PAVAN

PAVANE  Or PAVAN, the name of a slow stately dance of the 16th and 17th centuries . The word has been variously derived: (I) from Lat. pavo, peacock; the dancers, as they wheel and turn, spread out their long cloaks, which they retained in this dance, like the tail of the bird; (2) from Padovana, i.e. of Padua, in Italy; the dance, however, is usually taken to have come from Spain . As an instrumental composition, common in the 16th and 17th centuries, the " pavane " was usually followed by the quick and lively " galliard," as the " gigue " followed the " saraband " in the later suite (see DANCE) .