French dance: folk and old

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Dance is an important part of the national culture. Its roots lie in ancient times. Since ancient times, people have splashed out their strongest emotions in dance: love, hate, happiness and sorrow. One of the greats said: "Movement is life." Therefore, the dance can tell a lot about the traditions and history of the nation in which it originated, as well as about the mentality of people.

Rural and Urban Art

French dance in the old days was exclusively folk. It was performed wherever people gathered. For example, in the field during the harvest, when the sun was hot, and the peasants took a break to catch their breath and have lunch. In the evening, in the tavern after a hard day's work, drunken French splashed out their accumulated energy with the help of dance. At fairs, semi-professional artists (similar to Russian buffoons) "turned on" the townspeople with cheerful music and dances.

An old French folk dance that originated in a peasant environment is called branle. This is a round dance well known to us. Almost all European nations have circular dances. It is connected with the ancient cult of the sun. Branl was accompanied by singing. This is a fun and fast dance. Branl was very popular in France during the 13th and 15th centuries. Regional varieties of this dance are known.

Branle is based on a side step with a tread. Sometimes this dance was performed with jumps. Such a bran was called cheerful. In the 16th century, this ancient dance began to be performed at the courts. Very beautiful branle with a candlestick. The leader, holding a large chandelier in his hands, exchanges it with the lady, who herself becomes the leader. At the heart of such branle is courtship. The dance includes signs of respect - curtsies and bows.

Mosaic of movements

French dance called bourre originated in the province of Auvergne. The famous gavotte was also born there. These dances were transformed into court dances, and then entered the arsenal of classical ballet. In modern choreography, the term "burre" refers to steps of a special type.

Farandole - Provencal dance. It is based on movements that have the shape of a circle, in particular rotation. In the Middle Ages, the farandole was performed in a round dance.

The ancient French dance Rigaudon originated in Provence. The peasants of this province have long been energetic and cheerful, so there are many active movements in rigodone, such as jumping on one leg, spinning. In the 17th century, this dance was performed at the courts of aristocrats. Later rigaudon becomes the property of instrumental music. Lully, Rameau and Handel included it in their suites. In the 19th and 20th centuries, rigaudon became an object of attention for composers who stylized the music of the past.

Fun dancing

An old French paspier dance originated in the north of the country. The likely region of its origin is Normandy. This dance is very ancient. In the old days it was performed underbagpipe accompaniment, so paspier music usually contains repetitive elements. And the famous minuet from the peasant dance of Poitou turned into a symbol of gallantry and grace in the era of the Sun King.

The French dance called the saboteur was performed in special shoes. These were wooden shoes with slightly turned up toes. Clogs - that was the name of the shoes. It was usually hollowed out from a single piece of wood. Sabotier is a relatively slow dance. Clumsy shoes interfered with fast movements. The saboteur is characterized by stomping and hitting the floor with hard shoes.

Democratic Art

In the 19th century, French dance received new incentives for development. After the revolution, urban entertainment was significantly democratized. There are also new dances. Cotillion has been known since the beginning of the century. Translated from French, this word means "skirt", as well as "circular construction of pairs." Cotillion - a kind of mix of all the dances known at that time. It could include w altz, ecossaise, mazurka figures. The movements were chosen by the leading performers and signaled to the musicians.

Quadrille is danced by couples in which the partners are opposite each other. This is a fast and fun French dance. The name of his figures is very original. The movements were determined by the words of the song that accompanied the dance, and were called "pants", "summer", "chicken", "pastoral".

Symbol of Paris

Quadrille variant - the famous cancan. He appeared in Paris in the third decade of 19century. The cancan was danced at the Moulin Rouge cabaret. It has become a symbol of entertainment venues and red-light districts of the past. Initially, can-cans were performed by individual female artists. For a long time it was considered obscene because of the splits and high leg swings. In the English version, the cancan was danced in a line. In the early 20th century, choreographers combined solo performance with ensemble performance. This is how the famous “French Cancan” appeared, known to us by the female squeal and laughter.

The most popular music accompanying the dance is Jacques Offenbach's piece from the operetta Orpheus in Hell. Today, visitors to the Moulin Rouge come to see the very famous cancan, which is the hallmark of Paris.

In the 20th century, French art shows the emergence of new dances. They are often called street. It is with France that vertigo is associated - a kind of electro-dance.