Is the dance a celebration?
Is the island surrounded by fresh water?
Salt water?
…
Is the island in the Seine?
Is the island within Paris?
Is the island Île de la Cité?
Is the dance depicted in “The Hunchback of Notre Dame”?
NO to all.
Sometimes. Maybe not every time.
NO to both.
Is a bridge involved?
If yes, then I think I know this one, but those who didn’t have French in school probably don’t.
I think we have a winner.
Would you care to give the details?
There’s a French song, “Sur la pont d’Avignon”, literally “On the bridge of Avignon”, about people dancing on the half-completed bridge. But I don’t know where the dance actually was, if it’s not on the bridge of Avignon.
Damn, I’ve been there! I’ve been on that bridge, and yes, there were some children dancing around and singing the song. The bridge actually only goes 2/3 of the way across the river, then stops.
But the “island” part was misleading.
The previous puzzle led me to think of another dance-related poser. I think this one should be fairly easy but at least googling might not easily give up the answer.
I am thinking of a fairly well-known dancer. This dancer is most commonly associated with a particular musical instrument. However, the dancer rarely played this instrument and the instrument was not part of the musical accompaniment of the many performances of the dancer’s dancing. Who is this dancer?*
- I asked a few twenty-somethings at work if they knew this dancer and they, sadly, did not. However I expect better here!
No, the island part is the key to the solution.
*If you want to go dancing on the Bridge of Avignon, you still can. It will cost you 50p and the price of a ticket to France’s former papal city in Provence. But the words of the old French song, about dancing sur le Pont d’Avignon (“on the Avignon Bridge”) should really be sous le pont; for people danced beneath it, not on top.
The narrow bridge was built for pack-horses and donkeys and it simply wasn’t wide enough for merrymakers to join hands in circles for their traditional dance. Instead, they danced beneath the bridge on the Ile de la Barthelasse, a long, thin, reed-covered island that forces the Rhone into parallel channels beside the city walls. Four hundred years ago a pleasure garden was built here and the dancing was a feature of the summer gaiety.
Today there is no sign of the pleasure gardens and the bridge that once spanned both channels of the fast-moving Rhone has lost 18 of its original 22 arches. Now it is just a pier, projecting from Avignon’s fortified walls and falling just short of the island. There is no sign of the arches that connected it to the far bank.
*
So, you think the dance happened on the bridge. You’re wrong. It happened on the island, near to the bridge.
The linked article says 400 years ago (before 1980) which would be 16th century. Other cites say that the song itself is 15th century. I’ve been unable to find out exactly when dancing on the island started or ended. Maybe it was happening in the 14th, 16th or 17th centuries.
Is the dancer H/A/M?
Is the dancer H/A/F?
Is he or she still active?
Are the dances choreographed?
Expansion of those acronyms, please?
Is the dancer primarily known as a dancer?
Is the reason the dancer is associated with the instrument related to the fact that he/she/it was a dancer?
answer to kk fusion
Is the dancer H/A/M?
Is the dancer H/A/F?
**I don’t understand and google did not help (though some fun options there). My ignorance of dance may be showing. In any case, I could not find any matching acronym that would bring a yes answer.
**
Is he or she still active? No
Are the dances choreographed? No
Is the dancer primarily known for live performances?
Is the dancer primarily known for movies?
Is the dancer primarily known for tv?
Was the dancer famous after 1900?
Is the dancer male?
Is the dancer female?
answer to Chronos:
Is the dancer primarily known as a dancer? Yes
Is the reason the dancer is associated with the instrument related to the fact that he/she/it was a dancer? Yes. If the subject in question was not a dancer, they would not be widely associated with the musical instrument.
answer to panache45:
Is the dancer primarily known for live performances? Yes
Is the dancer primarily known for movies? No
Is the dancer primarily known for tv? Yes
Was the dancer famous after 1900? Yes
Is the dancer male? Yes
Is the dancer female? No