The muscles song MH - dance lesson

During the Renaissance, in northern Italy and elsewhere, dance carved out a path for itself outside the traditional spheres of religion, family, engagement and marriage ceremonies, and of course outside of holidays and in the community in general, and settled in the secular plane, took on an organized and thorough-professional form, to the point of becoming an actual profession, with a substantial contribution even to the environment

During the Renaissance, in northern Italy and elsewhere, dance carved out a path for itself outside the traditional spheres of religion, family, engagement and marriage ceremonies, and of course outside of holidays and in the community in general, and settled in the secular plane, took on an organized and thorough-professional form, to the point of becoming an actual profession, with a substantial contribution even to the environment

The aforementioned activity in the Jewish community in northern Italy did not operate in a vacuum. We have in our hands Italian writings about the art of dance in the second half of the 15th century as proof that the court art of dance developed among the circles gathered around the princes of Tuscany and Lombardy, and these contributed greatly to the development of the art and art of dance in this period.
This is a complex, refined and pure art and craft, the purpose of which is different from the folklore dances, which were accepted in the medieval villages.
Two dance artists and teachers of the profession became famous in northern Italy and their names are Antonio Cornazzano and Giovanni Ambrosio from the city of Pisa. Both served the well-known Sforza family. Dominicino da Piacenza, who founded a dance school in northern Italy, was also known in this field.

On the other hand, the senior dance teacher during the Renaissance in Italy was known and his name was Benjamin Giulielmo da Pizarro, or by his nickname Giulielmo Abreu (Julielmo the Jew). Hela wrote a very important treatise on the theory of dance called Trattato dell'Arte del Ballo (that is, a treatise on the art of dance).
This Benjamin, a dance teacher and artist as well as a composer of tunes and dance rhythms, earned the title of "Maestro", used to move from place to place, as an invitee to the courts of rulers and gentlemen's houses, to teach his teachings, guide and demonstrate his choreographic abilities. For example, he was invited to Florence in order to compose some dance tunes for the reigning Duke Lorenzo de' Medici (isn't he Lorenzo "the Magnificent", 1492-1469). Benjamin was, among other things, the teacher and personal guide of Isabella d'Esta, who married Marquis Francesco.
The Jews of Florence, by the way, became famous in singing and dancing, and in the professional aspect, mainly under the influence of the environment and the free atmosphere in northern Italy.

In his composition, which intersperses drawings and practical instructions alongside the ideological, musical and rhythmic aspects, Benjamin Giuliello de Pizarro developed an ideal approach to the art of dance, while vehemently protesting against those who engage in this branch for the satisfaction of body desires and certainly out of frivolity and the realization of folkloristic activity. And so he wrote: "The art of dance is intended for generous hearts, who love and cherish it, and for those with a gentle spirit, who rest in a heavenly disposition towards it."
The author's approach was not a theoretical Torah, but a practical one, and he obliges every dancer to meet six requirements, all of which together create a dynamic, artistic and artistic harmony.
The first - a misura that requires dealing with a given time, in relation to the rhythm of the musical instrument. The second - memoria which concerns continuity and correct order of the movements. The third - partire del terreno which obliges the dancer to divide and divide the space in the dance arena. The fourth - aeire is difficult to perform and concerns the ease of movement, and especially the variety of turns and transitions. This emphasizes the movement of the upper body organs. The fifth - a way that strives for full coordination between the previous one and the footwork. The sixth - movimento corporeo emphasizes the gracefulness and variety of the movement.

Later, Benjamin expands on the speech regarding the musical instructions that accompany the dance. And he does not neglect the choreographic separation between the male dancer and the female dancer.
In another chapter Benjamin discusses the variety of movements: single step, double step, half turn, complete turn, body tilt and more.

Benjamin composed at least 11 types of dances, and his Jewish contemporary Giuseppe Abreu created only one dance.

In the days of Duke Vincenzo I, when the church in Mantua worsened its attitude towards the city's Jews, he himself, his relatives and his entourage did not pass over for attending a ball held at the home of the then famous Jewish dancer and musician Yitzchak Masaran, and in order not to conflict excessively with the leadership of the church, the visit was arranged The Honorable Anonymous.
In 1576, during the days of Duke Giuliello, when a trend of reaction arose among the Catholic Church, and on the occasion of the visit of Pope Gregory XIII to Mantua, an official proclamation was issued on behalf of the city authorities demanding that Jewish musicians, musicians and dancers be prevented from working in Christian homes, unless the Jews were given express permission from the ruling duke. And it is enough to draw a simple conclusion that arises from the sipa of the decree.

Well, how were the Jewish communities affected by this situation that took place in Italy mainly?
Well, this is reflected in the context of the joys of engagement and marriage such as the "mitzva dance" (Mitzva Tanz). According to evidence from Venice in the 16th century, it was a group dance, with the men dancing with the bride and the women with the groom. And Rabbi Moshe Zekut (1697-1620) permits couple dances in Mantua on the condition that the men wear veils, and in another case David the Reuben tells about the girls dancing in front of the guest.
At the beginning of the 16th century, one of the descendants of Rabbi Yehuda Mintz reports on the permission for couples dancing on Purim, on the condition that the men wear modest clothing.

We will end this chapter, and in fact the entire long series on physical activity among the Jews of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, by mentioning the dances of the followers.
Hasidism was, as we know, a popular movement, a life theory intended to reach each and every one of Israel. She created a type of believer, for whom the emotion is more important than the external, and the stickiness and religious enthusiasm - more than the actual investigation and study. And therefore the religious dance, together with the singing and the music, reached a very high level in the Hasidism of the Baal Shem-Tov (from 1740 onwards). The Baal Shem Tov, is the Beshat, says that only through enthusiasm will a person reach the level of "ascension of the soul" as it was told about the musician who danced the Hasidic to the height of their enthusiasm.

Hasidism found in Rabbi Nachman of Breslau, the grandson of the Beshat, the strongest and most beautiful expression of dance, singing and music. And according to him - "...and especially those who can dance, let the dance be really directed, like the movement of the melody. Because there are movements in every organ and organ that belongs to the movements of the melody, for which the movement should be to shake his head or bend himself and so on in the other organs and legs that should make a movement in his body and legs, as the movement of the melody is directed... and the dance is also directed as the pleasantness of the melody and the weight of the song, because it is all one. When you get to hear such a melody with song and talk and with such a dance, that all belong to each other in a really big way. Because speaking, that is, the song and the music and the dance are all really one. When you get the chance to hear this, then you literally become exhausted, overwhelmed by the power of the wonderful pleasure" (Haye Maharan, part XNUMX, XNUMX, p. XNUMX). That is, the unique combination between the dance movements, the rhythm of the music, the words and their weight, and with great enthusiasm, leverages the person for spiritual ascension. So according to the Hasids.

"The root of the blessing is found by dancing." This is how Eliba Darbi Nachman of Beslav, and he further added that the enthusiasm of the dance is in terms of "a woman (the sheen is pure, i.e. the sacrificial fire) the smell of a fragrance to God" (Bamadbar 13:54), and even "in the music of Gentiles there are sparks of God". And there is That the dance of the wide-eyed tzaddik and the followers surrounding him join in one holy dance in the sense that "the Shechina dances". That's how he liked it (S.A. Horodetsky, Chassidut and Chasidim, Dvir, I. p. XNUMX).