18:00
Mafra
The English Dancing Master
20 Sept, 6:00 PM
The National Museum of Music hosts a concert featuring six members of the baroque orchestra Os Músicos do Tejo. This event pays tribute to a precious musical source that was first published in 1651: *The English Dancing Master*. Produced by publisher John Playford and his heirs, this publication went through around 18 editions between 1651 and 1728. It is something of an English equivalent to the traditional Portuguese *Borda d’Água*, dedicated to group dances known as “Country Dances”, which were a hallmark of English culture in the 17th and 18th centuries. Within its small pages (the book was designed to fit into a dancing master’s pocket), we find more than one hundred melodies accompanied by their respective choreographic instructions.
Come and discover them!
