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 as 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 concerts Antonio Vivaldi (1678 - 1741), such as The four seasons, often use repeating triplets and stormy rhythms depicting natural forces, in the so-called "stormy" movements (Storm), providing a vivid narrative that resonates with energetic dances influenced by folklore, characteristic of the eastern Adriatic hinterland, namely 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 best 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 Arab influences, was criticized for its ugliness "which could cause negative feelings even in the most polite people" (A treatise against public entertainment Jesuit Juan de Mariana from 1609), whose "source and beginning is in hell", as a character in 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 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 dances spread throughout Europe. What happened at Louis' 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 excellent player of the lute, guitar and harpsichord, and an excellent dancer, in Lully's ballets de cour and other spectacles. He first danced with Lully in 1653 in Royal Ballet of the Night, followed by a series of successful comedy-ballets (created in collaboration with Molière and performed in Paris in the 1660s). As superintendent de la musique du roi i 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 ballets de cour, interludes and lyrical 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.

Achilles and Polyxene his is the last one tragedy lyrique, which he composed in 1687 and left unfinished at the time of his death, due to an injury sustained while conducting. He wrote the overture and first act himself, while the prologue and other acts were written by his pupil Pascal Collasse, while the choreography was completed by Louis Lestang and Louis-Guillaume Pécour. Overture but rather exudes a tragic, restless tone, which rests on a spirited rhythm and alternations of major and minor. Lively Bourree (known as La Bourree d'Achille) which comes from the Prologue, has been preserved in Pécour's choreography, in Raoul Feuillet's choreographic notation, 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 when he was 35. In the comedy-ballet The Bourgeois Gentleman (Citizen nobleman), 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 chatterbox"). The famous plot, in which Monsieur Jourdan, a well-to-do citizen, wants 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 fake ceremony, at which Jourdan himself is given a Turkish noble title. One of the most popular musical excerpts is Marche pour la cérémonie des Turcs (March for a Turkish celebration).

Marche de Savoie belongs to a group of compositions that Lully composed for the Savoyard Regiment in 1685, while the Collection of 54 compositions Trios from the King's Chamber (Trios pour le Coucher du Roi), written around 1665 (which are partly wrongly attributed to Lully, and he is the author of most of this collection marin-marais), brings together a trio for two high voices (dessus) of the continuous, 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 Pavana, a slow-paced dance, probably with roots in Italian dance 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 the 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 at the same time composing numerous pieces for the theatre tragedies in music i opera-ballets. Njegova L'Europe gallant (Gallant Europe) from 1697 is considered the first opera-ballet, with a contemporary plot depicting different countries, France, Spain, Italy and Turkey, and the love adventures of the inhabitants there, accompanied by a series of characteristic dances.

Composer and lutenist from Naples, Andrea Falconieri (1585 - 1656) worked throughout Italy, and at the end of his career became court composer at the court of Naples. In his vocal and instrumental compositions, especially dances, he combines the influences of Italian and Spanish music, and so in his compositions 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 The Folía. Its roots lie in a fast and boisterous Portuguese dance that originated in the late 14th century. The melody developed and acquired a popular Baroque harmonic accompaniment, a structure with a so-called ostinato bass or fundamental bass, which constantly follows the theme, which is repeated in different variations.

Variations on a theme The Folía composed by many composers, including Antonio Vivaldi, composing the Sonata in D minor, Op. 1 No. 12 RV 63 on the theme Madness (similar to Corelli's Violin Sonatas) Madness 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, making up his first opus.

The extravaganza, op. 4 is a series of twelve concertos for solo violin, strings and basso continuo, which Vivaldi first published in Amsterdam in 1716 and dedicated to the Venetian nobleman Vettore Delfino, who was his violin student. 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 the Lydian mode, reminiscent of folk music. Hence the concerto's nickname "alla rustica". The storm movements, the storm, are characteristic of Baroque music, and Vivaldi also includes them in 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, pizzicatos, depicting various scenes, among which are two storm situations in the concertos Summer i WinterThese Vivaldi concertos are a great innovation 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, a historical dance company was created. Harmony Dance.

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, to 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 realized (and continues to realize) various cultural productions in different countries. It is currently our most ambitious production Dancing with Leonora, in which members of our team and even former students participated. We also establish cultural collaborations to give voice to projects aimed at promoting and disseminating Italian cultural heritage. We are currently collaborating 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 project Mythos 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.

Sofia 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 led projects involving young artists in multidisciplinary productions, among which they stand out Il Casanova Johan de May and Fuego Fatuo. El Amor Brujo Manuela de Falla. Performance Dancing with Leonora, based on lyrics 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 He 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 andmedia dell'arte.

Bendoni's passion for early dance has allowed him to collaborate with prestigious ensembles and productions, including Mantua Fiesta en la Corte, Royal Festival, The Divine Comedy and the movie A Medici extravaganzaAfter the death of Andrea Francalanci, together with Bruno Gondoni he led the ensemble Il Ballerino di Firenze, performing dances at festivals throughout Europe, Asia, America and the Middle East.

Marco is also a certified instructor of the sacred movements of Georgi Ivanovich Gurdjieff at Free University of Samadeva in France, where she focuses on energy treatments, meditation and psychophysical development. She participates in almost all productions at Armonía Danza.

Ensemble ConcertArt  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 of 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