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“In order to play dance pieces correctly, you must learn to dance it.” Thus spoke my recorder teacher this past Friday. A tall order, considering that Baroque dance has become a specialized and rarely-performed art inaccessible to most people.

Orpheus and Euridice – A timeless Greek myth forever ingrained into the classical music repertoire. Since the very beginnings of operatic history, this heartbreaking and beautiful tale has endured numerous adaptions.

“Who were these people? How did they think? What would it be like to experience life in their time and gain full insight into their musical minds?” These are some of the main questions I ask when doing research to aid my understanding of historically informed performance in 17th and 18th-century Baroque music.