A slow, stately dance from the Renaissance period, likely originating from German-speaking regions.
From Spanish/Italian 'alemana,' derived from 'alemán' (German), naming dances that came from or were associated with German culture.
The alemana was to the Renaissance what the waltz became to the Romantic era—a status symbol dance that showed you had European sophistication and courtly training!
Spanish/Portuguese adjective form uses feminine grammatical gender (-ana) for the nationality/ethnicity descriptor. While grammatically standard, the gendered ending reflects historical language structures where feminine forms were marked variants.
In Spanish/Portuguese, grammatical gender is obligatory; use 'alemana' for feminine reference contexts and 'alemán/alemão' for masculine or gender-neutral plural. English has no equivalent requirement.
["German (English, gender-neutral)","persona de origen alemán (Spanish, gender-neutral phrasing)"]
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