"Every savage can dance", Darcy famously quips in Jane Austen's masterpiece, "Pride & Prejudice".
Such snobbish protests notwithstanding, moving to music has probably been part of humanity's interactions since we first figured out how to beat a stick against a log in a set rhythm, and in the Middle Ages and Renaissance, dance went from being a ceremonial activity to a social one, in which unmarried men and women intermixed and engaged in salacious behavior such as holding hands.
In fact, the concept of couple's dancing seems to have been invented in the late 14th century, with certain polities even passing laws against the practice. The Free Imperial City of Ulm, for instance, threatened to punish couples dancing with a 7 schilling fine, which was not a small sum at the time!
And you, too, can learn the sort of dances that inspired vitriolic sermons and paranoid legislation. I will be offering classes starting in late March, both online and in person. Check out this video here to get an idea of what my medieval and Renaissance dances look like, and I hope to see you in one at some point!
