"The Art and Ecstasy of the Chaconne," at Ethical Culture There are many ideas about how the chaconne - the intoxicating dance that bursts with improvisatory flair over a steady, repeating bass line - got its name. It may be that "chac" indicated the sound of the castanets that egged it on. Those castanets sounded again in "The Art and Ecstasy of the Chaconne," a concert on Thursday evening at the New York Society for Ethical Culture. This program was well received when it was first performed in 2009 by the period-instrument group Sinfonia New York. The occasion for Thursday's revival was the fifth anniversary of Gotham Early Music Scene, which has quickly become a valuable performance presenter and tireless advocate for ensembles throughout the city. Few events could have displayed the organization's quality and range better than "The Art and Ecstasy of the Chaconne." The concert journeyed through Spain, Italy, France, England and Germany, showing how the chaconne was an elegant example of cultural diffusion, transmuting in mood as it traveled, while retaining its basic character. What began in the 1500s as a bawdy street dance in the Spanish colonies became a spirited entertainment in Italy. Antonio Bertali's Ciaccona for violin and continuo features skittering ornaments for the soloist (here the violinist Theresa Salomon) and shockingly extreme harmonies. The form produced vocal works like Virgilio Mazzocchi's "Sdegno Campion, Audace" and Monteverdi's "Quel Sguardo Sdegnosetto," both sung on Thursday with rich, even tone and dramatic skill by the mezzo-soprano Maria Todaro. The chaconne was never about relaxation or calm: the title of Mazzocchi's work translates to "Anger, That Bold Champion," and Monteverdi's to "That Scornful Little Glance." It was an expression of aggression and raucous celebration. Even in France, where the chaconne was polished to a sheen of courtly refinement, it tended to be used at intense, climactic moments, well demonstrated by the dancers Patricia Beaman and Carlos Fittante in reconstructions of ballet excerpts from Lully's "Armide" and "Acis et Galatée." Throughout the evening the instrumentalists, including the cellist Christine Gummere, the lutenist Grant Herreid, the flutist Sandra Miller and the harpsichordist John Scott, played with acute crispness. By way of Purcell's grand Chacony in G minor and Dido's Lament from his "Dido and Aeneas," both given powerful performances here, the various strands of the dance's history all converged in the chaconne that concludes Bach's Partita No. 2 in D minor for solo violin. Claire Jolivet showed respect for its myriad elements: the soulful spirituality, the furious passion, the good-natured liveliness. Thousands of miles and nearly 200 years from the dance's origins, the Bach still echoes with the refrain of that New World chacona: "Vida, vida, vida bona! Vida, vámonos á Chacona! Live the good life! Let's go dance the chacona!