The Art of Baroque Dance - Folies d'Espagne

This feature explores the creative process of researching, reconstructing, re-creating, and performing a Baroque dance. It offers valuable insights into the artistic creativity involved with dance performances. The public will be able to uncover the secrets of the interpretation of a dance, discover its beauty, better understand the elegance and virtuosity of the French Baroque style. This video, produced in France, reveals the 17th century Baroque dance of the sophisticated era of King Louis XIV. It is considered to be the most perfect form of art, uniting all of the qualities needed to educate one's body and soul. Created by dancers in Paris, the film is generously layered with a wealth of historic architectural and artistic images. The popular dance, Folies d'Espagne, has been chosen to be the articulate example of Baroque creativity. Each variation, within this dance, has its own temperament, which is inspiration for that choreography. Thus, the viewer can trace 5 important elements of Baroque dance: dance notation, treatment of space, arm embellishments, relation to music, and interpretation of the dancer. The multi-faceted interpretation offers the viewer valuable insight into the artistic stages which develop a dance performance. The video's director/choreographer, Natalie Van Parys, has an outstanding French Baroque heritage. Her lifetime of knowledge and experience enable the next generation to appreciate a venerable art from the past."