An egg dance is a traditional

Easter Easter,Traditional names for the feast in English are "Easter Day", as in the '' Book of Common Prayer''; "Easter Sunday", used by James Ussher''The Whole Works of the Most Rev. James Ussher, Volume 4'') and Samuel Pepys''The Diary of Samuel ...

game in which

eggs Humans and human ancestors have scavenged and eaten animal eggs for millions of years. Humans in Southeast Asia had domesticated chickens and harvested their eggs for food by 1,500 BCE. The most widely consumed eggs are those of fowl, especial ...

are laid on the ground or floor and the goal is to dance among them damaging as few as possible. The egg was a symbol of the rebirth of the earth in Pagan celebrations of spring and was adopted by early

Christians Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words '' Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρ ...

as a symbol of the rebirth of man at Easter. Another form of egg dancing was a springtime game depicted in the painting of

Pieter Aertsen Pieter Aertsen (1508 – 2 June 1575), called ''Lange Piet'' ("Tall Pete") because of his height, was a Dutch painter in the style of Northern Mannerism. He is credited with the invention of the monumental genre scene, which combines still life ...

. 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. This had to be done with the feet without touching the other objects placed on the floor. An early reference to an egg dance was at the wedding of Margaret of Austria and Philibert of Savoy on Easter Monday of 1498. The event was described in an 1895 issue of ''

The American Magazine ''The American Magazine'' was a periodical publication founded in June 1906, a continuation of failed publications purchased a few years earlier from publishing mogul Miriam Leslie. It succeeded ''Frank Leslie's Popular Monthly'' (1876–1904), ' ...

'' as follows.

Then the great egg dance, the special dance of the season, began. A hundred eggs were scattered over a level space covered with sand, and a young couple, taking hands, began the dance. If they finished without breaking an egg they were betrothed, and not even an obdurate parent could oppose the marriage. After 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. 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. Philibert said, "Let us adopt the custom of Bresse." And they were affianced, and shortly afterward married.

In the United Kingdom the dancing takes the form of hopping and sometimes called the hop-egg. 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. The Saxon word ''hoppe'' means "to dance". The 1867 book ''The Sports and Pastimes of the People of England'' reads:

The indication of such a performance occurs in an old comedy, entitled ''The longer thou livest, the more Foole thou art'', by
William Wager William Wager (fl. 1566), writer of interludes, is known only by his works. Works The Longer Thou Livest 'A very mery and pythie Commedie, called, The longer thou livest, the more foole thou art. A myrrour very necessary for youth, and specially ...
in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, where we meet with these lines:
Upon my one foote pretely I can hoppe.
And daunce it trimley about an egge.
Dancing upon one foot was exhibited by the Saxon
gleemen An itinerant poet or strolling minstrel (also known variously as a gleeman, circler, or cantabank) was a wandering minstrel, bard, musician, or other poet common in medieval Europe but extinct today. Itinerant poets were from a lower class than jest ...
, and probably by the Norman
minstrel A minstrel was an entertainer, initially in medieval Europe. It originally described any type of entertainer such as a musician, juggler, acrobat, singer or fool; later, from the sixteenth century, it came to mean a specialist entertainer ...
s, but more especially by the women-dancers, who might thence acquire the name of ''hoppesteres'', which is given by
Chaucer Geoffrey Chaucer (; – 25 October 1400) was an English poet, author, and civil servant best known for '' The Canterbury Tales''. He has been called the "father of English literature", or, alternatively, the "father of English poetry". He w ...
. 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. Hopping matches for prizes were occasionally made in the sixteenth century, as we learn from
John Heywoode John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...
the epigrammatist. In his ''Proverbs'' printed in 1566, are the following lines:
Where wooers hoppe in and out, long time may bring
Him that hoppeth best at last to have the ring
But to return to the egg-dance. This performance was common enough about thirty years back and was well received at
Sadler's Wells Sadler's Wells Theatre is a performing arts venue in Clerkenwell, London, England located on Rosebery Avenue next to New River Head. The present-day theatre is the sixth on the site since 1683. It consists of two performance spaces: a 1,500-seat ...
; where I saw it exhibited, not by simply hopping round a single egg, but in a manner that much increased the difficulty. 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.

The

hornpipe The hornpipe is any of several dance forms played and danced in Britain and Ireland and elsewhere from the 16th century until the present day. The earliest references to hornpipes are from England with Hugh Aston's Hornepype of 1522 and others ...

was one of dances performed as an egg dance. Sometimes it was danced blindfolded. For example, the famous American hornpipe dancer

John Durang John Durang (January 6, 1768 – March 31, 1822) was the first native-born American to become known as a dancer. Said to be George Washington's favorite performer, he was famous for dancing the hornpipe, a lively, jiglike solo exhibition so ca ...

performed one of his hornpipes blindfolded on a scene covered with eggs, as did

Barnett Nathan Barnett Nathan (1793 – 6 December 1856), known professionally as Baron Nathan, was an English ''impresario'', entertainer, and dancing master. He acted for many years as master of ceremonies and managing director at Rosherville Gardens. Bi ...

on a stage full of eggs and tea-things.

Julian Mates Julian may refer to: People * Julian (emperor) (331–363), Roman emperor from 361 to 363 * Julian (Rome), referring to the Roman gens Julia, with imperial dynasty offshoots * Saint Julian (disambiguation), several Christian saints * Julian (giv ...

in his book ''The American Stage before 1800'' notes that blindfolded egg dances were popular musical act both in Europe and the United States during the 18th century.

References

{{Eggs Easter egg Traditional Easter games Ritual dances European folk dances

See also

References