Old man taking lead position in historic dance (5)
I believe the answer is:
pavan
'historic dance' is the definition.
(historical type of dance)
'old man taking lead position' is the wordplay.
'old man' becomes 'pa' (both can mean father).
'taking' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'lead position' becomes 'van'.
'pa'+'van'='PAVAN'
'in' is the link.
(Other definitions for pavan that I've seen before include "Measured steps" , "Steps deliberately executed" , "Slow formal 20" , "dance" .)