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>well,
or their education was deemed incomplete. The ItalianC orrente
was similar to the Courante and was very popular among court dances.
The Elizabethan Courante was much
quicker than the Courante of Louis XIV
(1638-1715) and Charles II (1661-1700)
reigns.
--
Originally It was reported as aPantomimic
wooing dance. Curt Sachs
Writes:
"Three young men invited three young ladies, leading them
after another to the opposite side of the room, and left them
standing there, while they themselves returned. Then one after
the other they went back and made themselves agreeable with amorous
looks and gestures, dusting and pulling up their shoes, and arranging
their shirts. The Ladies, however, refused their hands and turned
their backs, and the dancers had to go back again to their places
without having achieved their purpose, and in great despair. At
the end all three came forward and, on bended knees and wringing
their hands, begged for mercy. Forgiven, they danced helter-skelter
the Courante". (end sachs)
--
When the Courante first came in it was often preceded
by a ballet. Arbeau
in describing it tells how three cavaliers chose their three partners,
whom they placed in a row at the end of the room, then danced
towards them. Much pantomimic
gesture denoting love was introduced into the dance, so that when
the lady turned her back on her advancing partner, as she did
in the course of the measure, it represented a refusal of his
suit, and the cavalier, making deep reverences preceding a quicker
measure, meant urging his suit, till on bent knee he was taken
back into favour and the dance was finished. The rhythms were
left up to the musicians to play and was not set only to one,
generally done in 2/4, originally 4/4 or 6/8 time with the tempi
being rapid. The steps consisted of alternating two simple steps
and then a double (single/single/double) to the left, then
repeating the same to the right, with single or double straight
steps, described as a skipping to and fro or zigzagging around
the floor (sounds like an early Foxtrot
:) and it's charm was greatly enhanced by its arm movements.
Sach's states that "the Courante was similar to the Branles
and Piva dances".
In 1650 the French courant had little to do with the original
(and danced even faster) except in name. However, some
of the Courante were very solemn". The Most lavish of the
courant's performed were during the period of the Grand
Monarque .
-- About 1650
it became a Court dance ,
having originally been a pantomime play without words in dual
measure, one of the oldest figure dances that has been left to
us, and its character is decidedly grave. This was the favorite
dance of King
Louis XIV (1638-1715,) who is said to have
performed it better than anyone else. The movements of the Courante
were so important that it was looked upon as absolutely necessary
to learn it before any other dance. Madame
de Sévigné (1626-1696) and her
daughter were noted for their grace when they danced it at the
'fête des Etats de Bretagne.' It
has been compared to the Spanish
Seguidilla ,
and is by some supposed to be the parent of the waltz
and the precursor to the Minuet
which was a Branles of Poitou ,
and was thus called because of its small steps and was derived
from the Courante. When the pupil knew the steps of the Courante
well, when he could turn his feet properly and control his movements,
he was initiated into the mysteries of the graceful and ceremonious
Minuet, which took three months to learn, and of which there were
endless varieties (learning the courant was considered a pre
requisite to the Minuet).
--
By 1700 the Courant was no longer danced except as a
basis of dance used by the dancing
masters and became known as "Doctor Dance"
through the use of its teaching techniques applied to other dances.
In the early court dances the Pantomime (above by Sach's) played a major part of these
dances and by 1550, the Pantomime part was all but forgotten.
The Danse
des Canaries was the next closest thing to the courant
in as a courtship dance.
Musically, the Courante was the second movement (Suites de
Danses) of the classical baroque suite, typically following
the allemande with the accompaniment in triple time (3/4).
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