How to Dance Through Time: The Elegance of Baroque | A preview

Dancetime Titles are now available on iTunes: http://georiot.co/dancetimeyt Get the DVD: http://dancetimepublications.com/prod... The fourth volume of the How to Dance Through Time series teaches the famously patterned dance steps from the French Baroque courts and countryside. These forms are the precursor to ballet and ballroom dance. Learn the Minuet, danced as a romantic courtship ritual, and the intricate Allemande, known for its kaleidoscope of handholds. Next, take a respite from the more formal steps and try the Contradance (Country Dance), an easy line dance that let dancers frolic at the end of Baroque period balls. Follow Carol Téten's Dance Through Time company as they recreate the most influential social dances of the French Baroque Court. The most famous of 18th century dances, the Minuet's patterned steps are delineated on the dance floor for clear viewing. The Allemande's complex and picturesque series of handholds are carefully depicted, and viewers learn of this dance's role in the transition dancing separately to dancing together in an embrace. Eight dancers demonstrate the Contradance's (Country Dance) recognizable line dance pattern. The video also illustrates French Baroque culture through dance, such as how courtiers learned the townspeople's dances on official visits to the countryside, brought the steps back with them to the courts, and incorporated various changes.