Agon: The details of the dance

From Wikipedia:

The composition's long gestation period covers an interesting juncture in Stravinsky's composing career, in which he moved from a diatonic musical language to one based on twelve-tone technique; the music of the ballet thus demonstrates a unique symbiosis of musical idioms. The ballet has no story, but consists of a series of dance movements in which various groups of dancers interact in pairs, trios, quartets etc. A number of the movements are based on 17th-century French court dances – sarabande, galliardand bransle.

The Saraband

- A dance in triple meter

- "The second and third beats of each measure are often tied, giving the dance a distinctive rhythm of quarter notes and eighth notes in alternation. The quarters are said to corresponded with dragging steps in the dance."

An Example of this dance:

The Galliardand

- "a form of Renaissance dance and music popular all over Europe in the 16th century"

- usually consists of 5 steps: "right, left, right, left, cadence"

- "characterized by leaps, jumps, hops, and other similar figures. The main feature that defines a galliard step is that the last two beats consist of a large jump, landing with one leg ahead of the other"

An Example of this dance:

The Bransle (or Branle)

- "16th-century French dance style which moves mainly from side to side, and is performed by couples in either a line or a circle"

- "The single branle consists of a phrase of two bars, followed by a phrase of one bar and appears in numerous places"

- "The double branle has a simple form involving two phrases of two bars each"

An Example of this dance: