Sixteenth- through eighteenth-century European social dance, contemporary with the eras of Elizabeth I and Shakespeare in England, the Medicis in Italy, Louis XIV in France, and colonial America. The focus will be on learning the dances, supplemented by historical and social background, discussion of the original dance sources, and reconstruction techniques.

This course is a repertory survey conducted in masterclass format. Each participant will learn and sing in class a song every week or two. English lute ayres, French airs de cour, Italian monodies, and later music up to and including Henry Purcell are included. There is a very limited but interesting selection of reading as well.

This course traces major developments in European art during the periods traditionally designated by the terms neoclassicism, romanticism, realism, and impressionism. Focusing primarily on French art, but branching out to consider the art of England and Spain, it explores the key artistic themes of the century: the engagement with history, the rise of nationhood, the experience of the urban, the Marxist proposal, the grappling with modernity, the dealing in individual temperaments.