Medieval Dance - Other Chain Dances

Other Chain Dances

Circle or line dances also existed in other parts of Europe outside of England, France and Italy where the term carol was best known. These dances were of the same type with dancers hand-in-hand and a leader who sang the ballad.

Scandinavia

In Denmark, old ballads mention a closed Ring dance which can open into a Chain dance. A fresco in Ørslev church in Zealand from about 1400 shows nine people, men and women, dancing in a line. The leader and some others in the chain carry bouquets of flowers. Dances could be for men and women, or for men alone, or women alone. In the case of women's dances, however, there may have been a man who acted as the leader. Two dances specifically named in the Danish ballads which appear to be line dances of this type are The Beggar Dance, and The Lucky Dance which may have been a dance for women. A modern version of theses medieval chains is seen in the Faroese chain dance, the earliest account of which goes back only to the 17th century.

In Sweden too, medieval songs often mentioned dancing. A long chain was formed, with the leader singing the verses and setting the time while the other dancers joined in the chorus. These "Long Dances" have lasted into modern times in Sweden. A similar type of song dance may have existed in Norway in the Middle Ages as well, but no historical accounts have been found.

Central Europe

The same dance in Germany was called "Reigen" and may have originated from devotional dances at early Christian festivals. Dancing around the church or a fire was frequently denounced by church authorities which only underscores how popular it was. Once again, in singing processions, the leader provided the verse and the other dancers supplied the chorus. The minnesinger Neidhart von Reuental, who lived in the first half of the 13th century wrote several songs for dancing, some of which use the term "reigen".

In southern Tyrol, at Runkelstein Castle, a series of frescos was executed in the last years of the 14th century. One of the frescos depicts Elisabeth of Poland, Queen of Hungary leading a chain dance.

Circle dances were also found in the area that is today the Czech Republic. Descriptions and illustrations of dancing can be found in church registers, chronicles and the 15th century writings of Bohuslav Hasištejnský z Lobkovic. Dancing was primarily done around trees on the village green but special houses for dancing appear from the 14th century.

The Balkans

The present day folk dances in the Balkans consist of dancers linked together in a hand or shoulder hold in an open or closed circle or a line. The basic round dance goes by many names in the various countries of the region: kolo, oro, horo or hora. The modern couple dance so common in western and northern Europe has only made a few inroads into the Balkan dance repertory.

Chain dances of a similar type to these modern dance forms have been documented from the medieval Balkans.

Tens of thousands of medieval tombstones called "Stećci" are found in Bosnia and Hercegovina and neighboring areas in Montenegro, Serbia and Croatia. They date from the end of the 12th century to the 16th century. Many of the stones bear inscription and figures, several of which have been interpreted as dancers in a ring or line dance. These mostly date to the 14th and 15th centuries. Usually men and women are portrayed dancing together holding hands at shoulder level but occasionally the groups consist of only one sex.

Further south in Macedonia, near the town of Zletovo, the monastery of Lesnovo (Lesnovo Manastir), originally built in the 11th century, was renovated in the middle of the 14th century and a series of murals were painted. One of these shows a group of young men linking arms in a round dance. They are accompanied by two musicians, one playing the kanun while the other beats on a long drum.

At a later period there are the accounts of two western European travelers to Constantinople, the capital of the Ottoman Empire. Salomon Schweigger (1551-1622) was a German preacher who traveled in the entourage of Jochim von Sinzendorf, Ambassador to Constantinople for Rudolf II in 1577. He describes the events at a Greek wedding:

da schrencken sie die Arm uebereinander / machen ein Ring / gehen also im Ring herumb / mit dem Fuessen hart tredent und stampffend / einer singt vor / welchem die andern alle nachfolgen.

"then they joined arms one upon the other, made a circle, went round the circle, with their feet stepping hard and stamping; one sang first, with the others all following after."

Another traveler, the German pharmacist Reinhold Lubenau, was in Constantinople in November 1588 and reports on a Greek wedding in these terms:

eine Companei, oft von zehen oder mehr Perschonen, Grichen herfuhr auf den Platz, fasten einander bei den Henden, machten einen runden Kreis und traten balde hinder sich, balde fur sich, balde gingen sie herumb, sungen grichisch drein, balde trampelden sie starck mit den Fussen auf die Erde.

"a company of Greeks, often of ten or more persons, stepped forth to the open place, took each other by the hand, made a round circle, and now stepped backward, now forward, sometimes went around, singing in Greek the while, sometimes stamped strongly on the ground with their feet."