Ensemble Origo Returns to UConn With SARAVANDA! DANCES OF NEW SPAIN
The performance is on Thursday, October 9, at 8 PM.
By: Stephi Wild Sep. 30, 2025
The UConn School of Fine Arts Department of Music will welcome back Ensemble Origo for a performance on Thursday, October 9, at 8 PM at von der Mehden Recital Hall. The concert, titled “Saravanda! Dances of New Spain,” explores the African and Mesoamerican roots of the sarabande and chaconne, tracing their evolution from early colonial dance traditions to the courts of Baroque Europe.
Expanding on a program first presented in 2023, this concert brings together instrumentalists and a dancer to illuminate the rich cultural intersections that shaped these iconic musical forms. Though later popularized by European composers like Scarlatti and Bach, both the sarabande and chaconne originated in the Americas. A 1579 account by a Dominican friar described the sarabande as a lascivious dance associated with indigenous communities, while a surviving Christmas villancico links the genre to enslaved Africans pointing to a complex history born of colonial New Spain.
The program follows the genres' development through early printed sources, from simple guitar strumming patterns to the refined instrumental works adopted by composers across Europe. By uncovering these lesser-known origins, Ensemble Origo reexamines Eurocentric narratives and invites audiences to consider a broader view of music history.
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