This vintage book is a concise treatise on the history of dancing in Portugal, Spain, and Italy. Profusely illustrated and full of fascinating information and interesting insights, this is a volume that will appeal to those with an interest in the traditional dances and songs of these countries. Contents include: “Portuguese Dances”, “Basque Dances”, “Spain”, and “Italy”. Many vintage books such as this are increasingly scarce and expensive. It is with this in mind that we are republishing this volume now in an affordable, modern edition complete with a specially commissioned new introduction on dance.

Excerpt from Polite and Social Dances: A Collection of Historic Dances, Spanish, Italian, French, English, German, American; With Historical Sketches, Descriptions of the Dances, and Instructions for Their Performance The Garanos is variously interpreted, sometimes as an archaic religious dance; sometimes as a pas toral dance celebrating the return of the crane in the springtime, showing its flight and other movements. The Geramos was also supposed to figure the endlesswindings and turnings of Theseus in his efforts to free himself from the Labyrinth. From this in turn probably emanated the Labyrinthian dance, usually performed by peasants on returning from the vine yards with their mules laden with panniers of grapes. Leaving their harvest by the wayside, they joined hands and followed a leader, who by waving a hand kerchief initiated all manner of intricate figures. Later these involutions were transcribed into the ancient mosaic floors, thus permanently fixing the patterns of the maze, and producing the first Chore ography, or dance-writing, known to the world. As in sculpture, the Greeks divined and perfected all the possibilities of its sister art of the dance. We show our good sense and taste when we consult its criterions, and follow its laws. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

Discusses the origins and evolution of the folk dances of Ireland, Poland, Greece and Spain.

V. 1. History and background, music and dance -- v. 2. Musical transcriptions -- v. 3. The notes in Spanish and other languages from the sources.

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