Wrap up, July 30, 2023
Thank you, Hubert Hazebroucq, for emphasizing the need to look at notation as a starting point and not an ending point in reconstructing a dance. Your emphasis on the importance of carefully reading the text for descriptions of steps, and comparing this with how they are notated is so important. Ken Pierce emphasized this decades ago, but we still need to be reminded, and continue to do so.
Ken Pierce and Alan Jones illustrated further the many questions which occur when translating notation to the dance. In one student’s question to Ken Pierce wondering if one of the Favier minuet steps could simply be described in standard minuet vocabulary, his response steered us to the complexity of the interpretation from this notation system. In fact, reminding us of the danger of seeing something at first glance and wanting to translate it to a known system in our own experience rather than going through the thought process of the creator to discover the fuller dance idea.
With Hubert, Ken and Alan we learned the value in comparing dancing masters and their use of different notations giving further light to understanding the use of ornamentation and improvisation, especially in the minuet.
One question I have for Ken and Alan is, did Favier or Despréaux wish to have their notations accepted by professional dancers? Why did they not write a treatise like Feuillet?
Thankyou you all for showing us that delving into comparisons of different notation styles can lead to a broader understanding of movement concepts which we may be missing or different from the Feuillet Chorégraphie we are all accustomed to.
A deeper study of notation reveals the endless possibilities of step variations and with Hubert’s study of Taubert, we are reminded of the use of ornamentation during the Baroque period and how today, in reading a notation, we can add our own ornaments and indeed, this was probably expected in the performance practice of the day. He also demonstrated with his video what it looks like to do an unfigured minuet with improvisation which is key to the popularity of this dance for over 100 years. One student suggested having a ball with many couples dancing at the same time, doing their own minuets, and also having the couples come on and off the dance floor as they saw fit, rather than being so ordered as we have practiced in our reenactments today.
A chat comment from From Iris-Michaela Schmidtmann to Everyone:
Beautiful! one can understand, how Taubert describes, that sometimes the Couples had to be pushed from the Danceflour by force, because their Performance took to long
Caroline Copeland’s presentation fascinated our attendees who appreciated her research process and how she summarized her findings in edited videos taking the viewer through the structure of the dance, including references to sources and posing questions. Creating online platforms for the general public is so important to engaging our society and getting them excited about dance as a social practice with a deep history. Caroline also demonstrated the advantages to stepping outside of one’s box and creating a team of scholars to participate in the process either with a hands-on approach or as an adviser. Although the internet has been around for a while, it can be used as a tool for publishing ongoing research, especially research which is in a “pioneer” stage such as Caroline’s. The advantages to being online is that presentational material can be updated as the researcher grows in their understanding of the subject.
Catherine Turocy’s class
In Magri’s descriptions he emphasizes the use of forced positions and a more athletic use of the body. This is not new to us given John Weaver’s writings in the beginning of the century. However, to have a dance treatise written by a Grotesque style dancer certainly brings the physicality of the dance to the forefront and explains how the steps were used in moving larger on the larger size of a theatrical stage.
My goal in the class was to explore embodiment of verbal descriptions of dance steps. It is not enough to learn a dictionary of words and see how they sound when you say them just as it is not enough to try out the dance steps without employing them in a dance sentence or phrase. The concept of “play” from Historical Dance at Play is needed to digest all these ideas from the past.
As demonstrated in the beginning sessions of this workshop, our vision of the past keeps changing with new thought looking once again at the old treatises. With better communications today between a web of researchers and enthusiasts, we need to listen to what is happening and to keep ourselves in the loop and in the discussion. Our understanding of minuets and notation need to be updated!
Gottfried Taubert was employed at the University in Leipzig in the Philosophy Department and his specialty was Dance. Hearing Mark Franko speaking about transformation, transubstantiation and time reminded me of this and I think of Mark as a true dance philosopher engaging us today and taking us on a journey demonstrating dance, like the other arts, also delves into theory and questions of ethics and aesthetics whether its dance from the Baroque or dance today. In examining the beliefs and ethics of those in the audience and building a cultural context for how people behaved and functioned in society, dancers today can begin to understand their period audience. In performing the dance to an imagined period audience, different feelings, efforts and states of being can be experienced by the performer. This will inform practitioners about a circular energy between the spectators and the performers…but how does this apply to today’s performances when many in the audience do not believe in the church or government and come from such diverse backgrounds. Is it worth all the trouble?
I think we have to say, “yes!” Perhaps we need several sessions on theory of aesthetics from the 17th and 18th centuries, belief systems in religion and how that translated into everyday life, how Greek thought was used in building aesthetic theory and a new society. Etc. Not all stage dancers at that time were philosophers, but their craft in performance practice was molded by these ideas. Correct me if I am wrong, but I find all published dance treatises from the Baroque begin with an historical context and some include Biblical references and the importance of God and leading a virtuous life. For many people in today’s world thinking of God and a virtuous life is not on their radar, let alone understanding the Baroque definition of God and virtue, the microcosm /macrocosm. Movement of the soul (and by the way what is the soul?) In our modern times is there a fear or an embarrassment in looking into the spiritual life of the performing arts from times past? Perhaps looking into spiritual thought and thought derived from these meditations such as Descartes’ theory on the passions of the soul, could provide a link into understanding other cultures at that time. Are we so different? And how?
The interview with Melinda Sullivan brought us back to today and the offstage life of a performer/teacher. Hearing about her experiences touched many attendees with similar backgrounds. A quote I am taking away from her session is, “Make yourself valuable.” Or to paraphrase John F. Kennedy…Ask not what dance can do for you, but what can you do for dance.
Julia Bengtsson reminded me this morning of the discussion which ensued on the subject of dance history and its place in the university, Western dance history and early dance in relation to early music education. She suggested we could have more sessions on this topic and Jen and I agree.
An amusing comment from From Talitha MacKenzie to Everyone:
I was considering disguising myself as a prospective student and phoning up every institution to say that I want to apply for a course in Historical Dance and to ask what courses they have. Just to give the impression that there is a demand for this . . . I suppose this is also Historical Dance at Play!
Aimee Brown brought a new notation to bridge the gap between musicians an dancers. Interesting comments from the chat include the following:
From Iris-Michaela Schmidtmann to Everyone:
In a Performance I did quite a long baroque choreographie with an Orchestra and I think, it would have been much better if they would have known, where I jumped and where I did a glissé when they rehearsed the Peace. So I think, this is a very good Idea! Thank you
16:07:24 From Talitha MacKenzie to Everyone:
Using colour in the notation might help to get the message across more efficiently.
From Talitha MacKenzie to Everyone:
Talking about the nature of rubato is useful—they should try to retain a sense of the main tactus, speeding up as much as they have slowed down to keep an even tempo overall.
Julie Andrijeski was extremely helpful with her comments and I hope Aimee feels embraced by our community and our enthusiasm for this research and new, very practical, notation she has created. I suspect Aimee may find a mentor in Julie…and this is why we gather at Historical Dance at Play…to share our thoughts and our practice and to support each other.
Darren Royston took most of us into a new world with Laban and the minuet and reminded us that it was a dance currently taught in Laban’s lifetime. It was an old dance but not a lost dance. In the chat someone mentioned that the minuet was revived once the French Revolution and the Terror subsided. This reminded me of Alan Jones in our last workshop talking of Despréaux and his employment at court was more about teaching bowing and standing and walking than complex choreographies because the society.
Tyde Richards, Historical fencing specialist and dance enthusiast, presented his research on the connections between fencing, natural magic and dance suggested by the lavishly illustrated 17th century fencing treatise by Gérard Thibault produced under the aegis of Louis XIII. This session included a movement exercise with Jennifer Meller. Exploring the Spanish fencing style in the context of Spanish dance of the same period captivated our students and we are eager to learn more! Here is a link telling us more about Thibault. https://wiktenauer.com/wiki/G%C3%A9rard_Thibault_d%27Anvers
We hope to see you all throughout the year at dance classes, concerts, workshops and more! Please stay in touch!
The New York Baroque Dance Co. 
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