Renaissance dances belong to the broad group of historical dances.
While we know that people danced in Europe long before the Renaissance, the first detailed dance manuals that survive today were written in 1450 and 1455 in Italy. These manuals, and later manuals from France, England, and other European countries, give us a peek at what was a very important social activity in the Renaissance.
The dances in these manuals are extremely varied in nature. They range from slow, stately dances (bassadance and pavane) to fast dances (the galliard). Some were choreographed, some were improvised on the spot. One dance for couples, a form of the galliard called lavolta, involved a rather intimate hold between the man and woman, with the woman being lifted into the air while the couple made a 3/4 turn. This dance was a favorite of Queen Elizabeth I of England, and was condemned by the clergy as being the cause of divorce and pregnancy.
Dances from the early 20th century can be recreated precisely, being within living memory and from the age of film and video recording.
Historical dances may be danced as performance, for pleasure at themed balls or dance clubs, as historical reenactment, or for musicological or historical research.
Dance masters, in a vain attempt to maintain their place in society and in the economy, invent dances of greater and greater complexity.
The Renaissance is usually considered to have begun in the 14th century in Italy and the 16th century in northern Europe.
The renaissance itself can be identified with the rise of Humanism which began in Italy with authors such as Boccaccio and Petrarch in the 14th century and ran through the 15th century with Erasmus and many others, and into the High Renaissance period of the 16th century when Mannerism became prevalent.
Although dance as an art form was well known in the middle ages, the first recorded dance instructions and choreography date from the middle of the 15th century.
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