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The Chacona (a.k.a. Passacaglia ), is considered a Spanish Folk dance but originally came from Italy, created by F. Alfonso Ciacone (1540-1599), a blind Italian composer from about
1560. From there it went on to Guatemala, Mexico via Simon Agudo ? which was then introduced to the public in Tampico, Mexico in
1599 at the wedding for the King of Spain Phillip III (1578-1621). A few years later it became very popular in Barcelona, Spain and
by 1618 it arrived by mail from the West Indies to Seville. In the nineteenth century it was still being danced in Corpus Christi and
Friela as the "uma dansa mourisca ," which they called the Chacona.
France improved on it, boasting of an air with variations like the Chacone, and it was often given as the finale to a ball. A courtly dance, in slow triple |
| measure (3/4), the bars continually repeating themselves.
When society was tired of it it found a place upon the stage, being often introduced in the ballet. The music of the sixteenth century owed much to dancing, and,
vice versa, the rhythmic movement of the dance inspired many fine compositions. Cervantes despised it, declaring in "Don Quixote
" that it was a mulatto dance for negroes and negresses, imported from the time of Philip II, but at the French Court, both in the
days of Louis XIII, and XIV, it was a ceremonial dance. Marie de Medicis , in 1600, was responsible for much of its success when
she married Henry IV ., and the music caused variations in the steps according to its rhythm. The Chacona, Chaconne and Ciacone are basically the same word.
Originally the Chaconne or Passacaille basic step was composed of only three movements, however there were many more.
1) a Bound on first beat, Clockwise 1/2 turn to right, leg extended,
2) a Hop on second beat, another 1/2 turn,
3) a Bound, or Balone,
these steps were most usually started from third Position. The steps to the Chacona by the 19th. Century introduced a four beat step
known as the "pas de Chacone ".
The dance was considered a highly sensual, wild and exotic dance
(even more so than its sister dance the Sarabanda ) in nature, with undulations of the body, massive hip movements, flirtations, and at the time "indecent song lyrics" with women using castanets and men using tambourines (sounds gypsy).
Costume gowns consisted of white overdresses with revers and gold trimming on neck, sleeves, and puffs, gold girdles about the hips.
TheChaconne (1600's) if French was said to be invented by Jean Baptiste Lully (1632-1687) and again may have come from Italy
or Spain. If from Italy, the Chaconne probably came from the Ciaccono dance. The dance is in slow triple time, 3/4, in which two or three
people can participate, of a stately character, light and graceful. The time is strongly marked, and it can be danced to Purcell's music
(1658-1695) from the "Fairy Queen.," it has six variations. Bach and Handel and other famous composers have written well-known
Chacones. The Danse de Seis (see Morris ) in the Seville Cathedral was said to be a form of the Chaconne.
The Chacona 3/4 (1560), Chaconne , Passacaille ,Sarabanda,
Jacara, Rastro, and Tarraga dances are reported as fundamentally all the same. A musical form and dance called the Passacaglia is closely related to the Chacona (This music suppressed by Jewish composers during the period of 1938-1945 in Germany). |
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