Here is an invaluable find for anyone interested in dance - be they a dancer, choreographer, historian, a teacher of children, a caller for novices at parties, wedding, ceilidhs or bushdance, or a connoisseur leading enthusiasts in the Renaissance, English Country, American Contra, Vintage ballroom or International folk dance scene. The 128 dances which follow all come from a manuscript which appears to be a translation by a certain Henrj Nagod of Jan D'Honger's Pleasures for Four Seasons, a mid 19th century Bordonian dance manual. About half the dances appear to go back still further to the work of the early 18th century master Egan Hrodnj who in his Terpsichorean Alphabet presented one dance for each letter in the old Bordonian alphabet. The collection offers a treasure trove of other-wise unknown dances in styles from the 16th to the 19th century, with influences from Italy, Spain, France, England, Bavaria, Austria, Bohemia and Poland. There are walking dances, schottisches, polkas, bourrées, waltzes, mazurkas, jigs and reels, in circles, sets, squares, contra lines, trios, couples and random formations, suitable for people with and without partners, for young and old.

The dances are graded into Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter, Village, Country, Town and Court. The spring and village dances are simple enough for the novice. The summer and country dances are slightly more demanding but still quite accessible. The autumn and town dances are slightly more demanding but easily in the stride of an experienced dancer. The winter and court are the most challenging - but guaranteed to reward those who try them. Most importantly, all the dances work! We have enjoyed lead all of them many times and hope you will too. If you are in any doubt about how to interpret an instruction, check the list of abbreviations and glossary of terms on the Dance Terms page or link from the dance's seasonal number to Henrj Nagod's commentary on the dance. You do not need our permission to lead these dances, link to this page or print off a copy of these instructions for your own personal or dance group's use - but do ask us as copyright holders if you want to reproduce, duplicate or distribute these instructions.

For the clearest possible setting out of the dance instructions, together with illustrations, formation diagrams, social and historical commentary, advice for dancers, notation for the 404 tunes (arranged in 128 sets to match the dances) and 8 full-length CDs on which the band Earthly Delights plays in usable dance format all the music originally associated with the dances, we recommend the published book & 4 CD sets The Lost Dances of Earthly Delights Volume 1 and The LOst Dances of Earthly Delights Volume 2 . You can check out the table of contents, audio samples, and reviews or go straight to the order form.

Our apologies for the temporary removal of the dance instructions from these pages. The instructions that were on this page were for dances which you can now find, with full historical notes and accompanying music, in the work The Lost Dances of Earthly Delights Volume 1 & 2. Although we hope to get around to putting the up-dated versions back up on the web it may not be for some time and we hope you will take the opportunity that now presents to acquire the definte version of these dances in the beautiful hard copy books and 8 CDs that are now available. Please go to http://www.earthlydelights.com.au/cds2.htm for more information, order form and contents summary.