The Duchess informed me through facebook a couple days ago that, yes, her Grace would be pleased for me to teach dancing at our next local gathering. So I started putting together a tentative schedule of dances to be learning between now and May, when the next large war is scheduled.
I'm aiming for two dances a month, one 'easy' and one 'hard'...roughly.
I am going to leave it to decide later whether to add another dance in April or to keep it simple and give everyone extra time to review before the war. 'Easy' and 'hard' in this case are relative and are based on my guesses for people who pretty much have no experience dancing. Quick footwork, complex geometry or tough to follow music make things harder to learn. The really exciting part is that the dances listed above in italics are ones that I need to learn so I can teach them, or at least give them some more practice before I do. I always love any excuse to learn a new dance (or four).
Pavanes are important to teach early because it is a basic dance that anyone planning to attend court should be able to pull off. It is also an improvisational dance that couples should work on and develop together, somewhat like a signature move or routine in swing dancing. That takes time for people to figure out and get confident with. In addition, once the Pavane is under people's belts it makes a great warm-up dance. Galliards are also improvisational, but they can be danced solo or with a partner, and not everyone needs to learn them, only those who'd like to.
It's totally possible I'm gonna chicken out on teaching Galliards in a week and a half. If I do then I'll break out the Official Bransle, which is easy as pie and a great old standby. I don't think it would hurt to give the group two easy dances again since they are just getting started, and Official Bransle is almost as good of a warm-up dance as Pavane.
Now...to go work on that hand out....
I'm aiming for two dances a month, one 'easy' and one 'hard'...roughly.
- November: Hole in the Wall, Black Nag
- December: Pavane, Galliard (?)
- January: Bransle Suite; Simple, Double, Gai, & Burgundian
- February: Maltese Brawl, Greek Dance (TBD)
- March: Rufty Tufty, Gathering Peascods
- April: Black Alleman
- May: Review
I am going to leave it to decide later whether to add another dance in April or to keep it simple and give everyone extra time to review before the war. 'Easy' and 'hard' in this case are relative and are based on my guesses for people who pretty much have no experience dancing. Quick footwork, complex geometry or tough to follow music make things harder to learn. The really exciting part is that the dances listed above in italics are ones that I need to learn so I can teach them, or at least give them some more practice before I do. I always love any excuse to learn a new dance (or four).
Pavanes are important to teach early because it is a basic dance that anyone planning to attend court should be able to pull off. It is also an improvisational dance that couples should work on and develop together, somewhat like a signature move or routine in swing dancing. That takes time for people to figure out and get confident with. In addition, once the Pavane is under people's belts it makes a great warm-up dance. Galliards are also improvisational, but they can be danced solo or with a partner, and not everyone needs to learn them, only those who'd like to.
It's totally possible I'm gonna chicken out on teaching Galliards in a week and a half. If I do then I'll break out the Official Bransle, which is easy as pie and a great old standby. I don't think it would hurt to give the group two easy dances again since they are just getting started, and Official Bransle is almost as good of a warm-up dance as Pavane.
Now...to go work on that hand out....