Barbara Segal: French Noble Dance in England: a Delight in Complexity?
The English noble style of dance of the late 17th/early 18th century came directly from France; it was however no slavish copy of the original. Was it perhaps the absence in England of the strict rules laid down by the Académie Royale de Danse in France that allowed the English choreographers to indulge their fancies? For there seems to have been in England a much greater variety of steps than appears in French dances of the period. Another difference between the dances of the two countries lies in the far greater rhythmic complexity of the English dances. Perhaps the most striking example of this is to be found in the English hornpipe dances, where a duple-time step is fitted to a triple-time musical phrase. But the hornpipe is not the only type of English dance that reveals complex and unusual rhythms.
The workshop will select plates from various English noble dances to illustrate the rhythmic complexity that makes these dances so different from their French parent; participants will be invited to join in and sample this for themselves.
Barbara Segal, London Great Britain:
She is based in London where she works in the field of Early Dance as a performer, teacher and choreographer. She is director of both Chalemie and Contretemps, groups dedicated to the reconstruction of 18th century dance and music theatre (www.baroquedance.co.uk and www.chalemie.co.uk). She has performed and taught throughout Europe, the Baltic States, Russia and Australia, as well as at many festivals, theatres and stately homes in the UK. She has collaborated with and toured for the Early Music Network and the British Council. She organizes and teaches at the Chalemie Summer School (specialising in early dance, commedia, period costume-making, music and singing) held annually in Oxford. She has taught early dance at The Royal Academy of Dance in London. She holds a Doctorate in Psychology from London University (LSE).
