The Baroque Dance

Contemporary, Hip Hop, Jazz. These are current popular dances. What about those during the Baroque period? Here is a list of some...and imagine dancing in that elaborate costume!

Air – From the Latin aer, giving rise to the Italian aria or French ayre. In 16th and 17th century England, the ayre was a popular genre of solo song accompanied by lute. This later evolved to encompass instrumental works without voice.

Bourrée – A light French dance in duple meter (two beats per bar). It resembles the gavotte, but is quicker. The bourrée originated as a folk dance in Auvergne, France and later became popular in the French court of Louis XIV.

Courante – Literally meaning “running”, the courante originated as an Italian Renaissance folk dance (corrente) with running steps. In the Baroque French court however, it evolved into a more reserved dance, with an atmosphere of pleasant expectation.

Forlane – This fast dance originated from the Italian region of Friulia, a Slavic area under the Venetian republic. As such the furlana, as it was known there, may have roots in Slavonic dances. Like the other dances, it found new life in the French courts as a vigorous but graceful dance for couples.

Gavotte – The gavotte became popular too in the court of Louis XIV, where Gaétan Vestris, the celebrated “god of the dance”, did much to establish the form. Originally a folk dance that concluded with the couple kissing (later becoming an exchange of flowers), the gavotte continues to be popular, appearing even in modern works by Prokofiev and Bernstein.

Gigue – A fast and wild dance originating from the jig of the British Isles, and often found at the end of a suite.

Menuet – Also spelled “minuet”, this was a stately social dance for two people, featuring small steps (from the French menu, meaning small and slender). At the court of Louis XIV, it became a popular practice to score the middle section for a trio of instruments. This gave rise to the “menuet and trio” that formed the traditional third movement of Classical symphonies by such composers as Haydn and Mozart.

Ouverture – French for “opening”. From the 17th century, the ouverture was the introductory movement of a ballet or opera. It usually begins with a slower, stately prelude with dotted rhythms, followed by a faster, grander section – all to set the atmosphere for the drama to follow. The more well-known term overture later evolved – among the Romantic composers such as Weber and Mendelssohn – to become an independent work depicting a story or theme.

Passepied – Directly translated as “passing feet”, this is a light French court dance in triple meter, with the feet crossing and recrossing (hence “passing” each other) as the dancers moved. In English, the passepied has been spelled "paspy" or "paspie", closely approximating its French pronunciation. This dance is often associated with pastoral scenes.