pennsicdance: Dance Music at Pennsic

[Maugorn at aol.com]

In a message dated 8/28/05 2:53:03 PM Eastern Daylight Time, 
alexbclark at pennswoods.net writes:


> At 09:32 AM 8/28/2005 -0400, Octavio de Flores wrote:
> >5.  How does Black Nag (1673) escape the Pennsic OOP restriction?  If you
> >argue that it is "similar to" Playford 1, it opens up a pandora's box of
> >opinions about why my favorite dance is "like" Playford 1.
> 
> Black Nag (1657) is very similar to Millison's Jig (1651) in both its 
> figures and its music. 

This reinforces something that I've long maintained: that publication date 
does not necessarily reflect when the music and dance were composed or 
choreographed.

The allowance of a couple of Playford II dances is nothing more than the 
acknowledgement that there were a handful of "stragglers" that got missed in the 
grand roundup that was Playford I.   It could be said to "open up a Pandora's 
Box", but that claim will fall short when you sincerely chart the stylistic 
evolution that was beginning to happen and the aesthetic revolution that Playford 
facilitated.  
In the music, especially, you really CAN tell, if you listen, that Playford I 
was smack dab in the middle of a transition phase where popular music was 
concerned.  And if you look at what dances were included and added later, you can 
also very clearly see what was "the new cool thing" to these folks, and what 
styles were going out.  You can also see "fads", chart trends, and hear what 
composers were being emulated (or plundered) for new dances.
Plus, there are other sources for alot of the music, and sure enough, some 
dance tunes are found there, and when you dig and find the composers and compare 
their life spans, it becomes difficult to justify as "pre-existing", dances 
that would have had to be composed before the composer (and thus the music) was 
born.  Granted, some of the music/dance combinations were a bit liquid, but 
still, you get the point.

Allowing in a couple of obvious stragglers doesn't meant that the floodgates 
have to open.   We ARE allowed to have common sense after all.  (Well at LEAST 
I am.  I have a dispensation from a Pope!)

Maug