The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1899-02-17

many lowar, the CLOSE oi he ei. htrcnl /,
century. and among many hrlirtS this
contains the most trmth: hut the Justice
Of ailrihntin. tu Gcrmanic Influence
the renaissance of the waltz in France
docs not of necessity verify the state
ment that it had its origin in Germany.
The waltz did not emanalr i'm its
present form from the brain Of Il dane
ing master. Long before 1850. the
time when we find ii first mnnt ioned
under his name. its graceful curves
and cadcncc~ were displayed on the
village greens aS well rs in the golden
salons ofpalaceS: il had its alternatives
of vogue and nr4irci. its supporters
and detractorS
The waltz. like many other secular
things. We find first in the Church.
where. in the midst of harlaric di$or-
der. il serves to trace he union be-
tween ancient civilization and that of
the middle ages. The sacred dance of
the pa@an> is preserved To Il certain
point III Christian r.ic>: il i trans
formed To n series of revolutions made
to the sound of the taml,ourine. st.
lsi,lorc, archbishop of Seville. born
about \. y. $50. WAS intruStel hv the
Council of Toledo with the revision of
the liturgy a> it WAS then practised in
the Roman Church. in which there was
Gil decided to adopt the ISidorian lit
urgy in all Spain, and it differed but
little from that used in uth her countries
at that time. This rite, celebrated be-
fore the eighth century, when the
Moors first invaded Spain. was still
celebrated by the ChrStions in the
Sryrn churches of Toledo. which the
Moor> abandoned after their capture
"i the city. and WAS after that time
called the Moorish rite.
This was known and rmplovcl in
Provence and Italy. The tamhoulinc
in use in this religious dance WAS called
by ST. lsidorc "moi,;r dc symphonic"
and evidently corrc>pon,lcd to the in
Strumcnt which. in the ancient sacred
dances, accompanied the flute. a sort
of hagpipe invented two centuries B.
{. And thus, aS the religious dance
of the middle ages is allied to the
ancient sacred dance. - the waltz is
an evolution Of his religious dance,
having passed through many changes
before arriving at its present form.
In the eleventh century. when the
Grrsorian rite supplantcd the Moorish
rite. the dance disappeared from the
church. 1t appeared very quickly in
society under the name of caroIc, Il
word derived from the Latin cnrrirr:
under that of baSsc dance. in
which the grand prcatcs, kings, and
dignitaricS did not disdain to j,in 1t
was composed of three parts. two very
slow and one more lively
The peopIc-and, at this time, al!
who were not Of the clergy or royalty
were the pcoplc-uSed the last part,
called the the turdion, which, litter
and more lively, appealed to them, and,
little by little, it became changed. In
Italy it was first separated from the
rest under the name of romancsca, and
from there it passed to Provence and
southern Germany, but in each of
these countries it was diversified and
developed according to the character
OF the people.
In Provence it soon became the gail
lard. and this name indicates the char
actcr Of the transformation.
Five hundred years later they danced
the vOltc, which was in turn Il trans
formation of the gaillard The meas
urc was tcrnarv, like the latter. and
might he designated Technically thus:
two steps, a skip, feet together. pause.
The man first faced the opposite couple.
then skipped Oh the left foot turning
the lett shoulder toward them; repeat
ing this four times, he again faced the
other dancers; rs tor the lady, her
movements We're reduced to embracing
as tightly aS possible the neck OF her
cavalier.
As can be seen at once. this dance
rescmblcd the waltz in three ways. 1t
was danced in three time, it was the
first dance in which a turn was made,
and the first in which the dancer en-
braced his partner. The latter, in fact.
did not touch the ground; the cavalier
held her suspended with his left arm
as he executed the four movements de-
scrihcd above.
At the court e Naloi> the voltc was
4 lavoritc dance, especially with Cath
crime de Mcdici. while Henry III was
charmed with The Psalm which Clement
Mnrot set To an air OF the vote, think
ing. perhaps. that what came from the
Church should 60 back to the Church.
The volte, ~ did later he waltz, turned
the heads OF this court, The queen,
Marguerite de Navarro, wifi; of Henry
" WAS IN admirable r"hcHN.
After the corrupt court oi \alrlS
llad been dispersed hy the League and
Henry Ill. the last OF the "rpat roHs Hrs
had fallen under he knife of Jacques
4 a.: / Il 4,