Les Délices presents Caracteres de la Danse January 29, 2012

Caractères de la Danse is a lively program dedicated to music for dancing - from its social roots in the ballroom to the idiosyncratic, highly expressive music written for the first prima ballerinas on the theater stage. Simultaneously signaling power and grace, refinement and discipline, the art of dancing held a singular status at the court of Louis XIV. As an essential element in the ballroom and on the theater stage, music for dancing is at the heart of French baroque style.

Les Délices’ program includes Rebel’s “Characters of the Dance” (a fantasia choreographed for a single virtuoso dancer), solo suites for oboe and viol by Hotteterre and Herveloix de Caix, and the earthy, rollicking dances of Boismortier’s Ballets de Village. Plus, the Muse of dance herself inspires Rebel’s own trio, La Terpsichore.

Baroque violinist Julie Andrijeski, gamba player Josh Lee, and harpsichordist Michael Sponseller join Les Délices’ director and baroque oboist Debra Nagy.

Official Website: http://www.lesdelices.org