]
[Illustration: Fig. 36.--A, man dancing and playing pipes, carrying a
woman; B, jumping through a hoop; C, a stilt dance. 14th century.]
CHAPTER V.
SOCIETY DANCING FROM THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY.
[Illustration: Fig. 37.--Italian dance. From an engraving, end of 15th
century, attributed to Baccio Baldini.]
Concerning the dance as a means of social intercourse, it does not
appear to have been formulated as an accomplishment until late in the
thirteenth century, and at a later date was cultivated as a means of
teaching what we call deportment, until it became almost a necessity
with the classes, as is shown by the literature of that period. The
various social dances, such as the Volte, the Jig and the Galliard,
although in early periods, not so numerous, required a certain
training and agility. These, however, soon became complicated with
many social and local variations, the characteristics of which are a
study in themselves. The dances (figs. 37 and 38) in a field of
sports, from an Italian engraving of the fifteenth century, show us
nothing new; indeed, with different costumes it is very like what we
have from Egypt (fig.
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