Classes

There are 26 classes.

A Choreography Workshop

Sion Andreas o Wynedd, Rosina del Bosco Chiaro, and Giuseppe Francesco da Borgia. (Intermediate Level please) This trio of Dance Laurels will conduct this special 2 1/2 hour workshop that will combine information on How to Choreograph along with examples of each of their works. Attendees are welcome to bring their own works for performance/critique.

A Dance Master's Guide, Or How to be a Good Dance Master/Mistress Without Becoming a Nazi or a F

This is an applied dance teaching and theory class. A must for would-be or current dance instructors.

A Reconstruction Workshop

(All skill levels invited) This beginning to intermediate level workshop will offer a hands on chance to reconstruct a dance from period sources.

Advanced English Country Dance

(Advanced level or Beginner's and Intermediate English Country Dance classes, please.) Master Giles finishes the day with these complex but fun English Country Dances.

Ann's Courante

  • Katrina of Iron Mountain
  • Room A on Saturday at 8:00AM to 9:00AM
  • Intermediate

(Intermediate to advanced skill level please) Mistress Katrina teaches this popular SCA Choreographed Dance which features steps in the period popular form known as the Courante.

Basic 15c. Italian Balli

(All skill levels invited.) This class will teach you the basic steps and dances that make up 15c Italian Dance.

Beginning English Country Dance

(All skill levels invited). Master Giles takes you through the basics of English Country Dance. A great beginning to taking the other ECD classes offered during the symposium.

Burgundian Basse Dance

(Intermediate skill level please) This class features 15th century dances from the Brussels and Toulouze manuscripts. Come learn this important dance form.

Caroso-style Ball

Dance in a 'bardic circle' format, with formal manners and live music. All skill levels invited. The playlist includes period dances both easy and advanced, well known in the Society and taught at the Symposium. This is how Caroso expected a high society dance party to work, as opposed to what we usually do in the SCA.

Congratulations, You Already Know 16c. Italian Dances, No Really!

(All skill Levels including Beginners invited) This class introduces you to the most basic Italian steps and figures, and prepares you for more advanced classes during the day.

Dance Musician Logistics

This class is a lecture on organizing and participating in ensembles that support Western European dance guilds and balls. Topics will include; starting ensembles, performance etiquette, coordination, equipment, finding players and orchestration. Instruments not required.

Dances from Arbeau

(All skill Levels invited). Katrina explores the many types of dances that are featured in Orchesography, such as Pavans, Allemandes, and Bransles.

Dances from the Inn's of Court Manuscript

(Intermediate level or Dances from Arbeau Class please) This class features pavans and almans from the Solemn Revells.

Early Medieval Dance Music for Musicians

  • Lady Ellisif
  • Music on Friday at 11:00AM to 12:00PM

This class provides an overview of the earliest known European dance music -- estampie, istanpita, ductia, nota, &c. The class discusses the forms, arrangement techniques, and performance practice, and includes speculation about dance steps. An ability to read music is helpful but not strictly required.

English Country Dance for Two Couples

(All Skill Levels Invited) Messer Giuseppe from Trimaris conducts a class on English Country Dance for sets of two couples. Dances range from simple to fairly complex.

European Peasant Dances

(All Skill Levels Invited) This is a sampler of some of the oldest surviving styles of dance in Europe. Many of these features indicating Medieval or Renaissance origins, some much older, possibly even predating Christianity's advent.

Focus on Bransles

All Skill Levels Invited) Respected researcher and teacher Mistress Signy reopens the book on bransles, and her fresh research yields surprises in many SCA standards.

Intermediate English Country Dance

  • Giles Hill of Sweetwater
  • Room A on Saturday at 1:00PM to 2:30PM
  • Intermediate

(Intermediate level or Beginning English Country Dance please.) Giles continues his English Country Dance teaching with more complex and fun dances.

Introduction to Cascarda

(Intermediate level or prior 16c. Italian classes please.) This class will introduce the choreographic theory behind Caroso's construction of a cascarda with examples.

Italian 15c. Style

The class begins with a teaching of the steps and style in which they should be danced and progresses forward, so that dancers of all skill levels are welcome to attend. This class goes beyond just steps and patterns to cover the styles and manner of 15c Italian dance.

Period Ornamentation and Improvisation

This class will teach fundamentals of ornamenting melody lines. Ornamentation is a method that period musicians used in order to enhance a melody line of a dance tune in order to make the music more interesting. This class will also teach musicians how to create early period melodies the way that mediaeval musicians did using modal scales. Many documented dances are written down improvisations played around a simple bass line. Students will be required to play their instruments or sing. Reading standard notation is required. Students will be required to play their instruments or sing. Reading standard notation is required.

Period Percussion Rhythms

This class will teach western European musicians the basic percussion patterns for court and country dance music. Bring a percussion instrument (tambourine, dumbek, tabor, boudran). Reading standard notation is required.

Pre-Baroque French Peasant Dances

  • Silvija the Landlady
  • Room A on Saturday at 2:30PM to 4:00PM
  • Intermediate

(Intermediate to Advanced level please.) When Catherine de Medici was queen of France, she was fond of dancing, and especially enjoyed productions of peasant dances. This class focuses on dances such as might have been seen by Catherine in her court.

Some Dirt Simple 16c. Italian Dances

(Intermediate skill or Sion's earlier class) This class builds on the skills learned during \"Congratulations, You Already Know 16c Italian Dances, No Really!\"

Starting a Dance Guild

This class discusses how to start an active dance guild in your local group or even kingdom. Mistress Katrina was a founder of the Iron Mountain Dance Guild and a charter member of Saltare (the Meridies Kingdom Dance Guild, which is sponsoring this event).

Survey of European Dance Sources

An overview of the history of European Dance based on primary sources. Very informative for those researching.