The Dancing Master (first edition: The English Dancing Master) is a dancing manual containing the music and instructions for English country dances. It was first published in 1651 by John Playford.
The Dancing Master (first edition: The English Dancing Master) is a dancing manual containing the music and instructions for English country dances. It was first published in 1651 by John Playford.
It was published in several editions by John Playford and his successors from 1651 until c. 1728. The first edition contained 105 dances with single-line melodies. The 1651 book The Dancing Master by John Playford had been designed for teaching dancing. It was originally small so that the dancing master could hide it under his cloak and consult it surreptitiously. [1] Subsequent editions introduced new songs and dances, while dropping others, and the work eventually encompassed three volumes.
Dances from The Dancing Master were re-published in arrangements by Cecil Sharp in the early 20th century. In 1957 Margaret Dean Smith completed her facsimile book Playford's English Dancing Master. [2] This work had been the first publication of English dance tunes and her publication established her as the expert on this work. [3]
Dances from the book, in reconstructed forms, remain popular among dancers today. Early versions of the book are rare and command high prices. [1]
Renaissance dances belong to the broad group of historical dances, specifically those during the Renaissance period. During that period, there was a distinction between country dances and court dances. Court dances required the dancers to be trained and were often for display and entertainment, whereas country dances could be attempted by anyone. At Court, the formal entertainment would often be followed by many hours of country dances which all present could join in. Dances described as country dances such as Chiarantana or Chiaranzana remained popular over a long period – over two centuries in the case of this dance. A Renaissance dance can be likened to a ball.
A country dance is any of a very large number of social dances of a type that originated in the British Isles; it is the repeated execution of a predefined sequence of figures, carefully designed to fit a fixed length of music, performed by a group of people, usually in couples, in one or more sets. The figures involve interaction with your partner and/or with other dancers, usually with a progression so that you dance with everyone in your set. It is common in modern times to have a "caller" who teaches the dance and then calls the figures as you dance. Country dances are done in many different styles.
A square dance is a dance for four couples, or eight dancers in total, arranged in a square, with one couple on each side, facing the middle of the square. Square dances are part of a broad spectrum of dances known by various names: country dances, traditional dances, folk dances, barn dances, ceilidh dances, contra dances, Playford dances, etc. These dances appear in over 100 different formations, of which the Square and the Longways Set are by far the most popular formations.
The hornpipe is any of several dance forms played and danced in Britain and Ireland and elsewhere from the 16th century until the present day. The earliest references to hornpipes are from England, with Hugh Aston's Hornepype of 1522 and others referring to Lancashire hornpipes in 1609 and 1613.
John Playford (1623–1686/7) was a London bookseller, publisher, minor composer, and member of the Stationers' Company, who published books on music theory, instruction books for several instruments, and psalters with tunes for singing in churches. He is perhaps best known today for his publication of The English Dancing Master in 1651.
Edward Phillips was an English author.
Irish music collecting is an area concerned with preserving the large body of traditional Irish music. Collections have been gathered by individual collectors of Irish music as well as organisations.
Events from the year 1651 in England, third and final year of the Third English Civil War and final year of the Wars of the Three Kingdoms.
Sir Ralph Assheton, 2nd Baronet of Middleton Hall and Whalley Abbey, Lancashire, was an English landowner and politician who represented Liverpool (1677–79) and Lancashire (1694–98) as a Member of Parliament.
"Broom of the Cowdenknowes", also known as "Bonny May", is a traditional Scottish love ballad,. It has been traced to the seventeenth century, but its exact origin is unknown.
William Delaune D.D. was an English clergyman and academic, President of St John's College, Oxford, and chaplain to Queen Anne.
Edward Wetenhall (1636–1713) was an English bishop of the Church of Ireland. His name is also spelled Wettenhall, Whetenhall, Whitnall, Withnoll, and Wythnall.
Sir Thomas Felton, 4th Baronet, of Whitehall, Westminster and Playford, Suffolk, was an English courtier and Whig politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1690 and 1709.
George Oxenden was an English academic, lawyer and politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1695 to 1698.
Benjamin Needler (1620–1682) was an English ejected minister.
Chestnut is an English country dance from The Dancing Master collection.
Picking up Sticks is an English country dance for three couples in a line, recorded by John Playford in 1651.
Margaret Dean Smith or Lilian Gracie Copeman; Margaret Josephine Dean-Smith; Margaret Josephine Dean was an English folklorist and librarian.
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