Armonía Danza & ConcertArt Ensemble
Performers:
Harmony Dance – a dance ensemble specializing in historically informed performance of Renaissance and Baroque dance
ConcertArt Ensemble – early music ensemble
Artistic direction: Sofia Grande and Marco Bendoni
Choreographer: Marco Bendoni
Dancers: Marco Bendoni, Sherezade Soriano, Eva Narejos, Sara Benítez and Rubén Fernández Dávila
The oldest archaeological finds show that dance has been woven into human existence, whether as a form of entertainment or part of rituals and public celebrations and festivities. From the very beginning, dance has been organically linked to music, developing alongside it in countless variations, as part of folk expression or artistic creation. Composers embraced dance forms, strong rhythms and accents as a source of inspiration and contributed to the development of various dance forms, intended for ballrooms and balls, as well as for musical performance and listening. By the dawn of the Renaissance and Baroque, dances had branched out into a wide spectrum of dance types, characters and tempos, originating from different parts of Europe and inheriting specific rhythm patterns and entering into standardized instrumental forms and sequences of dances, or the so-called instrumental dance suites. Some current research, for example, suggests that the concertos of Antonio Vivaldi (1678 - 1741), such as The Four Seasons , often use repetitive triplets and stormy rhythms depicting natural forces, in the so-called "stormy" movements ( Tempesta ), providing a vivid narrative that echoes the energetic dances influenced by folklore, characteristic of the eastern Adriatic hinterland, or Dalmatia.
The dance rhythm, most often from the people, from the streets, went through a long journey of transformation and acceptance in the ballrooms of aristocratic houses and in the stylized musical works of the greatest composers. This journey was often neither quick nor easy. It is difficult to imagine today that the slow, dignified sarabande (one of the most beautiful dances in numerous Bach or Handel suites) in its beginnings, as a Spanish dance accompanied by castanets, with Arabic influences, was criticized for its ugliness "which could arouse negative feelings even in the most polite people" ( Tractate against public entertainment by the Jesuit Juan de Mariana from 1609), whose "source and beginning is in hell", as a character from one of Cervantes' comedies says. The sarabande was banned in Spain in 1583, but it was performed anyway. In the following decades, it was included in the dance canon, spreading to Italy in the 17th century, and then to France, where it took on the characteristics of a slow court dance. It would be similar with other dances in later periods, such as the waltz in the 19th century or the tango in the 20th century.
The nursery of sophisticated dance and the birthplace of ballet was the French court of Louis XIV (1635 - 1715). Accepted at his court and shaped into lavish ballet performances, under the leadership of the most influential opera and ballet composer of the 17th century French court, Jean-Baptiste Lully (1632 - 1687), ballet and various types of dance spread throughout Europe. What happened at Louis's court was a kind of synthesis of the dance music of the time, various European Renaissance dances that received their final stylistic definition in Lully's musical notations. Louis XIV himself encouraged the flowering of the new ballet art, as a passionate patron of the arts, who recognized early on the talent of the young Italian, then still Giovanni Battista Lulli, who quickly embraced his new French name, Lully. Louis XIV, himself an accomplished lute, guitar, and harpsichord player, and an accomplished dancer, often danced the leading roles in Lully's ballets de cour and other spectacles. He first danced with Lully in 1653 in the Ballet royal de la nuit , followed by a series of successful comédie-ballets (created in collaboration with Molière and performed in Paris in the 1660s). As superintendant de la musique du roi and maître de la musique de la famille royale , Lully composed numerous operas, interludes, and ballets. Then, becoming director of the newly founded Academie Royale de Musique (the future Opéra), he created the most powerful institution in Europe, bringing together singers, dancers, instrumentalists, stage artists, and technicians. Their performances of ballets de cour , intermedi, and lyric tragedies, or operas, both at the Academy itself and, from 1682, at the court of Versailles and its magnificent gardens, were the most brilliant spectacles of music, choreography, and dazzling stage effects.
Achille et Polyxène is his last tragédie lyrique , composed in 1687 and left unfinished at the time of his death, due to an injury sustained while conducting. He wrote the overture and the first act himself, while the prologue and the remaining acts were written by his pupil Pascal Collasse, while the choreography was completed by Louis Lestang and Louis-Guillaume Pécour. The overture already exudes a tragic, restless tone, based on a lively rhythm and alternations of major and minor. The lively Bourrée (known as La Bourrée d'Achille ) that comes from the Prologue has been preserved in Pécour's choreography, in the choreographic notation of Raoul Feuillet, a valuable historical document that to this day serves as a template for the choreography of this piece.
Lully himself sang the bass voice and danced in his earlier operas, retiring from the stage at the age of 35. In the comedy-ballet Le bourgeois gentilhomme ( The Gentleman of the City ), which mixes comedy with music, dance, and singing – on which he collaborated with Molière and choreographer Pierre Beauchamp for a 1670 performance at the Château of Chambord, a magnificent country estate on the Loire – Lully himself played the role of the Grand Mufti (performing under the pseudonym Signor Chiacchiarone, "the babbler"). The familiar plot, in which Monsieur Jourdan, a well-to-do citizen, seeks to adopt aristocratic manners, provoking ridicule, culminates in his desire to marry his daughter to a nobleman, while she is in love with Cléonte, a member of the middle class. They trick Jourdan into thinking that Cléonte (disguised as a Turk) is a Turkish prince. It all ends with a mock ceremony, at which Jourdan himself is given a Turkish noble title. One of the most popular musical excerpts is the Marche pour la cérémonie des Turcs (March for the Turkish Ceremony).
The Marche de Savoye belongs to a group of pieces composed by Lully for the Savoyard Regiment in 1685, while the collection of 54 pieces Trios de la Chambre du Roi ( Trios pour le Coucher du Roi ), composed around 1665 (partly misattributed to Lully and the author of the greater part of this collection is Marin Marais ), brings together trios for two high voices ( dessus ) and continuo , which were performed during the royal bedtime ceremony.
Claude Gervaise (1525 - 1583) was a French composer and publisher, author of numerous chansons and instrumental dances, including the Pavane , a slow-tempo dance, whose roots probably lie in the Italian dance of the paduan.
Pierre Attaingnant (1494 -1552) was a publisher in Paris and then the king's sheet music printer, who published sheet music editions of more than 150 composers. Although he was not a composer, he covered a number of works, including a number of dances Bass dance, a popular court dance of the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by slow, gliding steps, in which the feet do not rise high off the floor.
Lorenzo Allegri (1567 - 1648) was an Italian composer who worked at the Florentine Medici court, known as a lutenist and composer of numerous dances for the parties there, from 1608 to 1615. For the court performance The Night of Love prepared by the Grand Duke of Tuscany in 1608, it was created First dance which has been preserved to this day.
German composer, organist and theorist Michael Praetorius (1571 - 1621) left behind a large opus of ecclesiastical and secular works, remembered in the history of music for his treatise Musical Syntagma, which helps to understand the music and performance practices of the time and as an important innovator of Lutheran church music. He is especially important for his collection of dances Terpsichore, based on various folk melodies, especially French ones. From it also comes the dance La Canaria (Canary), an energetic Renaissance dance popular throughout Europe, which probably has its roots in the Canary Islands.
André Campra (1660–1744) was a leading French composer in the period between Lully and Jean-Philippe Rameau, acting as maître de musique in a number of churches as well as the Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris, while also composing numerous tragédies en musique and opéra-ballets for the theatre . His L'Europe galante ( Gallant Europe ) of 1697 is considered the first opera-ballet, with a contemporary plot depicting the different countries of France, Spain, Italy and Turkey, and the amorous adventures of their inhabitants, accompanied by a series of characteristic dances.
The composer and lutenist from Naples, Andrea Falconieri (1585 - 1656) worked throughout Italy, and at the end of his career became court composer of the Neapolitan court. In his vocal and instrumental compositions, especially dances, he combines the influences of Italian and Spanish music, as in the composition Folías hechas para mi Señora , variations on one of the most famous and oldest musical themes in the history of Western music - the so-called La Folía . Its roots are in a fast and noisy Portuguese dance that originated in the late 14th century. The melody developed and acquired a popular Baroque harmonic accompaniment, a structure with the so-called ostinato bass or fundamental bass, which constantly accompanies the theme, which is repeated in different variations.
Variations on the theme of La Folía were composed by many composers, including Antonio Vivaldi , composing the Sonata in D minor, Op. 1 no. 12 RV 63 on the theme of La follia (similar to Corelli's Violin Sonatas La follia op. 5). Although the sonata is not intended for dance, it carries at its foundation this dance theme, which develops in a series of virtuoso string variations. It was published in 1705 in Venice as the last of twelve trio sonatas for two violins and basso continuo , constituting his first opus.
La stravaganza op. 4 is a series of twelve concertos for solo violin, strings and basso continuo, first published in Amsterdam in 1716 and dedicated to the Venetian nobleman Vettore Delfino, who was his violin student. The Concerto alla rustica for strings in G major, RV 151, is one of Vivaldi's most famous concertos. It was composed between 1720 and 1730 and its three short, contrasting movements lead to a dance-like finale, with a characteristic jump to a raised fourth, i.e. using a Lydian mode reminiscent of folk music. Hence the nickname of the concerto "alla rustica". Storm movements, la tempesta , are characteristic of Baroque music, and Vivaldi also inserted them into his four violin concertos, The Four Seasons published in Amsterdam in 1725. Equipped with sonnet verses, probably Vivaldi's own, these concertos describe nature, its beauties and whims, as well as man who submits to the forces of nature and enjoys its blessings. From the bright awakening of spring, to the cruel contrasts of heat and storms brought by summer, mild and lush autumn and icy winter, Vivaldi leads through a series of situations with tonal painting, tremolos, fast passages, pedal tones, pizzicato, depicting various scenes, including two storm situations in the concertos Summer and Winter . These concertos by Vivaldi are a great novelty in the music of the time; they are the first, and at the same time one of the most magnificent examples of what would later come to be called program music.
Zrinka Matić
After 15 years of studying and promoting historical dances, and with a great desire to offer an unforgettable experience through their practice and understanding, the historical dance company Armonía Danza was founded.
Historical dances do not only involve physical learning, but also an approach to humanistic and Neoplatonic philosophy characteristic of the beginning of the modern age.
Our mission is to rescue historical choreography from the 14th to 16th centuries and, with the help of our choreographer and pedagogue Marco Bendoni , bring it closer to and present it to a wide audience through productions, courses, workshops and collaborations.
Aware of the role that performing arts play in educating people as a means of dialogue, communication and understanding, Armonía Danza has produced (and continues to produce) various cultural productions in different countries. Currently, our most ambitious production is Danzando con Leonora , in which members of our team and even former students have participated. We also carry out cultural collaborations to give voice to projects that aim to promote and disseminate Italian cultural heritage. We currently collaborate with the “Instrumentos Musicales con Historia” Foundation of Emilio Villalba and Sara Marina, multi-instrumentalists and early music researchers specialized in the restoration and promotion of historical music, and we organize “Música con historia” meetings and other activities related to early music throughout the year. We also participate in the Mythos project by Rossana Longo.
The company wants to take on social and cultural responsibility by highlighting the power of dance and music as an irreplaceable means of education and emotional development of the individual, contributing to their holistic development. Therefore, we also have an educational segment in which workshops and cultural courses are offered which, in addition to providing cultural experience and learning with top experts such as Marco Bendoni, Roberto Andrioli or Massimo Poli, also showcase the work of the participants through various media.
Sofía Grande is the artistic director of Armonía Danza.
She graduated in Art History and Performing Arts Management from the University of Valencia and in Business Management in the Music Industry from the Pompeu Fabra University in Barcelona. She began her career in Florence at the Ferruccio Busoni Center for Music Studies, under the direction of Marco Vicenzi, and in the field of cultural heritage restoration in Trento.
After obtaining her teaching qualification, she worked on the organisation and programming of educational concerts for the institutions of the Valencia Regional Government, where she coordinated the educational programmes of the Valencian Institute of Culture. She participated in the launch of the school concert programme in collaboration with the “La Caixa” Foundation.
She has led projects involving young artists in multidisciplinary productions, among which stand out Il Casanova by Johan de Mei and Fuego Fatuo. El Amor Brujo by Manuel de Falla. The play Danzando con Leonora , based on texts by Francesco Giambullari and music by Francesco Corteccia, premiered in Florence in 2016.
She currently works as a ROCE coordinator and collaborates with the Foundation for Historic Musical Instruments on projects to preserve and promote cultural heritage.
Marco Bendoni began his career exploring Renaissance and Baroque dance, and his encounter with Andrea Francalanci and the ensemble Il Ballerino di Firenze renewed his passion for Renaissance dance and commedia dell'arte.
Bendoni's passion for early dance led him to collaborate with prestigious ensembles and productions, including Mantua's Fiesta en la Corte , Fiesta de la Realeza , La Divina Comedia and the film Una stravaganza dei Medici . After the death of Andrea Francalanci, he led the ensemble Il Ballerino di Firenze with Bruno Gondoni, performing dances at festivals throughout Europe, Asia, America and the Middle East.
Marco is also a certified instructor of the sacred movements of George Ivanovich Gurdjieff at the Libre Université du Samadeva in France, where he focuses on energy treatments, meditation and psychophysical development. He participates in almost all of Armonía Danza's productions.
The ConcertArt ensemble brings together musicians from Romania, Hungary, Germany, León and Galicia. Its members are: Sole Felloza – voice, Irina Gruia – violin, Ildikó Oltai – violin, Iriana Fernández Llamazares – viola and Thomas Piel – cello, who, based on a common interest in music, strive to promote chamber music from all eras and perform the repertoire of historical and contemporary composers.
Antonio Vivaldi: The Stravaganza
Claude Gervaise: Pavane
Pierre Attaingnant: Bass dance
Lorenzo Allegri: Primo ballo della notte d'amore
Jean-Baptiste Lully: Prelude & Overture from the opera Achilles and Polyxene
Jean-Baptiste Lully: Marche pour la cérémonie des Turcs
Michael Praetorius: La Canaria
Antonio Vivaldi: Concerto alla rustica
André Campra: L'Europe gallant
Jean-Baptiste Lully: La Bourree d'Achille
Jean-Baptiste Lully: Marche de Savoie
Jean-Baptiste Lully: Trios from the King's Chamber (selected items)
Antonio Vivaldi: Madness (shorter version)
Andrea Falconieri: Folías hechas para mi Señora
Antonio Vivaldi: Winter i Summer Storm
