What does the word "animated" mean in the following sentence: The dance the couple performed was animated as they whirled and leapt to the quick tempo of the tune played by the fiddle

The word "animated" used in the sentence means the couple were performing a dance full of excitement, or that their moves were full of passion/energy.

Explanation:

The word "animated" has different definitions, for example, one definition meaning art being manipulated in a way that it seems to move, or be life-like, which you can see in cartoons. We can figure out that in the sentence they don't use that definition of the word "animated", and they mean the other definition, which means something being lively or full of energy. From the context, we know the couple is dancing rather than being "animated" like a cartoon, so we know animated means lively/full of energy in this sentence.