Courante

The courante, corrente, coranto and corant are just some of the names given to a family of triple metre dances from the late Renaissance and the Baroque era. Modern usage will sometimes use the different spellings to distinguish types of courante (Italian spelling for the Italian dance etc.), but in the original sources spellings were inconsistent.

In the later Renaissance the dance was done with fast running and jumping steps, as described by Thoinot Arbeau. These steps are sometimes thought to be broken up by hops between the steps, but this is not supported by Arbeau's instructions, which describe each "saut" as resulting in the completion of a new foot placement.

During its most common usage, in the Baroque period, the courante came in two varieties: French and Italian. The French type had many cross-accents and was a slow dance. The Italian courante was faster, more free-flowing and running, however, it is not clear whether this is significantly different from the French Renaissance courante described by Arbeau. In a Baroque dance suite, an Italian or French courante typically comes between the allemande and the sarabande, making it the second or third movement.

See also