea of swapping music for certain dances (to make things more interesting for the musicians -- after three passes of something, we are usually ready for something else), and I saw a fair amount of resistance to this idea. Perhaps we should focus less on the reconstruction of period art and more on the creation of new art in period style and aesthetic.
>


I've commented on the improvisational aspects in reply to a previous
message. Lack of music is always an issue. For the European dances,
most of the time the music is fitted to the dance so substituting
isn't really an option. There are a few exceptions including galliards
and basse danse. There's certainly no reason the musicians can't
ornament the music to make it more interesting to play and listen to.
Modern ECD musicians do it all the time and I've danced to ornamented
Renaissance music in Italy. If all I have is one recording of a
particular dance and that version is dreadfully dull...well, I don't
blame people for not wanting to dance it.

--Perronnelle