Historical dance Workshops

Ken Pierce teaches these workshops for online and in-person learners Saturdays and Wednesdays. Each session focuses on an aspect of early dance - whether a certain set of dances or steps, these workshops are designed to link explore the ideas and movement of ballet’s predecessors. See our 2024 - 2025 offerings below.

  • Negri’s “Pavaniglia alla Romana” is one version, among several, of the “Spanish pavane” as it was danced in Italy. We’ll explore Negri’s “Roman” version of the dance in detail, comparing it with other versions as time permits.

    Saturdays, Jan. 18, 25, Feb. 1, 8

    or

    Wednesdays, Jan. 22, 29, Feb. 5, 12

    $60 In person

    $45 online

  • The title of the anonymous dance “La Vielle Pavane” (or simply “La Pavane”) [LMC 8340] seems to refer to the earlier pavaniglia, the subject of the previous workshop. Though the notated steps are those of late-17th-century French dance, the floor patterns and the music recall the older Italian/(Spanish?) dance.

    Saturdays, Mar. 1, 8, 15

    or

    Wednesdays, Mar. 5, 12, 19

    $45 In person

    $35 online

  • Focus TBD

    Saturdays, Mar. 29, Apr. 5

    or

    Wednesdays, April. 2, 9

    $30 In person

    $25 online

Ken Pierce trained in ballet and modern dance, studying on scholarship at both the American Ballet Theatre School and the Merce Cunningham studio. He has specialized in early dance—especially, late-Renaissance and Baroque dance—for the past three decades, as choreographer, reconstructor, performer, and teacher. Companies he has performed with include the Court Dance Company of New York, the New York Baroque Dance Company, Ris et Danceries (Paris), Danse Baroque Toronto, and the baroque dance trio Hémiole (Paris), of which he was a co-founder. He directs his own company, the Ken Pierce Historical Dance Projects (formerly Ken Pierce Baroque Dance Company), for which he has choreographed or reconstructed dances for performances with Tafelmusik, Portland Baroque Orchestra, Concerto Copenhagen, The King’s Noyse, Handel & Haydn Society, and the Boston Early Music Festival. Choreographic credits include dances for Les Élémens, Les Festes d’Hébé, Tirsi e Clori, and les Festes de l’Amour et de Bacchus; King Arthur at the Boston Early Music Festival, and such twentieth-century premières as Le Carnavale Mascarade; Les Plaisirs de Versailles, with Ex Machina Baroque Opera Ensemble; the masque Oberon, at Case Western Reserve University; and le Mariage de la Grosse Cathos at the Amherst Early Music Festival. He was assistant choreographer for Quelques pas graves de Baptiste, Francine Lancelot’s baroque-style piece for the Paris Opera Ballet, whose cast included Rudolph Nureyev. Mr. Pierce has taught at summer dance and music workshops in the U.S. and abroad. He directs the early dance program at the Longy School of Music of Bard College (Cambridge), and teaches classes and workshops in the Boston area.

Past Workshops

  • Gagliarda di Spagna

  • LMC 1900 Chaconne de M. Feuillet

  • Step sequences or patterns found in Barriera, as found in Carroso

  • Gigue Anglaise danced by Mlle. Subligny in Angleterre (LMC 5020)

  • Caroso’s Alta Vittoria

  • Pécour (LMC 4620)

  • Canary Steps and Variations

  • “The Old Canary”

  • Baroque for Ballet Dancers