DANCES. The revival of dancing as an art began in Italy in the fifteenth century. The Renaissance awoke an interest in dancing as well as in the other arts, and ballets were given on an elaborate scale. Catherine de' Medici introduced the fashion into France, and from that time on France has led the world in the re finement of its dances and the gracefulness of its performers. It borrowed dance forms from almost every civilized country, but so adapted and changed them that their value was immeas urably increased. The origin of modern French forms may be traced to the danses busses and the danRes hautes of the sixteenth century. The former were so called because of their slow, even motion; they were practiced by the nobility. The (Muses barites were lively, jumping dances, and were performed only by the country people and the lower classes. Later the galliard, eourante, and •rolta, which were of a more lively character than the old Court dances, were introduced; and still later the branle became popular. It was a dance of exceedingly varied character, each province having its own form, the passepled of Bretagne and the minuet of Poitou being branles. Richelieu gave many famous ballets during the reign of Louis XIII., while Louis X1V. was him self an enthusiast of the dance, fmmding in 1661 the Academy of the Dance. In the seventeenth century many of these Court dances were enjoyed for the sake of the music alone, and the idea arose of playing several of them in succession as a merely instrnmental entertainment. Ont of this custom originated the suite (q.v.), which in its turn suggested the sonata (q.v.) and the symphony (q.v.). The suites of Bach, Handel, and Co•elli contain excellent examples of some of these old dances. In Italy these groups of dances were early known as Nonage do Camera. As the classic composers used these old dance forms, so modem composers have utilized more recent dances in their compositions. Thus the •sfirtifis is found in Liszt's Hungarian Rhapso dies; the scguidilla in Bizet's rormca; and there is a charming series of Spanish dances in Massenet's Le ('id. The list of national dances is large, but the :nog representative are the fandango and bolero of Spain; the tarantella, the saltarello, and the forlana of Italy: the mazurka and the polonaise of Poland; the reel and the Highland fling of Scotland; and the jig in Ire• land and Wales. Numerous classes of national
dancers have arisen, of which the Bayederes or Nautch girls in India and. the Geishas in Japan are well-known examples. In all the Eastern countries the dance is really a sort of pantomime containing a series of gestures, postures, and mimicries.
Of the more popular modern dances, the quadrille is probably the oldest. Its recent de velopment dates from 1815; but before that time it was common in Europe for centuries. The lancers was invented in 1830: the was in troduced about 1835; and the waltz, from Ger many, about 1812.. The is of American origin, and has lately become exceedingly popu lar. For a discussion of the development of the ballet, see that article. There is no authoritative and comprehensive history of dancing, but the best works are: Grove, and collaborators. Danc ing (London. 1895) Vuillier, A History of Dancing, translated from the French (New York. 1897) ; Girandet, Traite de la (Muse (Paris 1900), which gives exact descriptions of a great number of dances; Cahusae, La douse ancienne et moderns (La Hague, 1754), which, although completely out of date, contains much of historical value: and Emmanuel, La dense grecque antique, d'apres les monuments ( Pa r is, 1896). See also ALLEMANDE; ; BOLERO; CACHUCHA ; CANARIE; CANCAN; CAR MAGNOLE ; CHACONNE ; °DTI LLON ; CUSHION DANCE: CSARDAS ; EGG DANCE; FANDANGO; FARANDOLE; •IRE DANCES; FLOWER DANCE; GALOP; GAVOTTE; GEISHA; HIGHLAND FLING; HORMOS; HORNPIPE; JIG; JOTA ; KIRMESS ; LAN CERS; MAY DANCE; MAZURKA; MEDICINE DANCES; MINUET; MORRIS DANCE; NAUTCH GIRLS; PASSEPIED ; PAVANE POLKA; POLO NAISE; QUADRILLE; REDOWA ; REEL: RIGADOON: SALMON DANCE: SARABANDE: ScHOTTiscHE; SEGITIDILLA ; SICILIANA ; COVERLET, SIR BOGER DE: SNAKE DANCES; SUN DANCES; SKIRT DANCES; STRATHSPEY ; SWORD DANCES; TAMBOURIN : TAR-ANTELLA; TARASQUE. LA; TORCH DANCE; WALTZ.