Minuet dance - from royal balls to modern dance floors. The minuet is a dance of the past that has become the basis for new music.

Minuet - dance of kings

From the 17th century, it was accepted by the nobility and changed its name. Turned into Amener, from à mener - to lead. Firstly, his peasant origin was hidden in this way. Secondly, the leadership of the first pair was emphasized (the king always went first). However, the new name had to be abandoned. Thanks to their small pas, instead of “Amene”, they began to say “Minuet” (Pas Menu - small step).

The minuet became a court dance during the reign of King Louis XIV. Then there was a "revolution" in the rules of ballroom ceremonies. After all, even touching the fingertips of a lady was considered indecent. In the minuet, the gentleman leads his partner precisely by the fingertips.

Gradually, the fashion to dance the minuet spread throughout Europe, and in France, members of the royal academy of dances took up its improvement. In the 18th century, the dance became even more complicated, it became faster, the movements more pretentious and cutesy. Gained popularity in the circles of the bourgeoisie. They said about him "The minuet is the dance of kings and the king of dances!".

The history of the minuet was interrupted by the French Revolution. Aristocrats either fled the country or died on the guillotine. There was no one and nowhere to dance the minuet, court balls are a thing of the past.

Since then, the minuet lives only in ballet.

One way or another, they paid tribute to the minuet in their work outstanding composers: Bach, Handel, Beethoven, Mozart, Gluck, Tchaikovsky, Rubinstein, Glinka, Debussy, Glazunov. Someone inserted elements of the dance melody into their ballets, someone introduced them into an instrumental suite, someone into an opera overture

The great Austrian composer Joseph Haydn was the first to use the minuet in symphonies.

Guy de Maupassant "Minuet"

(Excerpt from the story)

What danced at noble balls

• Polonaise. They opened the ball, came into fashion under Catherine II. It went on for half an hour. Everyone present danced. During the Polonaise, the ladies met the gentlemen.
• Waltz. The second dance of the noble ball. Came into fashion in Russia
  V early nineteenth century.
• Mazurka. Middle of the ball. Appeared in Russia around 1810. The mazurka was danced in four couples. During its execution, conversations were allowed.
• Cotillion. Origin from France. Known in the middle of the eighteenth century. He came to Russia in the next century. It was a dance-game. The gentlemen in this dance kneel in front of the lady, put her down, deceive, bounce off her, jump over a handkerchief or a card.
• Gavotte. Known since the 16th century. In the 17th century, it became a court dance, acquired a graceful and cutesy character.
• Quadrille. french dance, originated in late XVIII century. was popular before late XIX century. It is performed by two or four couples, arranged in a quadrangle opposite each other.
• Polka. It was very fashionable in France. The polka appeared in Russia in 1845. It was brought by the famous dancer of the imperial troupe of St. Petersburg N. Goltz.

dance video

Who do you think is the most punctual pony in Ponyville? I'm sorry, what? Twilight Sparkle? But they didn't guess. Our heroine's name is Minuet, and her worst nightmare is not being on time.

Good news from Mark Sprague: he made another pony game!

Bad news from him: this is not exactly the game he was going to make :)

The most Top news: The game turned out great.

Minuet is a crystal pony who lives in Ponyville and works at Dr. Colgate's clinic. By the way, they are often confused - obviously, because they have very similar Marks.

However, the special talents of both ponies are completely different. If Colgate knows how to subjugate time to himself, then the Minuet is distinguished by amazing punctuality and always manages to do everything.

There is no worse nightmare for her than being late for something. And, of course, one day there was a villain who took advantage of this. Meet the Nightmare King.

This vile heffalump appears to our pony in a dream and begins to troll her with nightmares in which she is constantly late. But the Minuet won't give up without a fight!

So, our task is to lead the pony to the exit of each level in a limited time. Very limited: typical numbers on the timer are 10-15 seconds. At the same time, the danger of being late is not the only one: you can fall into the abyss or fall on thorns (it’s good that this is just a dream). In general, the levels are surprisingly diverse and include both simple puzzles for manipulating boxes...

So are more exotic things like gravity twists.

The atmosphere of the game, the background music and the expression of the Minuet's face perfectly convey the state of constant panic in which she is. Panic is contagious, but it's better to keep a cool head, because the game is important exact calculation: at some levels you have to try again and again, squeezing out extra fractions of a second, without which you cannot reach the door.

The dance steps of the minuet, perfected over decades, demonstrate the gallantry of gentlemen and the charm of ladies. After all, the minuet is a dance worthy of kings.

The term "minuet" comes from the French menu pas - a small step. This vintage folk dance originated from the round dance amener, which was popular in the 15th century in the province of Poitou. And the basis of the minuet is made up of small steps, small dance steps, which led to the corresponding name.

History of occurrence

The minuet has glorious history, which fell to the lot of few dances. It is called "the king of dances and the dance of kings". The brilliant Louis XIV, the Sun King, considered this dance worthy of his greatness. The legendary Peter I did not deprive the attention of the minuet at his assemblies. And today in the dance and musical art the form of the minuet has not been forgotten and still brings pleasure to dancers and spectators.

The minuet flourished in the 16th and 17th centuries. Brittany is considered its homeland, where the minuet originated as a folk dance, closely associated with song and musical culture this area, its way of life and traditions. The simplicity of the dance, its elegance and grace contributed to the rapid spread of the minuet throughout France, including in court circles.

Special honor fell to the share of the minuet during the reign of King Louis XIV. The Sun King loved to enjoy life, spending his time in entertainment, balls and hunting. In 1650, the minuet became the leading dance of the French court. Interestingly, François-Robert Marcel, a member of the French Royal Academy of Dance, resigned from the Paris Opera, especially in order to teach the minuet to persons close to the court.

The fashion for "everything French" led to the rapid spread of the minuet in other countries. The dance entered Russia during the reign of Peter I and took pride of place among ballroom dances until the 30s of the 19th century.

Now the minuet social dance, has lost its relevance, giving way to other forms and rhythms, but how cultural phenomenon continues to delight with graceful dance figures and musical images.

What is a minuet?

The musical size of the minuet is three-part: 3/4, 6/8. First, the dance was performed by one couple, and then by several. The arrangement of the dancers at court balls was strictly according to ranks: the first persons of the court, the king and queen, began the procession. Behind them came the Dauphin with a noble lady of the court, and behind them the rest of the guests. The tempo of the minuet is unhurried, the movements are important, majestic, built on curtseys and bows, which created the impression not so much of a dance, but rather of an invitation to dance. The minuet included numerous solemn passages forward, backward, sideways, ceremonial greetings. Despite the seeming simplicity of movements, dance training lasted a long time, as it was necessary to thoroughly master the technique of performance. The dancers moved according to a strictly defined pattern in the form of numbers 2, 8 or the letters S and Z.

In the 18th century, with the flourishing of the Baroque style, the minuet acquired the features of mannerism, affectation, pretentiousness. The pace of the dance accelerated, the figures became more complex, story line. The minuet developed to stage dance, began to be actively used in ballet and opera productions.

Minuet Features

The peculiarity of the minuet is in its grace and elegance. The performers had to work on the plasticity of movements, the smoothness of transitions from pose to pose. Particular attention was paid to the softness of the hands: the bends of the hands completed the dance poses, the joining of the partners' hands was carried out smoothly, the elbows should not be raised too high.

The part of the gentleman was especially difficult: it involved manipulations with the hat. The cavalier had to elegantly take off his hat, beautifully shift it from hand to hand, and put it on beautifully again. The magnificent outfits of the dancers suggested slow, solemn movements. The cavalier had to demonstrate in every possible way respect and respect for the lady.

The grace and elegance of the minuet contributed to its longevity. Many dances that appeared simultaneously with him have sunk into oblivion. And the beautiful, majestic minuet has been pleasing to this day for more than one generation of people.

The minuet is the dance of kings. This is how he was described in past centuries and nothing has changed these days. IN modern world the existence of such a dance is known only true connoisseurs art, but from the general public, alas, he irretrievably left. Minuet is a dance that consists of slow movements, small steps, beautiful pas and curtsies. And in order to plunge into the past and find out exactly how our ancestors rested at the balls, we will study the history and all the features of the minuet in more detail.

The origin of the genre

The native places of the minuet are considered to be the historical region. There it existed along with others, which, however, were also performed in aristocratic circles. Its essence then consisted only in the fact that the couples moved gracefully, performing alternately small steps. Of course, such an action was always accompanied by appropriate slow music. Even at that time, the still popular French minuet was already performed with a certain size - ¾. Many composers wrote works especially for this dance or simply improvised at gala receptions and balls.

The formation of dance among the broad masses of the people

At the beginning of the 17th century about this amazing phenomenon folk art learned Louis XIV. It was he who officially proclaimed to the whole country that the minuet is a dance. This was news that instantly spread throughout all the cities, and at every aristocratic court, persons close to the king, counts, barons and other owners began to perform the minuet. high titles. Considering the fact that in the 17-18 centuries there was a fashion for everything French throughout Europe and even in Russia, this new genre quickly won a leading position in all noble courts.

The minuet was in favor, that is, in St. Petersburg and Moscow, it was performed in Poland, in Great Britain. The popularity of the dance did not subside until the middle of the 19th century, when slower steps were replaced by more energetic rhythms and sharp movements.

The historical image of the dance

At the dawn of its existence, the minuet consisted of extremely simple, but very graceful movements. The performers performed curtsies, drawn-out pas; they moved around the hall, now approaching each other, then moving away. Thus, the impression was created that the minuet was not a dance, but only an invitation, very gallant, flirtatious and polite. It was noteworthy that it was always performed by only one couple. That is, the guests took turns dancing the minuet - first the most distinguished persons, then all the rest.

After the dance became widespread in France and beyond its borders, its movements became more complicated. It was important to perform steps to the side and forward with maximum accuracy, thus lining up the figures. Another important metamorphosis also took place. Since the 17th century, the minuet is a dance that is performed by all guests at once. The kings marched first, followed by the dauphins with their companions, and then the rest of the titled guests. All performers during the dance lined up in certain figures. Most often these were the letters "Z" or "S".

Baroque era

During this period, the minuet undergoes significant transformations. Its pace accelerates, the rhythm becomes more mobile and non-standard. If earlier the dance was performed strictly in ¾, now a variation has been added to this size - 6/8. The minuet is a dance that is performed simultaneously for the most part guests. At the same time, all their movements should be filled not only with coquetry, but also with affectation, cunning, charisma. In order to emphasize this "frivolous" nature of the dance, people changed partners. It is also important to highlight that during the years of popularity, the first classical musical accompaniments for this dance. They were divided into three parts and a code. The first part was two-voice, the second - three-voice, in the third part the motifs from the first were repeated. The coda was small and always performed in major.

Features of studying dance

It is amazing, but for all the seeming simplicity of the minuet's performance, it was previously studied for years. Children from an early age were taught to move correctly, developed their plasticity, grace. Each transition, each step was rehearsed with maximum precision, because any movement in such a dance had to be easy, as if improvisation, and at the same time clear, confident, coinciding with all the others. In fairness, it should be noted that the minuet is a dance that is difficult primarily for men. They had to take off their hat, then, as if in one movement, lure the lady to the dance, then, without interrupting the same "breathing", put it back on their heads.

How the world classics wrote

A minuet in music is not just an accompaniment for a dance that has a certain rhythm and tempo. This separate genre, which exists alongside the sonata or prelude. It originally existed as separate form and performed on the harpsichord or clavichord. It later became a mandatory part of the instrumental suite. When opera became popular, the minuet became part of the overture. In the 18th century, entire suites began to be composed of minuets. The first number was necessarily written in major, followed by a dance in minor.

Often this dance was alternated with others, where the modes also varied. Among the composers who wrote music in this genre, it is worth mentioning J. S. Bach. Handel, J.-B. Lully and other composers of the Rococo era. Later, the creators of the era of romanticism took up writing minuets. These were Beethoven (in his notes he calls the minuet "scherzo"), Gluck, Mozart, Satie, Debussy. The described genre is also found in the work of Russian composers: Tchaikovsky, Glinka, Rubinstein, etc.

Mankind has been dancing since time immemorial. An indispensable attribute of any festival in antiquity were dances with simple, unpretentious movements. In some nations, they even became part of a religious cult.

Has become more complex over the centuries social life society, and with it the culture of dance. Now uncomplicated round dances were reputed to be a lot common people, while the aristocracy increasingly began to appreciate the elaborate etiquette of court balls.

What is a minuet?

This is a court dance, rooted in folklore. Its history is lost in the mists of time. It is known that the French peasants of the province of Poitou danced it long before the young Louis XIV introduced the fashion for the minuet at his court.

It happened at one of the balls, when the king, who was very fond of participating in various theatrical performances, acted as a peasant from Poitou. It was then that he first performed a slow dance- branle - to the melody folk song. A little later, this dance was called "minuet", that is, "small", meaning the small steps that gave the dance an extraordinary grace and grace.

France to XVII century has already gained a reputation as a trendsetter, including in the field of dance. Court ballets in the reign of Louis XIV acquire almost political significance. Therefore, as soon as the new dance became popular in Paris, it was soon danced at court balls throughout Europe. In the reign of Peter the Great, the French minuet also came to Russia.

gallant dance

It cannot be said that, having appeared in the middle of the 17th century, already as a dance of the aristocracy, the minuet never changed. Against. At first, only one couple danced it, while the rest of those present at the court ball were assigned the role of spectators.

The dancing couple moved slowly with deliberately small steps, performing mostly ceremonial curtsies and solemn bows. When one couple finished the dance, it was replaced by another. This form of execution lasted until late XVII century. Then not only the nature of the dance changed.

The minuet now began to be performed at a somewhat accelerated pace, new, more complex and pretentious “pas” appeared in it, and the dance itself absorbed the spirit of the gallant 18th century, with its craving for coquetry and affectation. But, in addition, he began to include and more couples dancing at the same time.

From success to oblivion

The minuet is a dance whose technique was not easy to master. Therefore, as soon as it became fashionable, dance teachers began to offer their services to French courtiers. The first of these was François Robert Marcel, who worked at the Paris Opera and was a member of the Royal Academy of Dance.

The solemn manner of performance with strictly sustained poses required the dancers to observe a smooth pattern of rounded lines. The mastery of this art has acquired great importance among the European aristocracy early XVIII century. It was even said that the one who knows how to dance the minuet well does everything else well.

In the years French Revolution the minuet - the dance of the aristocracy - has lost its meaning. He was replaced by simpler ones in execution. Nevertheless, it cannot be said that the minuet was completely forgotten. It continued to be a ballroom dance in the 19th century, although many contemporaries already considered it a relic of the sugary-ceremonial mores of the last century.

Minuet in music

But the minuet is not only a dance. The second meaning of this word refers to a piece of music, in fact, to music written for dance. Later, in the 19th century, artistically processed minuets became part of individual musical works, such as operas.

The ancient minuet consisted of two parts. The first was written in two voices, the second - in the same key or a lower key - in three voices. The second part was followed by a repetition of the first.

Often the minuet ended with a short coda - the final repetition of his main theme. The first minuets were performed on harpsichords, then stringed instruments and a flute were added to them.

Composers who wrote minuets

The music for the early minuets was written by J. B. Lully, the court composer of Louis XIV. He composed operas and ballets, in which the king himself liked to participate, where he also introduced the minuet. It was classic musical composition from two parts. François Couperin and Jean-Philippe Rameau wrote in the same manner.

As the form becomes more complex, the minuet becomes a piece of music in three parts. The suites of Sebastian Bach and Georg Handel serve as an example of this. When in European art the era of classicism came to replace the baroque, Italian composers began to finish opera overtures with a minuet.

Wolfgang Mozart also loved this piece of music, and he not only composed music, but also knew how to perfectly dance a complex dance. One of his most famous minuets was written for the opera Don Giovanni. In the performance of the orchestra, it sounds unusually solemn.

Haydn Joseph - another Austrian composer XVIII V. - He also liked to compose minuets. Like Mozart, he wrote the third part of his symphonies, and sometimes sonatas, in the form of a minuet.

When the fashion goes

Minuet as a ballroom dance and a separate instrumental work remained popular for a relatively long time. IN creative heritage M. Glinka, L. Beethoven, A. Glazunov, K. Debussy, A. Rubinstein and others composers of the XIX century, it occurs quite often.

But everything is changing. Gallant dance has long been a part of the past. However, it cannot be said that today it is completely forgotten, because the minuet is not only a dance. Its form is present in contemporary ballet and musical works.