Pavane (redirected from pavans)

pavane

Pavane, “The Dance in the Garden” illumination from the Roman de la rose, …

(credit: Reproduced by permission of the British Library)

Stately court dance introduced from southern Europe into England in the 16th century. The dance, consisting of forward and backward steps to music in duple time, was originally used to open ceremonial balls; later its steps became livelier and it came to be paired with the quick galliard in triple time.

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pavane, pavan

1. a slow and stately dance of the 16th and 17th centuries

2. a piece of music composed for or in the rhythm of this dance, usually characterized by a slow stately triple time

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Pavane 

(also pavan), a ballroom dance, apparently of Spanish origin (Spanish pavana, from Latin pavo, “peacock”); according to another theory, the pavane (Italian padovana) originated in Italy, in the city of Padua. It became popular in France. Its tempo is slow and stately, in duple time. As a musical genre it was widely represented in 16th- and 17th-century repertoires for the lute, clavichord, and instrumental ensembles, usually in combination with a galliard. The pavane is first encountered in published music in 1508.