E Van Der Ven-Ten Bensel

Dances of The Netherlands E Van Der Ven-Ten Bensel

Clogs and baggy trousers, wide checked skirts

and white caps - is not this our picture when

we think of Dutch folk dances? But this

costume belongs only to one dance and one

part of the country; even there the women

are coming to prefer 'a pleated black skirt

which gives a slim and even elegant outline'.

And who would suspect the sober Dutch of

such a dance as the Cramignon, a chain dance

that winds 'in and out of the houses and inns

of the village' behind a brass band?

Dr. Elise van der Ven-ten Bensel devoted

her life to the study and preservation of

Dutch folk dances. Together with her

husband, another noted folklorist, she filmed

the traditional customs of the country and

organised folk-dance schools. In this book,

after a lively and amusing essay on Dutch folk

life, the author describes four typical dances,

with their step-notation and music, and four

charming colour plates show the traditional

costumes for each dance.