Orchésographie cover

Orchésographie

by Thoinot Arbeau

Written by a French cleric, Jehan Tabourot, in the form of a dialogue between a dancing master and his student and originally published in 1588, this manual is an important tool in the understanding of late sixteenth-century French social dance. The manual provides critical information on social ballroom behavior and on the interaction of musicians and dancers. The book's usefulness is also enhanced by a notation system that correlates the music to the dance steps. Orchesographie discusses a full spectrum of late Renaissance dance including the galliard, pavane, branle, volta, morisque, gavotte, allemande, and courante.

Chappie’s discussion starters

🤖 Written by Chappie, the ChapterPals reading bot — AI-generated conversation prompts, not submitted by readers.

  1. Which character stayed with you after you turned the last page, and why?
  2. Was there a moment where you disagreed with a character’s choice? What would you have done?
  3. What theme did this book keep circling back to — and did it earn its ending?
  4. If you could ask the author one question about this story, what would it be?
  5. Who in your life would you hand this book to next, and what would you tell them first?