Baroque Dancing to Dance in the 21st Century

Everyone could think of something they love to do, but would they really know the history of it?  I’ve been dancing since I was about five years old, and I never really took the time to think about where dance could have come from.  Until now I hadn’t thought that maybe the revolutionary time period helped jumpstart this art.  Every time before I go onstage I go over the choreography (dance steps) in my head.  I get prepared to perform what I was taught, although where did these steps actually come from?  For instance dance was invented a long time ago, and has been developed over time.  In the revolutionary time period, Baroque dance and music was a big thing and lots of people knew of it.  Today in the 21st century dance is very different, although there actually are quite a few similarities.  The dance steps in the Baroque dances are pretty much the same as the ones today, they were just executed differently, mostly by the style of the steps.  Back in that time period the dances tended to be more grounded and connected to the floor, whereas the dance done today (specifically ballet) is more light on the feet with the emphasis going up.  For me it’s really weird to now think that every dance I’ve done wasn’t actually original, it had to come from somewhere and that would be the Baroque dance steps.  Although these dance steps seem a little weird to me at first, I can definitely recognize that the base of the step is still used today, but tweaked a little.  Also the dance is usually done with a partner and in really elaborate outfits (in my opinion), which has changed a lot today.  Thankfully :)

Here is a link to an example of the Baroque dance:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZWDrjLO7r4

Sources:

• http://www.ukbaroquedance.com/baroquedance/

Photos:

• http://nybaroquedance.org/2013/01/22/santa-barbara-historical-dance-workshops-in-june-2013/camargo/