There are several dance movements in DIDO AND AENEAS. Often the music for a chorus is repeated and, instead of singing, the chorus dance. The amount of dance numbers may be explained by the fact that the opera was written for Josias Priest, who was a dancing master. Most likely, there was more dance music originally, but some of it was lost.

We are honored to welcome Philadelphia's talented and most knowledgeable choreographer and historian Bob Skiba to provide stage direction and dance and movement coaching for our performers.

"I always feel I happily combine my two loves - research and performing - in the study and recreation of historical and vintage dances", says Bob.

For 8 years (1989-1997) Bob Skiba was choreographer, movement coach and a stage director for the Minneapolis based baroque opera company Ex Machina where he had the opportunity to choreograph dozens of historically staged operas from Monteverdi through Mozart.

After moving to Philadelphia in 1997, he formed his own performing group, Mixed Pickles Vintage Dance Co. He is a faculty member of the Abington Art Center in Jenkintown, teaching modern and vintage ballroom dance. Bob regularly tours in the U.S. and Japan as choreographer and dancer with the New York Ragtime Orchestra. He performs, choreographs, lectures and conducts workshops on historical dance and etiquette for such diverse groups as Temple University, Ballet Arts Denver, Historic Philadelphia, The Philadelphia Museum of Art, and many others. He recently choreographed for the Wilma Theater and DanceBoom. In 2003 Bob worked as assistant choreographer on M. Knight Shyamalan’s film “The Village.”

Bob's love for Philadelphia and appreciation of its heritage inspried him to reserach for a book documenting three hundred years of dancing and social life in the City of Brotherly Love.

Please read Bob's arresting essay about the use of Baroque dance in early opera productions, and particularly in Dido and Aeneas, "All Singing, All Dancing".

"Since its birth at the Italian courts in the late 16th century, opera has always been a sensual feast of music, poetry, art, acting and dance, combined to elicit an emotional response from the audience..."

The choice of the Baroque instrument for this Newsletter was easy - strings are featured in the orchestra of Dido and Aeneas, along with a harpsichord.

Meet principal violinist of the Vox Ama Deus orchestra, Bob Spates and his first love, Baroque Violin.

In addition to many live concerts around the world, Bob Spates is heard constantly on radio, TV, and in film scores, notably in documentaries for National Geographic and the Discovery Channel. You can even hear him playing jazz violin on the Weather Channel!

Most violins are called "modern", no matter when they were originally built. This is because around 1750 instruments were made louder for the larger audiences that started attending public concerts.

Violins (even the prized old Stradivari’s and Guarneri’s) had their necks chopped off and replaced with longer pieces of wood to make the strings tighter and brighter. The insides were modified to make more sound, and metal strings were added to give a more penetrating quality that could reach even the cheapest seats in the back row...

Read this Newsletter carefully and see how many times you can find the word "love" on this page. The first two people to send the correct answer to media@voxamadeus.org will win each a pair of tickets to Bach Birthday Gala on Sunday, March 18.

Good luck!