A program of dancing and music from the baroque
period; a visual and auditory tour through the world of the splendid
century! La
Belle Danse consumed the interest of European court society,
embodying the ideals of grace and charm. Each dance had its own
character. The Pacific Northwest's preeminent Baroque lutenist
with international Baroque Dance specialists and their guests explore
each of these dances via musical examples and period choreographies
from the ballroom and theater repertoire.
Anna
Mansbridge, baroque
dance specialist now living in Seattle, will offer a class in
Baroque dance designed for those with little or no dance experience,
and who are interested in learning about dance performance practice in
the late 17th and 18th centuries. The dance technique will be studied,
supported by writings of eminent dancing masters of the period who
gave meticulous explanations on how to execute the various steps in a
manner which emphasized "nobility and precision." Special
attention will be paid to the relationship between the dance and the
music, as the ". . . music seems to inspire the dancing, and the
latter the former, and the concurrence of both is so requisite to
charm to those that behold them, that each in some measure suffers by
a separation" (Kellom Tomlinson, 1735). Anna
Mansbridge is Artistic Director of Seattle Early Dance
and teaches Baroque Dance at Creative
Dance Center.
