How did dance titles such as pavane, allemande, and gavotte communicate speed and style?

In the context of musical notation, dance titles served as essential indicators of performance style and speed before the widespread use of precise tempo markings. By identifying a piece with a specific dance name, composers provided performers with immediate, culturally understood cues regarding the intended character and movement of the music.1

• Pavane: This title signaled that a piece should be performed in a stately, subdued, and majestic fashion, typically in a duple rhythm.21
• Allemande and Gavotte: By the 18th century, these titles, along with others like the courante, functioned as shorthand for precise information regarding the speed and stylistic execution required for the performance.1

These titles acted as a bridge between the written score and the performance tradition, allowing musicians to interpret the music correctly based on the established conventions of the dance form. While later eras adopted more methodical Italian tempo terms—such as adagio or allegro—to define speed, the use of dance titles remained a foundational method for communicating the inherent "feel" and tempo of a composition.1