Dance in the Sixteenth Century

Paper Summary:

The paper relates that during the Renaissance period, dance acquired a great importance both as a social practice and as an emerging art in the form of ballet. The paper relates that this period is very important in the history of dance because it marked the beginning of women's participation in dancing activities. The paper notes that the choreography of the various types of dances reflected the main ethical principles of the Renaissance society and thus transformed dancing from a merely physical exercise to an artistic practice that was highly educative.

From the Paper:

"During the Renaissance period, dance acquired a great importance both as a social practice and as an emerging art, in the form of ballet. The main dance treatises that appeared during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries by music masters such as Guglielmo Ebreo of Pesaro, Thoinot Arbeau and Fabritio Caroso contained descriptions of the types of social dances and ballets with their respective choreographies, drawings, musical excerpts and dance tablatures. Such treatises like Ebreo of Pesaro's On the Practice or Art of Dancing or Arbeau's Orchesographie are not only guiding manuals for dancing, but also good documentary sources for the ethics, aesthetics and social etiquette specific to the sixteenth century."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Adshead-Lansdale, J. & J. Layson. 1994. Dance history: an introduction. London: Routledge.
• Ebreo of Pesaro, Gugliemlo. 1995. De pratica seu arte tripudii: on the practice or art of dancing. Oxford: Oxford University.
• Nevile, Jennifer. 1999. "Dance and the garden: moving and static choreography in Renaissance Europe." Renaissance Quarterly. 52(4) 1999.

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