5/17/2023 0 Comments Eggy in the basket^ "The Egg Dance, Pieter Aertsen, 1552".Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 June 2008. ^ "The history of the Easter egg" (PDF).A number of eggs, I do not precisely recollect how many, but I believe about twelve or fourteen, were placed at certain distances marked upon the stage the dancer, taking his stand, was blind-folded, and a hornpipe being played in the orchestra, he went through all the paces and figures of the dance, passing backwards and forwards between the eggs without touching them. This performance was common enough about thirty years back and was well received at Sadler's Wells where I saw it exhibited, not by simply hopping round a single egg, but in a manner that much increased the difficulty. Him that hoppeth best at last to have the ringīut to return to the egg-dance. Where wooers hoppe in and out, long time may bring In his Proverbs printed in 1566, are the following lines: Hopping matches for prizes were occasionally made in the sixteenth century, as we learn from John Heywoode the epigrammatist. A vestige of this denomination is still retained, and applied to dancing, though somewhat contemptuously for an inferior dancing-meeting is generally called a hop. The indication of such a performance occurs in an old comedy, entitled The longer thou livest, the more Foole thou art, by William Wager in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, where we meet with these lines:ĭancing upon one foot was exhibited by the Saxon gleemen, and probably by the Norman minstrels, but more especially by the women-dancers, who might thence acquire the name of hoppesteres, which is given by Chaucer. The 1867 book The Sports and Pastimes of the People of England reads: There were various forms of egg-dance, but Mark Knowles writes that it was brought to England from Germany by the Saxons as early as the 5th century. In the United Kingdom, the dancing takes the form of hopping and sometimes called the hop-egg. Philibert said, "Let us adopt the custom of Bresse." And they were affianced, and shortly afterward married. The admiring crowd of retainers shouted in approval, "Savoy and Austria!" When the dance was ended and no eggs were broken the enthusiasm was unbounded. If they finished without breaking an egg they were betrothed, and not even an obdurate parent could oppose the marriage.Īfter three couples had failed, midst the laughter and shouts of derision of the on-lookers, Philibert of Savoy, bending on his knee before Marguerite, begged her consent to try the dance with him. A hundred eggs were scattered over a level space covered with sand, and a young couple, taking hands, began the dance. Then the great egg dance, the special dance of the season, began. The event was described in an 1895 issue of The American Magazine as follows. Īn early reference to an egg dance was at the wedding of Margaret of Austria and Philibert of Savoy on Easter Monday of 1498. This had to be done with the feet without touching the other objects placed on the floor. The goal was to roll an egg out of a bowl while keeping within a circle drawn by chalk, and then flip the bowl to cover the egg. Īnother form of egg dancing was a springtime game depicted in the painting of Pieter Aertsen. The egg was a symbol of the rebirth of the earth in Pagan celebrations of spring, and was adopted by early Christians as a symbol of the rebirth of man at Easter. I probably enjoy cooking more than almost anything.which is why I adore this site so much!! Nothing makes me more happy than to create a meal for family and friends to share together and ENJOY.An egg dance is a traditional Easter game in which eggs are laid on the ground or floor and the goal is to dance among them, damaging as few as possible. I'm Becky and I live in Providence, Rhode Island.
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