Uploaded September 2021 | Updated September 2026, 2 hours ago
The Arbeau Dancers are a group based in West Yorkshire who perform dances from the fifteenth through to the nineteenth centuries.
The group formed in 1974 when two friends were asked to demonstrate some dances at a concert.
The name is taken from a 16th Century dance manual called “Orchesographie”, written by a French monk using the pen name of Thoinot Arbeau (an anagram of his real name). Arbeau describes how the dances and steps were performed and give useful pointers towards the etiquette and manners of the time. This and other contemporary manuscripts provide the sources for our repertoire of over 150 dances.
We cover a time period of approximately 600 years, commencing with the grace of the Medieval and Renaissance courts, through the splendour of the Elizabethan age, the lively dances of the Civil War and Restoration eras, the elegance of the French and English Baroque courts and the light-hearted English Regency society, to the enthusiastic celebrations of Victorian high society.
The Arbeau Dancers are a group based in West Yorkshire who perform dances from the fifteenth through to the nineteenth centuries.
The group formed in 1974 when two friends were asked to demonstrate some dances at a concert.
The name is taken from a 16th Century dance manual called “Orchesographie”, written by a French monk using the pen name of Thoinot Arbeau (an anagram of his real name). Arbeau describes how the dances and steps were performed and give useful pointers towards the etiquette and manners of the time. This and other contemporary manuscripts provide the sources for our repertoire of over 150 dances.
We cover a time period of approximately 600 years, commencing with the grace of the Medieval and Renaissance courts, through the splendour of the Elizabethan age, the lively dances of the Civil War and Restoration eras, the elegance of the French and English Baroque courts and the light-hearted English Regency society, to the enthusiastic celebrations of Victorian high society.
