In this entry I thought I’d add some visual tidbits to go along with my most recent Podcast featuring tales of the Danse Macabre. So if you haven’t listened yet…make sure you do:
You can check out my podcast here:
Episode 8: The Danse Macabre - A Boneyard Boogie
https://www.buzzsprout.com/887464/3924014
The Danse Macabre
The Danse Macabre was a term that referred to a artwork that featured a personified Death character dancing away with the souls of the living. He was quite fair…no one could escape his grasp…whether king, queen, or pauper. When he shows up…off you go dancing to the nether world.
A metaphoric interpretation of the Dance with Death is the Pied Piper of Hamelin, who dances off with the towns children after not getting paid for his rather unique methods of rat extermination.
Walt Disney’s version of a Danse Macabre:
Death and mortality is a topic I’ve addressed many many times but perhaps one of my favorite works was inspired by Schubert’s Death and the Maiden
Franz Schubert’s Death and the Maiden:
The Taratella - this is a little ditty that helped was said to cure people of a venomous spider bite. No evidence this worked but it evolved into a common dance at Italian weddings.
Catrina by Jose Posada - the Mexican Grim Reaper
Posada’s Folk Dance Beyond the Grave:
A Jazz Funeral featured in Live and Let Die: