5 ms·

How did medieval people dance? (2013)

59 points by gpvos 8y ago

monatron 8y ago
I think the most interesting thing about this article was how they handled ads/micropayments. It detected my ad blocker and asked, "Hey, we see you have an ad blocker, disable your ad blocker or each article is 10c, we'll spot you a dollar, are you cool with that?" Yes, yes I am. That's totally reasonable.
- mesozoic 8y ago
  Yeah wow. I just deleted the element blocking my view but that's strange. Ad blockers will just easily stop this countermeasure. (Not that its unreasonable but I just want to scan the page for a few seconds to see if it's interesting or just has a clickbait title and I'm not paying 10 cents for every clickbait title on the internet.
jandrese 8y ago
I like the detail about how the most detailed accounts came from old people writing about how kids these days are going straight to hell. Some things never change.
- irrational 8y ago
  That is interesting. I would think that someone from today who considers the manner in which current youth dance to be sinful would have no problem with the Carole dance. I have to wonder, was there a manner of dance that proceeded the Carole dance that the quoted medieval theologians would have found acceptable?
  - tokai 8y ago
    A dance that didn't involve men and women holding hands.
- yesbabyyes 8y ago
  Indeed--as Socrates is famously quoted, around 2400 years ago: “The children now love luxury; they have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for elders and love chatter in place of exercise. Children are now tyrants, not the servants of their households. They no longer rise when elders enter the room.” On the other hand, he did enjoy dancing, considering: “Music and dance are two arts that complement each other and form the beauty and power that are the basis of happiness.” http://www.faena.com/aleph/articles/wonderful-advice-from-socrates-and-nietzsche-dance-dance-alone/ http://www.faena.com/aleph/articles/wonderful-advice-from-so...
  - kenjackson 8y ago
    I believe that quote is incorrectly attributed to Socrates. See: https://quoteinvestigator.com/2010/05/01/misbehaving-children-in-ancient-times/ https://quoteinvestigator.com/2010/05/01/misbehaving-childre...
    - Retric 8y ago
      Which is kind of missing the point, as the original source was summarizing what people where complaining about 2500 years ago.
    - yesbabyyes 8y ago
      That's great--it felt out of character anyway, though it's funny. Thanks for the correction!
  - watwut 8y ago
    The really interesting question is, was the author of the quote actually right at that time or not? Some generations are laziers when it comes to sport then others, some are more authority following then others.
- xref 8y ago
  the dance “is a circle whose centre is the Devil, and in it all turn to the left, because all are heading towards everlasting death." anyone else immediately wonder what turning right would have implied in the 13th century?
  - gpvos 8y ago
    It would be counterclockwise, and therefore also of the devil (though maybe according to other people?). I seem to remember something about some peoples having clockwise and others counterclockwise dances, according to whether their pagan gods were sun- or moon-based.
Loughla 8y ago
That sounds a lot like modern country line-dancing. There's a simplified step that anyone can learn in just a minute or two. It's repeated. It's usually accompanied by singing from the dancers (in my experience).
- bilbo0s 8y ago
  I don't think it's as much like line dancing as it is like a dance that was popular up here in Wisconsin in my youth. (Which was a VERY long time ago.) Anyway, it was called dancing the maypole. It was slightly different. But it sounds extremely similar to the "Carole" described in the article. Maybe there is some kind of connection to the maypole there? My understanding was that the maypole came to us via the connection of farming to solstice to harvest celebrations. But the old people might have been filling me full of nonsense. Because this "Carole" sounds WAY to similar for it to be coincidence.
  - woodruffw 8y ago
    We have maypole dances in New York! I have fond memories of doing them as a kid (I'm in my early 20s). It wouldn't surprise me one bit if the Carole was related to the Maypole, particularly versions that use Morris dancing[1] (as ours did). [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morris_dance https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morris_dance
deleted 8y ago
[deleted]
brian-armstrong 8y ago
This article doesnt seem to be accessible on mobile. It's just an interstitial.
minikomi 8y ago
Funny how different cultures have "go around something and dance in sync" dances. Bon odori is the one I know in Japan, which originated in the 14~1500s, and is still fun to do today. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=e7SoUIKWkqc https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=e7SoUIKWkqc
TheJoYo 8y ago
A Carole? https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=MAmpBFA988k https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=MAmpBFA988k
ivankelly 8y ago
Sounds very like Sardana [1]. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sardana https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sardana
throwawaymanbot 8y ago
They danced like your awkward dad does.

59 points by gpvos 8y ago

I think the most interesting thing about this article was how they handled ads/micropayments. It detected my ad blocker and asked, "Hey, we see you have an ad blocker, disable your ad blocker or each article is 10c, we'll spot you a dollar, are you cool with that?" Yes, yes I am. That's totally reasonable.

mesozoic 8y ago
Yeah wow. I just deleted the element blocking my view but that's strange. Ad blockers will just easily stop this countermeasure. (Not that its unreasonable but I just want to scan the page for a few seconds to see if it's interesting or just has a clickbait title and I'm not paying 10 cents for every clickbait title on the internet.

jandrese 8y ago

I like the detail about how the most detailed accounts came from old people writing about how kids these days are going straight to hell. Some things never change.

irrational 8y ago
That is interesting. I would think that someone from today who considers the manner in which current youth dance to be sinful would have no problem with the Carole dance. I have to wonder, was there a manner of dance that proceeded the Carole dance that the quoted medieval theologians would have found acceptable?
- tokai 8y ago
  A dance that didn't involve men and women holding hands.
yesbabyyes 8y ago
Indeed--as Socrates is famously quoted, around 2400 years ago: “The children now love luxury; they have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for elders and love chatter in place of exercise. Children are now tyrants, not the servants of their households. They no longer rise when elders enter the room.” On the other hand, he did enjoy dancing, considering: “Music and dance are two arts that complement each other and form the beauty and power that are the basis of happiness.” http://www.faena.com/aleph/articles/wonderful-advice-from-socrates-and-nietzsche-dance-dance-alone/ http://www.faena.com/aleph/articles/wonderful-advice-from-so...
- kenjackson 8y ago
  I believe that quote is incorrectly attributed to Socrates. See: https://quoteinvestigator.com/2010/05/01/misbehaving-children-in-ancient-times/ https://quoteinvestigator.com/2010/05/01/misbehaving-childre...
  - Retric 8y ago
    Which is kind of missing the point, as the original source was summarizing what people where complaining about 2500 years ago.
  - yesbabyyes 8y ago
    That's great--it felt out of character anyway, though it's funny. Thanks for the correction!
- watwut 8y ago
  The really interesting question is, was the author of the quote actually right at that time or not? Some generations are laziers when it comes to sport then others, some are more authority following then others.
xref 8y ago
the dance “is a circle whose centre is the Devil, and in it all turn to the left, because all are heading towards everlasting death." anyone else immediately wonder what turning right would have implied in the 13th century?
- gpvos 8y ago
  It would be counterclockwise, and therefore also of the devil (though maybe according to other people?). I seem to remember something about some peoples having clockwise and others counterclockwise dances, according to whether their pagan gods were sun- or moon-based.

Loughla 8y ago

That sounds a lot like modern country line-dancing. There's a simplified step that anyone can learn in just a minute or two. It's repeated. It's usually accompanied by singing from the dancers (in my experience).

bilbo0s 8y ago
I don't think it's as much like line dancing as it is like a dance that was popular up here in Wisconsin in my youth. (Which was a VERY long time ago.) Anyway, it was called dancing the maypole. It was slightly different. But it sounds extremely similar to the "Carole" described in the article. Maybe there is some kind of connection to the maypole there? My understanding was that the maypole came to us via the connection of farming to solstice to harvest celebrations. But the old people might have been filling me full of nonsense. Because this "Carole" sounds WAY to similar for it to be coincidence.
- woodruffw 8y ago
  We have maypole dances in New York! I have fond memories of doing them as a kid (I'm in my early 20s). It wouldn't surprise me one bit if the Carole was related to the Maypole, particularly versions that use Morris dancing[1] (as ours did). [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morris_dance https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morris_dance

deleted 8y ago

[deleted]

brian-armstrong 8y ago

This article doesnt seem to be accessible on mobile. It's just an interstitial.

minikomi 8y ago

Funny how different cultures have "go around something and dance in sync" dances. Bon odori is the one I know in Japan, which originated in the 14~1500s, and is still fun to do today. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=e7SoUIKWkqc https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=e7SoUIKWkqc

TheJoYo 8y ago

A Carole? https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=MAmpBFA988k https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=MAmpBFA988k

ivankelly 8y ago

Sounds very like Sardana [1]. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sardana https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sardana

throwawaymanbot 8y ago

They danced like your awkward dad does.