This DVD/VHS program, THE ART OF BAROQUE DANCE : Folies d’Espagne from Page to Stage (DVD in English and French; VHS in English only) explores the elements that enable us to better understand the historical preservation of dance, from the academic page to its transformation into a vibrant performance. This fascinating video, produced in France, reveals the 17th century Baroque dance of the sophisticated era of King Louis XIV. The king, himself an excellent dancer, ordered the invention of a notation system for dance to teach, codify, and spread this art. The French still continue to celebrate 17th century dance today. It is considered to be the most perfect form of art, uniting all of the qualities needed to educate one’s body and soul. View the Video Created by dancers in Paris, the new video, THE ART OF BAROQUE DANCE, is generously layered with a wealth of historic architectural and artistic images. The video’s director/choreographer, Natalie Van Parys, has an outstanding French Baroque heritage. Through this video, her lifetime of knowledge and experience enable the next generation to appreciate a venerable art from the past. In this important DVD/VHS, one famous dance, “Folies d’Espagne”, is beautifully explored. This popular dance, with its music, has been selected because it features short highly expressive pieces. Each variation has its own temperament, which is inspiration for that choreography. By viewing the re-creation of this one Baroque dance, “Folies d’Espagne”, the viewer can trace 5 important characteristics portrayed in this dance performance: .Dance notation .Treatment of space .Arm embellishments .Relation to music .Interpretation of the dancer Thus, this video explores the creative process of researching, reconstructing, re-creating, and performing a Baroque dance. With THE ART OF BAROQUE DANCE : Folies d’Espagne from Page to Stage the public will be able to uncover the secrets of the interpretation of a dance, discover its beauty, better understand the elegance and virtuosity of the French Baroque style, and enter into the world of the very close relationship that existed between dance and music in the 17th century.