Early Renaissance dance: the Tourdion

Dance: The Tourdion ,arranged for this concert by the Courtly Arts Performers. Music: Quand je bois du vin clairet, Pierre Attaignant, played by The Early Music Consort of Melbourne. The Tourdion first became popular in the Burgundian court around 1450. It is similar to the galliard, but the steps are, according to Arbeau, smaller and gentler in nature. The word ’tourdion’ stems from the french ’tordre’, meaning to twist. To echo these features, we chose to dance the Tourdion with gentle cinq pas steps and some dramatic changes of dance was recorded live during our performance of Echoes of Pilgrimage, 3rd December 2023, at Trinity Uniting Church, Brighton, Victoria, Australia. ’Echoes of Pilgrimage’ was based around a historically informed fictional journal of a pilgrimage undertaken , from Canterbury in England to Rome in Italy, the Via Francigena, with additional visits to Walsingham (England) and Montserrat (Spain). We performed song, music and dance associated with locations along the journey... with the occasional sprinkling of poetic licence. The research and writing of the fictional pilgrim journal were undertaken by CAPV members Sally and David Ranson. The Courtly Arts Performers of Victoria are an Australian performance group, comprising dancers formerly known as the Ripponlea Renaissance and Baroque dancers, and the Early Music Consort of Melbourne. You can find out more about us, subscribe to our email news or contact us via our website here: Contact us on Messenger here: Visit our Facebook page here: Instagram: