[SCA-Dance] "Boring" dances, was: Quadran Pavan

[Benjamin Pung]

On Feb 13, 2008, at 12:21 AM, Bruce Padget wrote:

> 3. Are we understanding the purpose of the dance?  Dance would have
> presented a rare opportunity for courtship.  I find it easier to  
> chat up a
> lady during Tinternell than during a cascarda.  A cascarda is more
> impressive in other ways, and a suitor needs the whole arsenal.  A  
> dance can
> also be a community ritual, as with the mass dancing in the streets  
> I have
> been told you can still see in Barcelona on any Sunday.  The tour de  
> force
> to impress an audience of courtiers is completely different from the
> rollicking dance to share a spring day with all the folks in one's
> neighborhood.

I think this one hits closest to the mark for me. I always imagine the  
simplest of the Old measures being danced by people who have been  
doing the dances for decades, chatting away because their feet are  
going through the motions all by themselves. I also think the people  
of the time weren't as easily bored by things like this. You only have  
to look back at the movies of a few decades ago, compared with the  
action extravaganzas of today, to see how quickly our demand for  
stimulation and fast pacing in our entertainments has been increasing.  
Learning how to enjoy the Old Measures as they are is part of  
understanding the culture and mindset of the people we are attempting  
to portray.

--Lorenzo