ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Shakespearean dance

Shakespearean dance is a type of dancing that people did a long, long time ago when William Shakespeare was alive. It’s not like the dancing you might see in music videos or on TV today because it’s very old-fashioned.

In Shakespeare's plays, sometimes the characters would break out into a dance and it would be a beautiful sight to see. The dances were often done to music made by instruments like drums, flutes, and even harpsichords.

The dancers would do lots of fancy steps, and some of them might include skipping, jumping, and spinning around. The dances often had lots of parts, kind of like a story, and each part would have its own special steps and movements.

It was also important for the dancers to wear the right costumes. They would wear fancy clothes that were popular back then, like big ruffs around their necks, long flowing dresses for the women, and puffy pants for the men. These costumes helped to make the dances look even more beautiful and special.

Shakespearean dance might not be as popular as it once was, but it’s still a really cool thing to learn about and watch.