Sadly this day has had to be cancelled because of the COVID-19 outbreak
The Arts Society City of Chichester in collaboration with The Arts Society Lavant Valley offer this unique and exciting Special Interest Day which will explore the complex and fascinating relationship between these two art forms, combining lively lectures with a number of performance demonstrations in historical costume.
PART 1 - ART AS A REFLECTION OF COURTLY IDEALS IN ITALIAN RENAISSANCE DANCE This lecture will discuss the place of social dance in Renaissance Italy and look at the various dance manuals which appeared at the time. We look at the meaning of specific gestures in works of art and how these relate to dance practice. In particular we examine the famous chain dance or farandole in the 'Good Government' frescoes in the Palazzo Pubblico of Siena, and recreate this and a number of other visual examples with demonstrations in historical costume. We also trace the influence of Italian court dances abroad, focussing in particular on Tudor England.
LECTURE 2: TRACING THE RISE OF THE PROFESSIONAL DANCER IN FRENCH ART This lecture will look at the rise of the professional dancer. We discuss dance at the court of Philip IV in Spain and Louis XIV in France, where technique gradually became more refined and codified, and dancers were either highly cultured members of court or, more usually, trained individuals. We look at the role of Louis XIV’s Académie Royale de Dance, the emergence of professional dance and the evolution of ballet, examining artists’ interpretations of movement over time. We will also demonstrate how performance practice has altered over the past century by comparing a modern ballet dancer’s interpretation of movements to those poses which we see in Degas’ images.
Lectures will be given by art historian Siân Walters (lecturer at the National Gallery, London, Arts Society) and dance historian Darren Royston, Artistic Director of NONSUCH History & Dance and Dance, Movement Tutor at RADA and period dance consultant to the National Theatre and the Old Vic. Professional dancers will also be involved in the demonstrations.
Siân and Darren have presented a large number of similar lectures at the National Gallery over the past three years, including highly popular events in conjunction with the gallery's "Renaissance Siena" exhibition, "Big Dance" and more recently "Dance at the Court of Philip IV", in conjunction with "The Sacred Made Real".
For information and tickets please contact Celia O'Shea 01243 788969 celia@firethorn.me.uk