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Home | Overview of Music and Dance | flat  ** Different Classes of the Music and Dance in the Elizabethan Era ** In the Elizabethan time period, music and dance were extremely popular. Music and dance were always related together, and new types of music that were created accompanied new styles of dancing. Music and Dance were influenced hugely by Queen Elizabeth I because she enjoyed it herself. The purpose of dancing was for entertainment as well as exercise. Both music and dance were often classified by the social classes.

People in the Elizabethan era danced a lot at festivals and balls. In the Elizabethan era, because of the variety of dances, there had to be dancing masters to teach the people how to dance. They danced not only for amusement and entertainment but also for education and exercises. The Elizabethan time period had various types of dances with various steps and styles. Famous dances included walking steps, sliding, jumping and hopping to make the dance more beautiful ([|source]). The most popular and important dances were the Pavan, Galliards and Almain. These dances were for all the classes, but mostly the higher classes danced these dances.
 * __Dances in Elizabethan time__ **

** [[image:http://msp.blogs.com/photos/uncategorized/2007/10/19/ugly.jpg width="246" height="246" align="left"]] Dances of the Upper Class **
The Upper class enjoyed dances which are from Italy, France and Spain which people learned while they were traveling around Europe ([|source]). In Elizabethan era, people enjoyed many different kinds of dancing and they also had various music for each dances. For instance, there were the Cinque Pas which is a dancing in five steps, the Galliard which is a quick-tempo dance, the Pavan which is a court dance that they had to dance professionally, the Ballet for watching which is very popular even today ([|source]). Upper class always danced when they gathered together and they also had different sorts of dances for each month to match the different purposes of gathering ([|source]). Rich people had more chances to dance and had much more types of various dances.

** Dances of the Lower Class **
The lower class people did not get much chance to dance and hear the new styles of dancing or music from the court. Instead, they danced with the older styles that were shown in the theaters. Dances of the lower class were much simpler and less intricate than the daces of the upper classes. However, they still had very different dances and different styles of music for the dance. People danced when the town’s people congregated on special days and they often danced around the Maypoles. The major dance for the lower class is Roundel which is to dance freely in a circular form and this is also called ‘Ring Dance’. Morrison Dance was also popular due to the using some sticks and rods for the hand movement in order to add beauty to the dance. In addition, Branle was danced in sidesteps and was the most common dance for the lower class which was the first and last dance they performed during the ceremonies and for masque celebrations ([|source]).

**__ Music in the Elizabethan era __** For people in the Elizabethan era, music was considered as one of the most important part of life. Because of its various styles, it became very popular and it was often used in theaters. Also, the Elizabethan music included street music, town music, church music, and court music ([|source]). Church music was the most significant majority in Elizabethan time. Furthermore, during the Elizabethan time, anthem, madrigal, masque and opera were encouraged to be created which made the Elizabethan era so important for musicians today and music was much more meaningful for them ([|source]). All the classes enjoyed music very much and music was not excluded at any time among them.

** Music of the Upper Class ** People of the upper class enjoyed music by having musicians employed at each of their houses. They paid to musicians and watched them singing or playing instruments. Nobles often had at least one instrument in their house due to the requirement of Queen Elizabeth which was to learn how to play instruments or to sing well ([|source]). Queen Elizabeth enjoyed music so that she wanted her people to be experts in music. She also tried hard to studied music so that she herself was professional of some instruments such as the virginal and lute and it was very entertaining for her. In the courts, the ability to play instruments was very significant for Queen Elizabeth.

** Music of the Middle/ Lower classes ** Street music, town music and theater music were the most popular music among the middle and lower classes in the Elizabethan era. Music was really valuable part of their life and musicians in every class composed a lot of music, lyrics and melodies in the Elizabethan time. Street music which is singing or playing instrument on the streets was enjoyed by many people because they had many travelers and wanderers who were passing through. Travelers could enjoy music while they were walking on the streets. Even though musicians were performing freely and it wasn’t for earning money, many people gave them some pennies and pounds because their music was so wonderful. Musicians on the street often used fiddles, lutes and recorders ([|source]). For town music, musicians who played music in town were called ‘Waits’. They usually used hautboy which is a type of oboe and also used pipes while they were performing and they played for town ceremonies and free concerts even though they were actually paid from the town ([|source]).Church music was considered as the most important and popular music in the Elizabethan period. People of the middle and lower class used various types of instruments and it was very beautiful and moving so many loved church music.

Overall, music was a significant value among many people from various classes. Even though their statuses were different and the ways of enjoying music was different, it was certain that they all loved music. 