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Renaissance dances belong to the broad group of historical dances.

During the Renaissance period, there was a distinction between country dances and court dances. Court dances required the dancers to be trained and were often for display and entertainment, whereas country dances could be attempted by anyone. At Court, the formal entertainment would often be followed by many hours of country dances which all present could join in. Dances described as country dances such as Chiarantana or Chiaranzana remained popular over a long period - over two centuries in the case of this dance. A Renaissance dance can be likened to a ball.

Knowledge of court dances has survived better than that of country dances as they were collected by dancing masters in manuscripts and later in printed books. The earliest surviving manuscripts that provide detailed dance instructions are from 15th century Italy. The earliest printed dance manuals come from late 16th century France and Italy. The earliest dance descriptions in England come from the Gresley manuscript c1500 found in the Derbyshire Record Office, D77 B0x 38 pp 51–79. These have been recently published as "Cherwell Thy Wyne (Show your joy): Dances of fifteenth-century England from the Gresley manuscript". The first printed English source appeared in 1652, the first edition of Playford.

The dances in these manuals are extremely varied in nature. They range from slow, stately dances (bassadance, pavane, almain) to fast, lively dances (galliard, coranto, canario). The former, in which the dancers' feet did not leave the ground were styled the dance basse while energetic dances with leaps and lifts were called the haute dance. Some were choreographed, others were improvised on the spot. One dance for couples, a form of the galliard called lavolta, involved a rather intimate hold between the man and woman, with the woman being lifted into the air while the couple made a 3/4 turn. Other dances, such as branles or bransles, were danced by many people in a circle or line.

Another popular Renaissance dance is the "whip". This dance is performed by raising one's leg in the air, bringing it down and holding their arm out to the side. This dance was commonly performed in lines or groups of men and even sometimes women. Many variations of this dance exist. This dance is still being commonly practiced today.

Fifteenth-century Italian dance
Our knowledge of 15th-century Italian dances comes mainly from the surviving works of three Italian dance masters: Domenico da Piacenza, Antonio Cornazzano and Guglielmo Ebreo da Pesaro. Their work deals with similar steps and dances, though some evolution can be seen. The main types of dances described are bassa danze and balletti. These are the earliest European dances to be well-documented, as we have a reasonable knowledge of the choreographies, steps and music used.

Modern Performance
Many groups exist that recreate historical music and dance from the Renaissance period
 * The Early Dance Circle is an umbrella group for early dance in the UK
 * Renaissance Footnotes, a UK dance group recreating dances of the renaissance

Category:History of dance Category:Renaissance dance Category:Renaissance Category:European court festivities

'''Dr. Mueller: I am working mostly on restructuring and improving this page. My goal is mostly a makeover. I am adding quite a few new things but mostly, I'm expanding and reshaping the article. Freddie 4/11'''

As I am adding to an already-existing article on the pavane, my contributions will be an expansion upon and consolidation of materials that are already present. The focus of my writing will primarily be on the history of the dance and its choreography, visual aspects, and societal significance. In addition, I will expand upon the musical characteristics and the evolution of the pavane from a simple dance to a musical style.

Outline:

Expand upon history section

Expand upon and consolidate music section

Write "dance" section in full.

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The pavane, pavan, paven, pavin, pavian, pavine, or pavyn (It. pavana, padovana; Ger. Paduana) is a slow processional dance common in Europe during the 16th century (Renaissance).

The pavane, the earliest-known example of which was published in Venice by Ottaviano Petrucci, in Joan Ambrosio Dalza's Intabolatura de lauto libro quarto in 1508, is a sedate and dignified couple dance, similar to the 15th-century basse danse. The music which accompanied it appears originally to have been fast or moderately fast but, like many other dances, became slower over time.

Origin of term
The origin of this term is not known. Possibilities include the word being though the dance was "almost certainly of Italian origin". Despite this, the dance is most commonly associated with Spain (Horst 1960, 7).
 * from Italian "[danza] Padovana", meaning "[dance] typical of Padua" (as in Bergamask); this is consistent with the equivalent form, "Paduana",
 * or from the Spanish pavón meaning peacock ,

History
The decorous sweep of the pavane suited the new more sober Spanish-influenced courtly manners of 16th century Italy. It appears in dance manuals in England, France, and Italy.

The dance's popularity was from roughly 1530 to 1676 (Horst, 1960, 8). The pavane as a musical form survived long after the dance itself was abandoned, and well into the Baroque period, when it finally gave way to the allemande/courante sequence.

Music

 * Slow duple metre (Double Time 2/2).
 * Generally follows the form of A,A1, B,B1, C,C1.
 * It generally uses counterpoint or homophonic accompaniment.
 * Often accompanied by a tabor according to in a rhythmic pattern of minim-crotchet-crotchet (1/2-1/4-1/4) or similar.
 * This dance was generally paired with the Galliard.
 * Was often accompanied by a song with hautbois and drums.
 * No florid or running passages
 * Two strains of eight, twelve, or sixteen bars each.

Dance
In Thoinot Arbeau's French dance manual, it is generally a dance for many couples in procession, with the dancers sometimes throwing in ornamentation (divisions) of the steps.

The Dictionnaire de Trevoux describes the dance as being a "grave kind of dance, borrowed from the Spaniards, wherein the performers make a kind of wheel or tail before each other, like that of a peacock, whence the name." It was usually used by regents to open grand ceremonies and to display their royal attire (Horst 1960, 9). Before dancing, the performers saluted the King and Queen whilst circling the room. The steps were called advancing and retreating. Retreating gentlemen would lead their ladies by the hand and, after curtsies and steps, the gentlemen would regain their places. Next, a lone gentleman advanced and went en se pavanant (strutting like a peacock) to salute the lady opposite him. After taking backward steps, he would return to his place, bowing to his lady (Horst 1960, 12).

Modern use
The step used in the pavane survives to the modern day in the hesitation step sometimes used in weddings.

More recent works titled "pavane" often have a deliberately archaic mood. Examples include:
 * The classical composition Pavane (1887) by Gabriel Fauré, a modern version of the Renaissance genre.


 * The classical composition Pavane pour une infante défunte (1899) by Maurice Ravel.
 * The first part of Maurice Ravel's Ma mère l'oye suite (1910), entitled "Pavane for the Sleeping Beauty", covered (as "Pavanne") by Joe Walsh on his album So What.
 * The "Pavane of the Sons of the Morning" that closes scene 7 of Job: A Masque for Dancing, a ballet composed by Ralph Vaughan Williams in 1930 and first staged in 1931.
 * "Pavane, the Girl with the Flaxen Hair", a dramatic script written and directed by Wyllis Cooper, inspired in part by Ravel's composition, for the old-time radio series Quiet Please (1947).
 * The Moor's Pavane (1949), a ballet choreographed by José Limón.
 * The science fiction novel Pavane (1968) by British author Keith Roberts, about an alternative history in which the queen Elizabeth the First is assassinated and the Armada wins in the year 1588.
 * The fourth movement of the suite "The Fall of the House of Usher" from the progressive rock album Tales of Mystery and Imagination by The Alan Parsons Project (1976).
 * The classical composition "Pavane: She's So Fine" (1994) from John's Book of Alleged Dances by John Adams.
 * The title of a song from Verehrt und Angespien, the second studio album of the folk metal band In Extremo.
 * The song "Pavan" from the progressive folk album Evensong by Amazing Blondel.
 * The title of a song from Water Forest, an album by Rurutia.
 * Pavane (Thoughts of a Septuagenarian) by the Esbjörn Svensson Trio.
 * "A Sad Pavan for These Distracted Times" is part IX of Vladimír Godár's "Querela Pacis" ("Complaint of Peace") oratorio (2010).
 * The song "Pavane" by Jon Lord of the band Deep Purple, written and recorded for his solo album Sarabande.
 * Eric Clapton released an acoustic demo song on his Facebook Page on September 30, 2014: "Pavane for Jay A" (http://clyp.it/kzbdzfqd) as an homage to skateboard pioneer Jay Adams, who died Friday August 15, 2014 at age 53.