Becoming a Better Dancer and Fighter!

How do you become a better dancer and fighter?

The importance of dance in the Middle Ages and Renaissance can be best summed up by a delightful tale told in The Book of the Courtier, written by Baldassare Catiglione as a memoire of a series of courtly conversations that happened in the 1490s. The discourses were intended to help reach a consensus on the qualities and abilities of the perfect courtier, both male and female. And the role of dance is addressed quite extensively. The story basically go as follows:

At a ball being held in the piazza, a young lady approaches a supposed gentleman on the sidelines and courteously invites him to dance. He replies gruffly, "Nay, I do not dance for I am a warrior." And so she looks at him and replies, "Ahhhh, you are a warrior! Well, then, we should clean you, oil you, and store you in the cupboard, for we have no use of 'warriors' now!"

In fact, though, despite this man's protestations about dance not being something that warriors do, dance makes warriors better fighters by increasing their agility, endurance, balance, and dexterity, allowing practitioners of martial arts of all types to execute their art with more power and precision.

But dancers, too, need exercises to hone their skill, to maximize their joy and grace on the floor, and so I have designed a series of drills that build strength, stamina and control, skills needed by both dancers and fighters alike!

So here is a full one-hour drills class from the live Zoom series that I regularly offer and will be offering again as of January 2023. Give it a try and maybe I'll see you in a Zoom class come the new year. ;-)