What is "courante"

n. 1 (context music English) An old French dance from the late Renaissance and the Baroque era in triple metre. 2 (context music English) The second movement of a baroque suite (following the allemande, and before the sarabande)

The courante, corrente, coranto and corant are some of the names given to a family of triple metre dances from the late Renaissance and the Baroque era. In a Baroque dance suite an Italian or French courante is typically paired with a preceding allemande, making it the second movement of the suite or the third if there is a prelude.