Dance
At all times and in each district, or Province, one has had a given dance, such as the English have measures and contredances. The Scottish have the Scotch Brawl, the Germans the Almain, the Normans the Bransles-de-villag-es, the Bretons the Triory, or Passepied. The Bransles de Poitou come from the Poitevins, and the Volta from Provence. From the Italians come the Gaillarde, or Romanesque. From the Spaniards the Sarabande and Pavane. From the Moors the Morisco. From Paris, and some other places in France, we have a diversity of the Bransles and Courantes.
François de Lauze enlightens us on the geographic diversity of dance styles, and his statement can also be applied chronologically, for this era saw exciting changes in dance technique, underscored by remarkable rediscoveries of dance sources (discussed below) in the last two decades. Based on surviving documents, two distinct periods present themselves, the late Renaissance (ca.1550–ca. 1630) and the Baroque (ca. 1670–ca. 1725), with a transitional period in between (ca. 1630–ca. 1670).1 That dance was an important element throughout this era is proven by the many literary references, costume and scene designs, and vast amount of music devoted to it. This chapter provides information to aid musicians and dancers in the performance of seventeenth-century dance and dance music, focusing on the late Renaissance and transitional periods. It should be remembered that what we know about dance in this era is highly colored by the fact that surviving manuals were written almost exclusively for use by the upper classes.2
Courtiers and ladies were expected to be skilled in dance, as it played an integral role at court: it helped to establish the formality of official occasions while ornamenting and glorifying the power of the nobility. On the social level, dance revealed the perceived strengths of the sexes—the power and dexterity of the male, the charms and beauty of the female. While courtiers and ladies honed their social graces (by flirting) and polished their dancing technique, the group dances were fun: they brought people together in an enjoyable way.
Dance in the theater was sometimes a political tool. Theatrical court entertainments were designed primarily to show off the wealth of the nobility. In English masques, Italian intermedii, and French ballets de cour, dance played an integral role, and its importance to court society was enhanced by the fact that most of the dances were performed by courtiers themselves.3 Courtiers continued to dance in theatrical productions until about the last quarter of the century, when professional dancers gradually gained prominence.4
A possible distinction between court and theatrical dance is that the latter included a choreographed entrance, while in social dances the dancers merely walked (after the customary honors) to their opening positions. Theatrical dances often presented designs that faced out toward the audience (and important dignitaries), whereas social dances offered patterns devised for the dancers themselves.5 Theatrical dances were primarily group dances, either single-sex or mixed. Evidence for solo dances is scanty: Thoinot Arbeau described the morisque (morris) dance for a solo man, and there is a reference to a solo in the Florentine intermedii of 1589.6
Dance manuals principally describe social dance; precise information on theatrical dance is scarce. Among the few extant theatrical choreographies are four in Cesare Negri's book (see below) and Emilio de’ Cavalieri's ballo titled O che nuovo miracolo, for the Florentine intermedii of 1589.7 Arbeau's sword dance, Les bouffons (see below), also has theatrical characteristics. For the later seventeenth century, the list of sources below identifies manuals that contain significant information on dance in the theater.
SOURCES
The sources that follow vary considerably in content, and this is by no means an exhaustive list. Some offer descriptions of dance steps, and a few provide complete choreographies. Some manuals also include music, illustrations, and rudimentary discussions of dance theory. Some of the manuals also offer advice on etiquette and fashion accessories–a reflection of the varied responsibilities of dancing masters. The manuals principally describe social dances for men and women dancing together. Most are couple dances, presumably performed by one couple at a time while others looked on; there are also several choreographies for three, four, six, eight or more dancers. Processional-type dances such as the pavan were performed by several couples.
Recently rediscovered sources such as Ercole Santucci's Mæstro da ballo, the anonymous Instruction pour dancer, Johann Georg Pasch's Anleitung sich bei gros-sen Herrn Höfen und andern beliebt zu machen, and others add considerably to our knowledge of dance in this period, while paradoxically raising even more questions. These sources provide new choreographies, additional versions of existing choreographies, new and previously unknown step vocabularies, indications of a changing technique, information on tempos for certain dances, and more information on contemporary dancers/choreographers.
Figure 21.2. Ballet of Twelve Nations. Festivities in Stuttgart surrounding baptism of Prince Friedrich von Württemberg, March 10–17, 1616. (Illustration courtesy of Edmund A. Bowles: from Bowles, Festival Books, Fig. 94.) Spencer Collection. The New York Public Library. Astor, Lenox, and Tilden Foundations. Used by permission.
Sources are listed chronologically by country of origin. For complete citations, as well as information on reprints and translations, consult the general Bibliography.
FRANCE
Thoinot Arbeau, Orchésographie (1588/89)
A cleric at Langres in eastern France, Arbeau8 wrote this treatise in dialogue format, nostalgically recalling dances popular in his youth. Arbeau's student Capriole9 begs his master to teach him how to dance because as a young man, Arbeau had a “reputation for good dancing and dexterity in a thousand sprightly steps.”10 Arbeau favors his protégé with descriptions of the bassedanse, pavan, galliard, tordion, lavolta, coranto, alman, branles, morris dance, canary, Spanish pavan, and Les bouffons. While these dance types were certainly performed at European courts, it is not known whether Arbeau was associated with any particular court, and therefore whether his choreographies are authentic court dances.
Arbeau's system of notation is unique: the music is printed vertically on the page and the steps are aligned with the corresponding note(s) of the music. While choreographic descriptions range from mere suggestions to some detail, Orchésographie remains an important treatise for the reconstruction of late Renaissance dance. It is the only known source for certain dances, such as the pavan, alman, and some branles. Arbeau also offers drum patterns for certain dances.
Instruction pour dancer (before 1612)
Discovered among the archives of the Hessische Landesbibliothek Darmstadt in Germany, the Instruction pour dancer11 is an exciting recent addition to the corpus of late Renaissance dance. This thirty-eight-page manuscript contains choreographies for sixteen dances (some of which do not exist in any other dance sources of the period): branles, gavotte, bourree, pauanne [pavanne], passepied, and a few other named dances. It is quite possible that these dances were copied in France and brought to Germany in the late sixteenth or early seventeenth century for use at the German court of Friedrich Ulrich, Duke of Braunschweig and Lüneburg. Although there is no music in this manuscript, a number of the choreographies appear to fit the musical structure of like-named dance music in Michael Praetorius's Terpsichore (1612). The choreographies have a range of configurations: couple and group dances, simple and complex choreographies, some utilizing variations as a choreographic device. Besides presenting some previously unknown choreographies, Instruction pour dancer supplements the step vocabulary with a few new—but unfortunately not explained—steps. Instruction pour dancer reveals itself to be of the late Renaissance period, aligning with material found in Arbeau and the Italian style of Fabritio Caroso and Negri yet, in some respects, showing tendencies toward the slightly later transitional material as found in the de Lauze, Apologie de la danse (1623).
François de Lauze, Apologie de la danse (1623)
Although he gives no music and describes dances in a rather ornate fashion, de Lauze suggests several changes in technique: the use of turned-out feet, a gentleness of style, and deliberate upward and downward motions of the arms to accompany the steps. His steps are predecessors to those in eighteenth-century technique. De Lauze in fact shows contempt for some of the more intricate steps popular earlier in the century: he states that dancers “no longer like to mix among their compositions steps which look like those of a juggler, such as fleurets, frisoteries, or shakings of the feet; pirouettes (I mean several violent and forced turns), caprioles, nor even demi-caprioles if it not be in turning or finishing.”12
De Lauze devotes considerable attention to the principles of dance and the procedures for the bow. He is one of the first dancing masters to offer separate instructions for the lady; other manuals are primarily for gentlemen, with only cursory remarks for the ladies.13 As the epigraph suggests, de Lauze was familiar with dances performed throughout Europe,14 although he describes only the courante, gaillarde, and branles in any detail.
Marin Mersenne, Harmonie universelle (1636)
Briefly describes the allemande, branle, canary, courante, gaillard, gavotte, passamezzo, passepied, pavan, sarabande, and la volta but says that not all of these are in use in his day. Mersenne also provides some sketchy but interesting information on choreography.15
M. de Saint-Hubert, La Manière de composer et faire réussir les ballets (1641)
Contains practical information on the structure, subject, airs (music), dancing, costumes, and machines of mid-seventeenth-century French ballets and mascarades. This concise source is unique in its description of the role of the “organizer” (stage director).
Guillaume Dumanoir, Le mariage de la musique avec la danse (1664)
A polemic against the Académie de la Danse, organized by dancers in disagreement with the prevailing performer's guild, the Confrère St. Julien. As head of this guild, Dumanoir rails against proponents of the Académie, who, he believed, were attempting to separate dance from music. Dumanoir asserts that dance cannot be separated from music.
Claude-François Ménestrier,
Des ballets anciens et modernes selon les règles du théâtre (1682)
From his vast experience of producing numerous public spectacles (including equestrian ballets, pageants, triumphs, and other ceremonies), Ménestrier enlightens us on all aspects of these events, including structure, subject, poetry, costume, sets, machines, music, and dance. Known as the first history of ballet, this treatise offers many details about contemporary ballets, such as the Ballet comique de la reine (1581) and Le triomphe de l'amour (1681).
André Lorin, Livre de contredance presenté au Roi (ms., 1685) André Lorin, Livre de la contredance du Roy (ms., 1688)
These manuscripts present English country dances that had been introduced so successfully at Versailles in 1684, along with several dances created by Lorin. Written in a notation distinct from the Beauchamps-Feuillet system, the dances are diagrammatically displayed and the tunes are correlated with the dance figures.16
Michel de Pure, Idée des spectacles anciens et nouveaux (1688)
Compares ancient spectacles (circus, theaters, triumphs) and “modern” entertainments (jousts, carousels, fireworks, mascarades, ballets). He discusses various elements of the ballet (subject, costumes, machines, music instrumentation, entrées, dance steps) and also mentions certain dance types (courante, saraband, branle, gavotte, bourée, menuet).
Jean Favier, Le mariage de la Grosse Cathos (ms., 1688)17
A significant source for late-seventeenth-century theatrical dance; provides both music and choreography (in notation unlike the Beauchamps-Feuillet system) for this stage production.
Raoul-Auger Feuillet, Chorégraphie, ou l'art de décrire la dance (1700)
An important manual on Baroque dance, the first known publication to describe “Beachamps-Feuillet” dance notation. Feuillet also explains theory, steps (and variations), and arm motions. Two collections of notated dances are bound with Chorégraphie: fifteen theatrical dances by Feuillet, and nine ballroom dances by Louis Guillaume Pécour.
P[ierre] Rameau, Le maître a danser (1725)
Rameau provides detailed information about social and theatrical dance technique, the performance of steps, and their accompanying arm movements. No notation examples are given, but illustrations are supplied. Translated into English in 1728 by John Essex, The Dancing Master.
ITALY
Lutio Compasso, Ballo della gagliarda (1560)18
An important source, the first known manual documenting the late-Renaissance dance style. No music is provided, but there are 166 galliard variations (ranging from simple to quite difficult) and instructions on performing certain steps used in the galliard.19
Prospero Lutij, Opera bellissima…di gagliarda (1589)
Contains no music but offers thirty-two variations (some of them virtuosic), as well as traveling passages, for the galliard. The technical vocabulary is quite similar to that of Compasso and Caroso.
Fabritio Caroso, Il ballarino (1581)
Fabritio Caroso, Nobiltà di dame (1600, 1605)
Caroso was a dancing master whose career probably centered around Sermoneta and Rome; many dances in Il ballarino and Nobiltà di dame are dedicated to members of noble families in these cities. Presumably he was familiar with the social mores of the court, for he addressed many issues of etiquette and behavior. Both of his books include prefatory material (dedicatory poems and a letter praising the nobility of dance), rules for etiquette and steps, and choreographies (seventy-seven in Il ballarino,20 forty-nine in Nobiltà).21 The apparent dance types used by Caroso include alta, bassa, balletto, ballo, pavan, pavaniglia, passo e mezzo, galliard, tordiglione, saltarello, cascarda, spagnoletta, and canary. Caroso offers social dances, mostly for couples, with a few dances for other combinations, such as three dancers, six dancers, and several couples.
Livio Lupi, Mutanze di gagliarde, tordiglione, passo è mezzo, canari è passeggi (1600)
Livio Lupi, Libro di gagliarda, tordiglione, passo è mezzo, canari è passeggi (1607)
Lupi's manuals, like Lutij's (see above), reveal a stylistic relationship with Caroso's, as the technical vocabulary is quite similar. The 1607 edition provides some music, and his choreographic fare is more varied than Lutij's, encompassing variations for the canary, passo e mezzo, galliard, and tordiglione. The 1600 edition offers 150 variations and passeggi for the galliard.
Cesare Negri, Le gratie d'amore (1602, 1604)22
Closely follows Caroso's format. Negri's forty-three choreographies include balletto, brando, ballo, bassa, canario, corrente, gagliarda, pavaniglia, and tordiglione. His dances represent both social and theatrical types. Negri's dances are for solo couple, three, four, six, eight, and as many as will, and he is the only Italian to include dances for two couples and for the brando.23 This Milanese dancing master is more forthcoming than Caroso about the responsibilities of a dancing master, who in addition to teaching dance and choreographing might also teach fencing and might accompany his master on military expeditions. Negri also provides us with important details regarding theatrical performances in which he was involved.
It is conceivable that the Italian dance style (through Negri and other Italian masters) was known in Spain. Negri's treatise was translated into Spanish in 1630, and Negri's patrons, the governors of Milan, were Spanish, as Milan was under Spanish rule at this time.
Ercole Santucci, Mastro da ballo (1614)
Organized into three treatises, this manuscript of 474 pages presents material similar to that of Caroso and Negri: step descriptions, rules of comportment, variations for the gagliarda (including separate rules for the lady), and choreographies.24 The bulk of the work is dedicated to hundreds of gagliarda variations;25Santucci's didactic manner of presenting the material clearly demonstrates an instructional goal.
The ten dances—some of which are versions of dances in other sources and can help clarify readings–generally reflect the older style of Caroso's first book, Il ballarino (1581), although Santucci contributes “modernized” versions for three dances and offers his own variations for three other dances. Santucci does not provide music for the ten dances, nor does he discuss music elsewhere.
While the Santucci volume seemingly contains much of the same step vocabulary of Caroso and Negri, Santucci adds a number of new named steps (some with explanations, some without), and some aspects of technique (such as the preparation for some steps, and the preponderance of sliding steps) suggest a changing style. Timing of steps is only occasionally provided, but he does indicate that the tempo of the canario is fast, and the gagliarda is slower, a fact that makes sense if one looks at the sometimes extremely intricate movements of the gagliarda varations in Santucci's volume. Fitting a large number of movements into a limited number of beats would of necessity call for a slower tempo. The Santucci volume is an extraordinary find, confirming and expanding our knowledge about dance in this period yet also yielding clues about emerging transitional changes.
Ludovico Iacobilli, Modo di ballare (ms., ca. 1615–20)
A manuscript by a Jesuit priest that gives directions for certain dance steps and five dances, including a gagliarda, spagnoletta, and canario.26
Felippo de gli [sic] Alessandri, Discorso sopra il ballo (1620)
Alessandri mentions numerous dance types and hints of a newly developing dance style, echoing the view of de Lauze that intricate steps (such as those of Lutij, Caroso, and Negri) had fallen into disuse.27
Giulio Mancini, Del origine et nobiltà del ballo (ms., ca. 1623–30)
In this treatise, Pope Urban VIII's physician discusses the basic dance steps in use, popular dances, and the work of Caroso.28
ENGLAND
“Inns of Court Manuscripts” (ca. 1570–ca. 1670)
So named because they were written by students from the various law schools. As they served only as aids to memory, they are deficient in technical information and only one includes music, yet they illuminate aspects of ballroom procedures.29 Descriptions of steps are lacking, but there are choreographies (some quite abbreviated) for such couple dances as pavan, galliard, alman, and measure. The English dances have specific titles, as well as specific choreographies that differ from Arbeau's . 30
John Playford, The English Dancing Master: Or, Plaine and easie Rules for the Dancing of Country Dances, with the Tune to Each Dance (1651; later editions to 1728)
The 1651 edition is the first major printed collection of English country dances.31 As the subtitle suggests, the instructions for the 105 dances are set down in an abbreviated manner; each dance section is lined up underneath its corresponding musical section. A table briefly explains other symbols and three steps or step combinations.32
John Weaver, Orchesography or the Art of Dancing, by Characters and Demonstrative Figures (1706)
A thoughtful and succinct translation of Feuillet's Chorégraphie (1700), describing theory, steps, and arm movements. No notated dances are included.
Kellom Tomlinson, The Art of Dancing (1735)
Tomlinson describes steps (including some theatrical steps) and their notation. Engravings show postures and positions of the arms and feet. He also mentions different dance types and their moods and tempos.
SPAIN
Juan de Esquivel Navarro, Discursos sobra el arte del dançado (1642)
Discusses the virtues of dance, its origins, performance of steps, dancing schools, and requirements for a dancing master, and offers a listing of contemporary dancing masters. This treatise reflects the older Italian tradition: many of the steps—particularly some of the virtuosic ones—resemble Negri's. Yet in his call for a turning out of the legs, Esquivel Navarro indicates that dance style was changing, even in conservative Spain. He mentions several dances (such as pavana, gallarda, folia, dos de Villano, chacona, canario, alemana) but provides no music nor complete choreographies. He tells us that while certain dances (the Españoleta, Bran de Inglaterra [English branle], and Turdion) are no longer in fashion, it is still important for the dancing master to know them.
Figure 21.3. Torch dance; part of celebrations surrounding coronation of Matthias I as Holy Roman Emperor, Frankfurt-am-Main, June 14, 1612. (Illustration courtesy of Edmund A. Bowles: from Bowles, Festival Books, Fig. 82.) Spencer Collection. The New York Public Library. Astor, Lenox, and Tilden Foundations. Used by permission.
Juan Antonio Ja[c]que, Libro de danzar de Baltasar de Rojas Pantoia (late seventeenth century)33
Ja[c]que briefly describes six dances (pabana, gallarda, jácara, folias, billano [villano], las Paradetas) but provides no music and no explanation of steps (which have the same names as Esquivel Navarro's).
GERMANY
Johann Georg Pasch, Anleitung sich bei grossen Herrn Höfen und andern be- liebt zu machen (1659)
Another recent and important discovery is this conduct book published in Osnabrück in 1659, “How to Win Favour with the High and Mighty.” After explaining how to behave in the company of those in higher social positions, Pasch finishes with a short section on dance, which includes notes about inviting a lady to dance, behavior in the ballroom, and six choreographies.34 Descriptions of three Sarabandas [sarabande], two Curants [courante], and one Prandel [branle] are provided. The choreographies appear in series of numbered steps or movement sequences, and, as they are labeled “Lection” (“Lesson”), it is possible that they are merely practice or suggested sequences, rather than firm choreographies.
Some of the step names are similar to those that developed in France at the end of the seventeenth century (paß/pas, cupe/coupé, piritet/pirouette), although that does not mean they were performed in the same manner. Some named steps appear not to have such an equivalent (Rose, strapatte). Other movements are not given a name, but given a description of how to execute the actions. Reconstruction of the “choreographies” is tenuous at best; there is no indication of how to execute the named steps, the timing of the steps/movements, how to fit them to the music, the number of dancers required for each dance, or the spatial paths of the dancers. Despite these problems, Anleitung is a rare glimpse of a mid-seventeenth-century dance source, rarer still emanating from Germany.
Dance Style
While there certainly were regional differences, as de Lauze points out, the late-Renaissance style generally maintained straight or natural positions of the feet and legs. There is a wide range of technique from simple flat-footed (and sliding) steps, to turns on one foot, to complex jumps and crossings of the feet in the air. The energetic and airy footwork found in many of the dances reflects a characteristic joy and exuberance for dancing. The upper body was held erect and few arm movements were used, save for motions such as taking hands, clapping, and making arches; the arms generally were not raised above shoulder level.
It is difficult to identify any particular national style of dance. Distinctions can be made, however, on the basis of certain specific characteristics. English sources, for example, present dances that emphasize floor patterns rather than steps. The Inns of Court dances are relatively simple couple dances that move around the hall in processional formation with rudimentary figures, and the country dances presented in Playford's The English Dancing Master feature a great variety of floor patterns with only a few named steps.
It is tempting to believe that Arbeau offers “generic” choreographies for the most typical dances of the late Renaissance, but as noted previously, we cannot be sure that his choreographies are valid for the French court. This is not the case for the Italians (especially Caroso and Negri), whose volumes are intended for noble patrons. There are other key differences between Arbeau and the Italians. Arbeau offers very few complete choreographies, while the Italians provide approximately 150. Arbeau uses a unique notation system, correlating dance steps with notes of the music; Caroso and Negri describe their dances in prose, usually correlating only the beginnings of large sections of the dance with music. Arbeau's dances are rather simple, even the galliard variations; the Italians present more difficult steps and combinations. Complex galliard variations are presented in Negri, Santucci, Lutij, Compasso, and Lupi. Dance types in Arbeau are presented individually, while the Italians often combine dance types into one balletto or suite.
Some of the more recent dance-source discoveries add an interesting mix. The Instruction pour dancer is closer to the Italians in its prosaic method of describing dances and contains mostly “French” dances like numerous branles; however, the pauanne [pavanne] contained therein is actually closer to the pavaniglia of Caroso/Negri. Instruction pour dancer has both simple and complex dances, and the material in this volume was probably meant for dancers in both French and German courts. It is possible that the dances in Pasch, Anleitung, although making use of “French” dance types, may have been designed for a more local German audience. Some elements in Instruction pour dancer, Santucci, and Pasch point to a new, emerging style.
That the latest dances traveled from court to court is confirmed by evidence that the dance sources did so as well: the treatises of Arbeau, Caroso, and Negri, for example, were known in England.35 The Italians, however, were perhaps the most successful at disseminating their dances. Negri lists Italian dancing masters who taught at various courts throughout Europe. Italian books are found in England, and it is well known that Queen Elizabeth learned to “dance high in the Italian manner.”36 Italian fencing masters, who may also have been dancing masters, were in evidence in England ca. 1600.
During the mid-seventeenth century, clues for the transition between late Renaissance and Baroque styles are tantalizingly few and ambiguous, due to the scarcity of sources. The metamorphosis of dance technique was gradual and embraced a marked alteration in the use of the limbs. By the end of the seventeenth century, the feet and legs were turned out and the five positions of the feet, still used today in ballet, though with more fully rotated legs, were firmly established. While Baroque dance contains many springing steps, there was a decided softening of the motions (particularly in the prominent use of the bend and rise), masking a technique that requires considerable strength, balance, and control. Most of the non-springing steps begin with a bend and rise (on one or two feet) and a gentle step, finishing in an elevated position on the ball of the foot. As in the earlier part of the century, theatrical dance borrowed from social dance technique but added more complicated movements such as leg beats, multiple pirouettes (turns), and other balancing feats that eventually surpassed the capability of the amateur dancer.
By century's end, a well-defined system of arm motions based on the principle of opposition was in place. In its most fundamental form, the hand and arm on one side of the body circle up and arrive at their highest point as the opposite foot and leg finish the step. Thus the arm and hand balance the opposing foot and leg. This is essentially an elaboration on the opposition that occurs naturally when walking with freely swinging arms. Descriptions of this technique can be found in various sources, listed above.37
Interpreting dance music for performance can be challenging. For many musicians today, the most immediate concern is tempo, but understanding other considerations, such as accents, mood, and movement characteristics, is just as vital.38 Knowledge of these characteristics is obviously helpful for instrumentalists when accompanying dancers but can also be of use in interpreting dance music not intended to be danced. When a dance form is taken as a basis for elaboration or variations, the tempo may slow down. Knowledge of the strong and weak beats of the dance steps can help the musician place accents properly, as can an acquaintance with rhythmic tensions between the dance and the music, on a small level or at a larger phrase-length level. Naturally, recognizing the character of the dance aids in creating the emotional feeling of the music.
Many modern editions of these dances are available,39 yet one must be wary: some editions misrepresent certain dances. The old edition of Tielman Susato's Danserye by F. J. Giesbert, for example, contains galliards that are incorrectly barred.40 The reduction of note values from original to modern music notation can be misleading: transcriptions to 
or 
suggest that a dance is slow when this may not be the case.
Not all late-Renaissance dance music is regularly phrased; some pieces are intentionally irregular. The second section of Caroso's balletto titled Nido d'amore, for example, is five measures long and fits the choreography perfectly. Transcribed into modern notation, some of Arbeau's mixed branles result in mixed meters. One can even find examples of dances with both regular and irregular settings. Arbeau's Branle de la guerre contains what seems to be an extra beat near the end of the tune, but the choreography matches it exactly. Other settings of this piece found in Pierre Phalèse's Löwener Tanzbuch (1571) and Étienne du Tertre's Septième livre de danseries (1557) have not only regularized the ending by dropping the extra beat, but also altered the repetition scheme by beginning the second strain in the middle of a measure, thus shifting the accents and producing an entirely different feeling. Naturally, one cannot do Arbeau's choreography to these settings unless they are adapted.
Some dance sources have no music, and some offer only monophonic tunes; others present complete lute tablatures, sometimes with the tune presented separately in mensural notation. Where no music is given in the dance source, one may substitute music of the same dance type. Generic dances such as pavans, almans, and galliards can be found in great number in period music sources. For pieces with only a single line of music, one may not always find polyphonic settings for them; indeed, a single-line tune may provide a welcome change on a program of otherwise polyphonic pieces. Sometimes a dance tune may be known under different names, as in the case of the Spanish pavan or pavaniglia. At other times, melodies may be similar but reveal diverse harmonizations in various arrangements. Although devoted to music before the seventeenth century, Howard Mayer Brown's Instrumental Music Printed before 1600 can be useful in locating dance tunes still current in the early seventeenth century.
Clues to instrumentation are also scattered among the dance sources. Arbeau mentions “violins, spinets, transverse flutes, and flutes with nine holes, hautboys and all sorts of instruments”41 as suitable for the pavan and bassedanse of his youth. Although Arbeau discusses the use of a tabor for at least the pavan and bassedanse, there is some question as to the extent of drum accompaniment to late Renaissance dances. Other dance sources do not mention percussion, and iconographical sources rarely show percussion with dance bands;42 but these instruments were certainly employed on ceremonial occasions and in some theatrical productions for special effects.43 Negri lists instrumental ensembles used in some of his theatrical dance pieces. For late Renaissance dance, it appears that various instrumental ensembles–both wind and string–were suitable, either one family of instruments or in broken consorts. By the middle of the seventeenth century, the emphasis seems to have shifted to the violin band; oboe consorts were also popular in France and were employed primarily for ceremonial and theatrical productions.44
Obviously, the tempo of a dance is governed to some extent by the dance type, but also by the physical limitations of the dance movements, so there can be a range of acceptable tempos. When meters change within a dance (as in the Italian balletto), setting a proportion between the different sections is a good idea (see Chapter 18, “Meter and Tempo,” in this volume). Musicians find it easier to accomplish a change of tempo when there is a specific relationship between the two sections, rather than an arbitrary indication such as “much faster.”
Occasionally, there are specific relationships between music and dance. For example, a recurrent musical phrase (or phrases) can be concomitant to a choreographic refrain or movement. In Negri's balletto titled Bizzarria d'amore, the second and third musical sections accompany a dance refrain that returns after each of six dance figures. Choreography and music may also have specific connections (i.e., a motif) in the mixed branle.
The following is an annotated list of dance types popular through the seventeenth century.45
Alman, allemande, tedesca. While its name suggests that it may have originated as a German court dance, the earliest known use of the term for a dance is in an early sixteenth-century treatise from England.46 A rhythmically uncomplicated dance, the alman is usually in duple meter and frequently paired with an afterdance that transforms the melodic/harmonic material into triple meter.47
The only French choreography from the late Renaissance is Arbeau's. A line of couples dancing side by side, holding hands, progresses forward (or backward) around the room in what Arbeau describes as a “simple, rather sedate dance,”48 performing easy walking steps that end with a leg lift. Almans are generally in a moderate tempo, although they must be faster if, as Arbeau suggests, the dancers introduce little springs as in the coranto. The few extant choreographies from around the turn of the eighteenth century bear no resemblance to the earlier form.49
Ballo, balletto. In late Renaissance Italian sources, ballo and balletto seem to have been both a general term for “dance” and a heading for a specific dance. They were usually composed of two or more sections of different mensurations and dance types. Caroso's Laura suave,50 for example, has an unlabeled duple-meter section followed by several sections in triple: galliard, saltarello, and canary. These dances probably developed directly from the fifteenth-century Italian balli, which also have unnamed sections.
Bourée, boree. The bourée may have originated as a folk dance and may have had connections with the branle; apparently it was danced at French court festivals in the sixteenth century. An early musical setting is found in Praetorius's Terpsichore (1612); interestingly, part of this piece, La bourée, is concordant with an English country dance in Playford, Parson's Farewell.51 Even more thrilling is the fact that we now have a choreography to go with this music, from the Instruction pour dancer. This couple dance comprises six passages, each apparently including a refrain. Spatial directions-different for each passage-are provided, and the main steps include “fleurets,” sliding and rising steps. Generally a simple homophonic piece in duple meter with a quarter- or eighth-note anacrusis (in 
time), the bourée was widely accepted in the seventeenth century and can be found in dance suites.52 By the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries, it became very popular as a discrete dance in moderate-to-quick duple meter with regular phrasing. Except for the choreography mentioned above, there are no other extant choreographies before the end of the seventeenth century, though there are twenty-four bourées from this later period in Beauchamps-Feuillet notation.53 The most prevalent step seems to have been the pas de bourée—a bend and a rise, followed by three steps.
Branle, brando, brawl. Originally a sideways step in the fifteenth-century bassedanse, the branle presumably adopted its name from the French branler (to sway), which describes the characteristic back-and-forth motion of the dance. As a discrete dance it came into its own around the beginning of the sixteenth century. In 1611, Randle Cotgrave defined the branle (“brawle”) as a dance “wherein many (men, and women) holding by the hands sometimes in a ring, and otherwhiles at length, move all together.”54
From the sixteenth century into the eighteenth, branles were grouped together in suites and used to open formal balls. Beginning in late seventeenth-century France at the court of Louis XIV, couples joined the line according to their rank, and this established the performance order of the subsequent couple dances (danse à deux). The components of the branle suite changed somewhat over time: according to Arbeau, it begins with double and single branles, followed by the gay branle and the branles of Burgundy (Champagne). By the early and mid-seventeenth century, the order seems to have been simple, gay, poitou, double poitou, montirand, and gavotte.55
We are fortunate to have choreographies and music for twenty-four branles in Arbeau. Ten choreographies in Instruction pour dancer add considerably to the repertory: they contain versions of known branles as well as new ones, and there are new steps given. All of the branles in Instruction pour dancer presumably were set to music in Praetorius's Terpsichore, and one branle suite (Les quatre branles de Loraine) is even mentioned as being danced “at court.” After de Lauze, whose descriptions are difficult to decipher, there are no known choreographies for group branles.56 The brando may represent the Italianate form of the French branle in musical sources, but the only Italian choreographies (four in Negri) bear little resemblance, except that like the French branle suites they are group dances in several sections.57
Arbeau's mixed (couppez) branles are in mixed meters, created by the addition of choreographic and musical motifs. He cautions that the dancer know the mixed branle tunes well—helpful advice, for the music really does suggest choreographic changes. In Arbeau's Pinagay branle, for example, each time the musical motif of 
occurs, it corresponds to a jump and kick. Regional branles are named according to their place of origin, such as the Poitou, danced by the Poitevins, or the “Scottish,” from Scotland. Mimed (morguez) or gestural versions such as the Maltese branle may have been originally devised for court masquerades.
Branles vary in tempo (sedate to very quick, according to Arbeau) and in meter (duple, triple, and mixed), and phrase lengths vary with the choreography. The double branle and branles of Burgundy (Champagne) are in duple meter and have a strong first beat and a weak second beat. This coincides with the choreography of stepping in one direction and closing the step (or joining the feet together). While the double branle has “regular” phrases of four or eight measures, the simple branle, also in duple meter, has phrase lengths of three or six measures to accommodate the choreography. Music for the Burgundian branle occasionally has irregular phrase lengths, although no irregularities are suggested in the choreography. Generally in triple meter, the branle gay requires a lively tempo to facilitate jumped kicks. Arbeau implies that in this basic branle suite, the dances progressively accelerate in tempo: the “elderly…dance the double and single branle sedately, the young married folk…dance the gay branle and the youngest of all…nimbly trip the branles of Burgundy.”58
Canary, canario, canarie. A dance that according to Arbeau contained passages that are “strange and fantastic with a strong barbaric flavour,”59 the canary first appeared in musical sources in the mid-sixteenth century. Although said to originate from the Canary Isles, Arbeau himself preferred to believe that it derived from a court masquerade in which dancers imitated the kings and queens of Mauretania. According to him, a young man and his lady partner take turns dancing before each other in variations—a form found also in Italian dance sources. Caroso, Negri, Santucci, and Lupi provide variations for the canary, which could be a discrete dance but also formed a section in some balletti. The steps utilize many foot actions: scraping the foot along the floor and stamping the toes, heels, or entire foot. The lively canary persisted into the eighteenth century, primarily as a theatrical dance; extant choreographies reveal an intricate style with many springing steps.60
Canaries in duple or triple meter can be found in sixteenth- and early seventeenth-century musical sources. The typical early form was a short tune of two phrases with fixed melody and harmony, reminiscent of an ostinato pattern. Later in the period, the canary was freer in melody and harmony; it is often found in compound duple meter and occasionally appears in Baroque suites.
Chaconne, chacona, chacoon. First appearing at the beginning of the seventeenth century in Latin America and Spain as a ribald dance song, the chaconne's obscene character initially prevented its use at court. It was eventually toned down and accepted; Esquivel Navarro offers the first choreographic description, though it is not a complete dance. The musical structure, a set of continuous variations in triple meter played over a repeating harmonic scheme, resembles the passacaglia. In France the chaconne was tempered into a theatrical dance of noble character, slightly faster than the passacaglia. Most of the Baroque chaconne choreographies are lengthy solo dances.61
Coranto, corrente, courante. The coranto first appears in music prints in the mid-sixteenth century and continues through the middle of the eighteenth. The name (from It., correre, to run), signifies quickness; Arbeau characterizes it as “helter-skelter”62 and deems it a jovial dance occasionally accompanied by a flirtatious game. The reconstruction of the coranto as given in Arbeau is unclear, but it is a quick, springing dance. Negri's La correnta also uses steps with little jumps. The descriptions by Arbeau and Negri reflect the faster type of corrente.
The Italian corrente remained in fast triple meter, generally homophonic, with simple harmonies and rhythms,63 but French composers began to explore the rhythmical and metrical ambiguities of the triple meter, ultimately creating a slower, more contrapuntal dance, the courante. De Lauze's description suggests that a change is taking place; although he characterizes the tempo as somewhat quick, its character is gentler. Mersenne (1636) claims that it was the most widely performed dance in France. Several decades later, King Louis XIV made the courante popular with his exquisite performances of this slow, majestic dance; at his court, the courante was apparently danced following the branles.64 The two Curants presented in Pasch (1659) appear to be closer to the later French-style courante. From the mid-seventeenth century, the courante became a part of the suite, falling between the allemand and the saraband.
Country dance, contredanse. The English country dances documented in Play-ford’s English Dancing Master (1651) were probably adapted for court use from earlier peasant dances. Extremely popular in England throughout the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, English country dances are usually in duple or compound meter65 and have a range of tempos according to their choreographies and the dancers performing them. These were set dances for four or more people in forms such as a square for four, a circle for six, a square for eight, and a longways set for many couples. It is this latter form that retained popularity in England into the late seventeenth century and after.66
Steps are unimportant; it is the lovely figures (floor designs created by the paths of the dancers) and the social relationships of the dancers that made these dances so popular. When introduced at the French court in the 1680s, the dance form was eventually altered from its usual longways set into a square for eight. The French also added Baroque-style steps (which require a slower tempo) and called the new form contredanse.
Entrée, entrée grave. In mid-seventeenth century French ballet, an entrée was a group of dances related by subject. At century's end the entrée (entrée grave) was a slow duple-meter dance replete with dotted rhythms; it was a technically complex yet majestic dance, usually for a solo man.
Forlana, forlane. This may have been a folk dance associated with northern Italy, particularly the Friuli region.67 An early musical example is the Ballo furlano l'arboscello in Phalèse (1583), a duple-meter setting.68 No choreographies exist until the end of the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries, when it was quite popular as a moderately quick court dance in compound duple meter.69
Galliard, galliarde, gagliarda, cinque passi. The galliard, first mentioned in an essay by Vincenzo Calmeta from ca. 1497,70 may also have originated in northern Italy. As a musical form it first appears in prints by Attaingnant about 1530, where it is one of several afterdances to the pavan;71 later it appears either as a discrete dance or paired with another dance such as the pavan or passamezzo. Often it is derived melodically from a pavan, as Morley explained in 1597.72 The music of the sixteenth-and early seventeenth-century galliard is usually in a straightforward homophonic triple-meter setting with regular phrasing, sometimes with a hemiola just before the end of a phrase.
The galliard is a couple dance in which the gentleman and the lady entertain each other with variations, as found in Arbeau, Caroso, Negri, Santucci, Compasso, Lupi, and Lutij. Arbeau's basic galliard consists of a pattern of four kicks in the air and a cadence (a switch of feet in the air then landing on both feet); this sequence was called the “five steps” (cinq pas, cinque passi). One galliard pattern is performed in six counts with an emphasis on the fourth beat:
. Variations could range from one simple pattern of three or five steps (fitting into six beats) to complex sequences of twelve patterns; each variation ends with a cadence and is immediately executed again beginning on the opposite leg.
Tempos vary according to the choreography and the dancers; even Arbeau states that “it needs must be slower for a man of large stature than for a small man, inasmuch as the tall one takes longer to execute his steps and in moving his feet backwards and forwards.”73 The correct tempo is also crucial to a cousin of the galliard, la volta, in which the gentleman lifts and turns the lady in the air.74 Musicians should defer to the dancers; once a tempo is determined, it must remain constant. A tempo that is too fast will not allow for a full, sweeping lift; conversely, a sluggish tempo provides the gentleman with the formidable challenge of keeping his lady aloft for long durations.
Some of the gagliarda variations in Santucci reveal an astonishingly difficult technical level; many comprise multiple capriolas along with combinations of other technically demanding movements within one six-beat measure, thus creating a built-in need for a slower tempo.
A factor such as movement complexity may have contributed to the gradual deceleration of tempo of the galliard through the seventeenth century. De Lauze also gives a fleeting indication of a softening of the style in this dance that may have slowed the tempo. By 1676, Thomas Mace regards the galliard as a sober dance in slow triple meter.75 There are only a few examples of notated galliards76 in the Baroque style, and these often contain the pas de gaillarde, a step that in one version77 comprises a soft jump, a plain step, a rise, and a fall.
Gavotte. As a French court dance and instrumental music form, the gavotte was popular from the late sixteenth through the late eighteenth centuries. Arbeau provides the first choreographic description of the dance, stating that gavottes are “a miscellany of double branles.” Praetorius also links the gavotte to the bransle.78 Arbeau‘s gavotte is a quick duple-meter dance with springing steps; passages from the galliard may be inserted as one pleases. While it is a group dance, Arbeau states that couples may take turns performing some passages in the center, followed by kissing all the dancers of the opposite sex. Kissing dances were also known in England.79 Appearing at the end of a suite of six branles, the gavotte in Instruction pour dancer comprises eleven steps including the “fauory” (favory), for which no description is given.
Most seventeenth-century gavottes are in duple meter, with a fairly simple homophonic texture. Although the gavotte is still mentioned in Arbeau and even at the end of the seventeenth century as closing branle suites, it also evolved into a separate court dance for a couple.80 Still in duple meter, it now characteristically began with an upbeat in the middle of the measure.
Gigue, jig. The gigue may have originated in the British Isles, where it had been known as a popular dance from the fifteenth century; literary works describe the early jig as a lively, bawdy dance with pantomime and complex footwork. In seventeenth-century England it was a song-and-dance number associated with improvised comedies, called jiggs. Musical examples through the seventeenth century generally exhibit straightforward homophonic textures in binary form. Most are in compound duple meter, although there are some duple-meter examples. Like the coranto, the gigue developed into two types by the end of the seventeenth century. In Italy the regular phrasing and homophonic texture of a lively dance in 
time was retained, while in France it took on a moderately fast tempo in , 
, or 
meter, the texture more imitative, sometimes fugal, with blurred phrasing. In the Baroque period it was a standard element in the dance suite, following the allemande, courante, and saraband. There are no extant choreographies from earlier than the end of the seventeenth century; notated gigues are lively dances with many springing steps.81
Hornpipe. A dance form of English origin. Musical examples and literary references date from the sixteenth century, and there were several types: a solo dance, a rustic round dance, and a longways country dance. No choreographies exist prior to the late seventeenth century, with examples in the country dance and also in Baroque dance style. At this time the most common hornpipe was in 
meter with regular phrases and syncopated rhythms.
Loure. Also known as the slow gigue, the loure became popular in the late seventeenth century, predominantly as a virtuosic theater dance. It is either in a broad 
or meter and, like the French-style gigue, employs contrapuntal texture with irregular phrasing. Loure choreographies are extant only in Baroque dance sources.82
Matachin, morris, moresca. Popular throughout Europe between the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries, the matachin was a mock battle dance for a group of men. Arbeau's Les bouffons remains the only known choreography for this skilled sword dance, yet another type was also current. Negri and others allude to grotesque elements in a matachin for fools; this type may have been related to the morris dance or moresca. The moresca, probably from Moorish sources, has an exotic quality. Arbeau recalls seeing moresca dancers with blackened faces, wearing bells attached to leggings; his choreography has heel-beating movements. Some elements are suggestive of the morris dances of England. Arbeau's music for the moresca is in duple meter; Mersenne's moresque in triple meter, but he provides no description.
Measure. The measure is known in England from the mid-sixteenth through the late seventeenth century. The term seems to have derived from the mesure or section of the fifteenth-century bassedanse.83 Choreographies appear only in the Inns of Court manuscripts, where (in three of these sources) the term is applied to all the dances (including those called alman and pavan) described therein. These are relatively short couple dances with simple steps; most of them process around the room, and some have floor patterns also found in the English country dance.84 Measures employ duple or compound duple meter; some dances have hopped steps, requiring a quicker tempo.
Menuet, minuet, minuetto. The “queen” of court dances for over 150 years (from the mid-seventeenth century to the late eighteenth), the menuet is known primarily as a Baroque social dance. Its origins are difficult to ascertain: it may have derived from the early seventeenth-century branle à mener.85 As a court dance it appears to have been introduced in France in the 1660s; musical examples survive from this period as well. The menuet was an elegant, refined dance in moderate to lively triple time, with one couple at a time performing in the center of the room.86 Choreographies begin to surface only late in the seventeenth century with the Favier manuscript and in Beauchamps-Feuillet notations (including not only minuets for a couple, but also for other numbers of dancers, from three to twelve).87 So popular was the minuet that the step was adopted into the English country dance, creating a new form, the minuet country dance.88
Musically, the menuet is characterized by a rather simple homophonic texture and binary form. From eighteenth-century dance sources we know that the pas de menuet took six beats, or two measures, of music. While the music is accented at the beginning of each measure, the basic menuet step89 emphasizes beats one and three of its six-beat pattern, creating a wonderful cross-rhythm with the music. Another cross-rhythm occurs on a somewhat larger scale as dancers occasionally move in six- or twelve-measure phrases against the eight-measure phrases of the music. The menuet was included in some Baroque dance suites.
Passacaglia, passacaille. The passacaglia was a lengthy Baroque theatrical dance in moderate triple meter.90 The music for the passacaglia, like the chaconne, consists of continuous variations, usually on an ostinato bass.
Passo e mezzo, passamezzo, passing measures. Related to the pavan, the passamezzo is a duple-meter piece, played over a ground bass, most usually the passamezzo antico or moderno. Early examples exist in musical sources from the 1530s. Continuing in popularity into the seventeenth century, it was often paired with a triple-meter dance such as a galliard or saltarello. In dance sources it is a discrete dance in which a couple alternates between dancing together and performing variations for each other. Some of the variations presented by Caroso and Lupi are quite complex. Arbeau indicates that the passamezzo was quicker than the pavan.91
Passepied, paspy. The passepied may have begun as a branle from Brittany. Arbeau’s branle, the Triory de Bretagne, was also called the passepied, a term that appears in other sixteenth-century sources.92 More evidence for this theory is found in the two recently found choreographies in Instruction pour dancer, with short repeating movement phrases similar to some of Arbeau's branles. In Arbeau and Mersenne it is a rapid duple-meter dance. But by the end of the seventeenth century it was in triple; by this time, it had evolved into a faster version of the menuet. It uses essentially the same steps as the menuet, but because of the faster tempo, the interest lies not so much in the steps and the cross-rhythms but in the floor patterns created by the dancers.93
Pavan, pavana, pavin. The term may be of either Italian or Spanish origin.94 Musical examples appear early in the sixteenth century.95 This slow duple-meter dance is usually followed by a triple-meter afterdance constructed from the same melodic and harmonic material;96 the most common pairing ca. 1600 was the pavan-galliard. Ensemble pavans are generally in homophonic texture with two to four sections. Some early seventeenth-century pavans exhibit irregular phrase structure, and the profuse embellishment in one or more lines may point to the usage of the dance form as “art” music, no longer intended for the dance floor. As a social dance the pavan is found in German music sources until about 1620, but its use in the court setting was on the wane from the beginning of the century.
The first known choreography of the pavan is Pavana Matthei, from Caroso's Il ballarino (1581); the pavana section of this couple dance is brief and untitled. Arbeau gives the choreography for the presumably “generic” pavan, a slow dance of noble character for couples processing around the room. Arbeau provides the accompanying drumbeat: 
Although the pavan lost its popularity early in the seventeenth century, Favier makes use of the form in his 1688 mascarade, and two other notated pavans exist from the end of the period.97
Pavaniglia, Spanish pavan, pavan d'Espagne. When most musicians are asked to play a Spanish pavan, they respond with the same slow speed of a pavan. But Arbeau's choreography, which contains jumped kicks, requires a sprightly tempo. In Caroso, Santucci, and Negri, the choreographies for the pavaniglia are couple dances with often elaborate variations. The pauanne [pavanne] presented in Instruction pour dancer is actually closer to the pavaniglia dances of the Italians than to the “French” pavan. Popular from the late sixteenth through the mid-seventeenth century, the duple-meter pavaniglia was based on the melodic and harmonic structure of a typical chordal scheme.
Rigaudon, rigadoon. The rigaudon was popular in the late seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, musically and choreographically very similar to the bourée. It was a moderately quick duple-meter piece with regular phrasing; examples in compound duple meter occasionally appear. In theatrical settings it was often associated with sailors or pastoral characters. A number of choreographies are extant, by Favier as well as in Beauchamps-Feuillet notation.98
Saltarello, saltarelle. The saltarello first appeared as an instrumental dance form in the late fourteenth century; in the fifteenth century it was related to the bassedanse and ballo, and also existed as a specific step pattern. In most sixteenth-century musical sources, the saltarello is a triple-meter afterdance to the pavan or passamezzo. Perhaps because of this pairing, and because musically the saltarello and the galliard are almost identical, the two dances have been regarded as identical,99 but choreographically this is not the case. In Caroso's examples the saltarello is a discrete section succeeding the galliard section in balletti. In his saltarellos the couple dances together rather than perform alternating variations as in the galliard, and there are no galliard steps, but rather combinations of other steps.100 As a court dance, the saltarello lost favor after the early part of the seventeenth century, although stylized music continued to appear; after a long hiatus, it returned at the end of the century as an adaptation of a popular folk dance.101 The term is still used today for an Italian folk dance.
Saraband, zaravanda. The origins of this bawdy dance-song from Latin America and Spain have been well documented.102 Even though performance of this lascivious dance was prohibited in late sixteenth-century Spain, its practice continued and musical examples proliferated. Many examples were written for Spanish guitar, which along with castanets were linked to the performance of the dance. Seventeenth-century French composers such as Lully and Campra exploited its colorful character in theatrical works; a few early examples appear in Praetorius in 1612. Like the coranto, two distinct types of the saraband emerged over the course of the seventeenth century: a faster-tempo version, favored in Italy, Spain, and England, and a slower version preferred in France and Germany. In Baroque dance suites it was usually the third movement, following the allemande and courante. With the discovery of Pasch's Anleitung, we now have a mid-seventeenth-century description of the Sarabanda; the three choreographies here reveal a step vocabulary with some terms similar to the later French style (pas, cupe/coupé, piritet/pirouette, schlangen tritt/pas tortillé), although we cannot be sure of their execution. There are no other choreographic descriptions of the dance until the end of the century.103 As a social dance it is characterized by slow, sustained steps, although hops and leaps are occasionally found; theatrical sarabands are more technically demanding.
Spagnoletta, espagnolette. Numerous examples of this triple-meter tune and ground in musical sources from the mid-sixteenth century to the mid-seventeenth century attest to its popularity, yet there are only a few known choreographies, in Caroso, Negri, Santucci, and other Italian sources.104 These are pieces in which the dancers (two, three, or four) perform together with some solo passages. Apart from its name, there is insufficient evidence to suggest that the dance itself is of Spanish provenance.105
Tordion, tordiglione. The tordion is first mentioned in a late fifteenth-century literary source; in the early sixteenth century it was popular as an afterdance to the bassedanse. Compared musically to the galliard, it has two or three repeated eight-measure sections in triple time. Choreographically the tordion is equated with the galliard, except that, as Arbeau states, the former is quicker and lighter, danced with steps closer to the ground. Examples of the tordiglione presented in Caroso and Negri bear a close association with the galliard; in these dances, step patterns are virtually the same as those of the galliard, and the form of alternating walking passages with variations is also followed.
DANCE RECONSTRUCTION
The person reconstructing dances of the late Renaissance must have considerable training in both dance and music, as the two areas are so intricately connected. Dance training is essential for the interpretation of descriptions of steps and spatial patterns; musical training is necessary for working with mensural notation and lute tablature. Dance reconstruction also requires working with foreign languages, as it is best to work with the original sources; errors in modern translations can lead to a complete misinterpretation of a dance.
For anyone interested in reconstructing late Renaissance dance, the best place to begin is Arbeau's Orchésographie.106 The dances are described both in prose and in a unique notation system in which the dance steps are aligned with the corresponding notes of the music. Illustrations for some of the individual steps supplement Arbeau's system. Although Arbeau's dances are considered to be easy to reconstruct, certain aspects are still open to interpretation.
The English sources are also relatively easy to use but present their own problems, as there are few descriptions of steps. In one of the Inns of Court manuscripts, for example, the galliard is merely described as “One, two, three, foure & five,” hardly enough information to reconstruct this dance were it not for Arbeau and the Italians.107 Playford also uses unexplained terms and figures, for instance, “siding” and “arming.”
Caroso and Negri generally include for each dance an illustration of the dancers’ opening positions, followed by a prose description of the dance, and the music (in tablature and/or mensural notation). But while we have more detailed information here, these dances are difficult to reconstruct, for several reasons. Interpreting verbal descriptions of spatial patterns can be problematic when the text has several possible meanings or seems to make no sense at all. Comparing different descriptions used within one source, and those in other contemporary sources, can be useful; a more practical solution is to try out different possibilities with live dancers. Descriptions of steps can be vague and are often subject to a variety of interpretations. Although some of the steps are presented in terms of musical timing (i.e., “breve,” “ semibreve,” etc.), fitting the dance steps to the music can still be frustrating, as the timings of the steps are not always given and these timings do not always seem to work with the music provided.
Each of the recently discovered sources presents its own set of reconstruction problems. Santucci essentially follows the model of Caroso and Negri, yet without illustrations and music. His step vocabulary—for the most part given performance descriptions—corresponds to and enlarges the repertory provided by Caroso and Negri, yet lacks consistency in the approach to timing. Timing of steps and how to fit them to music is also an issue in both Instruction pour dancer and Pasch, where step executions are not described and certain movement phrases are not easily interpreted. All three of these sources include intriguingly named steps not found elsewhere and not explained—for example, the corvetta in Santucci, the fauory/favory in Instruction pour dancer, and the Rose in Pasch. The dance reconstructor is left to find a plausible manner to perform steps such as these.108
In late Renaissance Italian dance, almost all steps can be used in different dance types and can be performed in duple or triple meter (with an alteration in timing). Steps are combined in various ways to make sequences. Most sequences begin with the left foot, and there is a tendency after 1600—at least with Caroso's second publication–toward symmetry: once a sequence is executed on one side, it is immediately repeated to the other side (beginning with the other foot), performed to the same amount of music. Sometimes it is not clear where the repetition of step sequences begins, and this relates directly to the pattern of musical phrases or sections. Sometimes one paragraph of dance description coincides with one or several sections of music. Negri gives rubrics above the music regarding the number of repetitions of the musical sections, but they are often inaccurate. They also do not indicate the correlation between musical and choreographic sections.109
The dance reconstructor can sometimes make semidramatic connections between a title of a dance and the dance itself; this can aid in determining the mood of the dance and can also influence the tempo. In Negri's La battaglia, the dancers clap hands in mock battle and make advances and retreats before an ultimate reconciliation. In other dances, the connections are more subtle or there are none at all.
The dance reconstructor should be attentive to period ballroom procedures whenever possible. Information on this aspect of reconstruction is scattered throughout the various sources. One can learn how to perform a bow (révérence, riverenza), how to invite a lady to dance, how to wear a cape, and so forth. Italian sources such as Caroso, Negri, and Santucci present this material in the form of rules, with additional information within some choreographies. An interesting hint about court ballroom procedures occurs with the description of La bourree in Instruction pour dancer:
but before commencing all the passage you will hear the cadence of the violins which will play before the beginning (of the dance proper) because it is necessary to do the reuerence and then begin to do your passage.110
Besides the obvious applications of costuming, iconographical sources can aid in reconstructing period dances. We can gather information on possible instrumentation, the setting (indoor/outdoor, court/peasant, formal/informal), number of dancers, formation of group dances (line, circle, procession, or other pattern), and the character or mood of the dance. Literary sources can likewise be illuminating in these areas.
Costumes
A crucial element for period dance is appropriate costuming. A costume can allow or enhance specific motions but can also greatly restrict them. As the movements were originally conceived with specific garments in mind, the dance looks better in period clothing. In late Renaissance Italian dance, the overall shape of the costume—a narrowing of the bodice into the waist and accentuated hips (for men, a jacket skirt; for women, a bumroll or farthingale under a long, wide skirt)—was emphasized in sideways hip movements. The undulating effect of these movements cannot be replicated in modern attire!
Some dance movements are described with specific reference to costume parts; for example, in Arbeau's la volta, the gentleman turns the lady around in the air while lifting her under the busk (the bottom of the V-shaped bodice, snugly fitted over a stiff corset). While this lift can be accomplished without a corset, it is much easier when the lady wears one.
The sheer weight of the costume affects movement, as do accessories such as the hat, cape, and ruff. Not only were heavy fabrics used, but there were several layers of clothing; a lady's costume could weigh upwards of sixty pounds. Because the ladies were so encumbered and their movements so hidden, it was natural that the gentlemen, whose legs were outfitted only as far down as the knees, were allowed greater freedom of movement and thus were capable of performing more intricate steps.
Wearing a ruff, especially a tall one, encourages a long line of the head and neck for both men and women; a lady's corset greatly discourages slouching and makes it necessary for twentieth-century dancers to relearn how to sit. In some dances gentlemen wore hats, which were essential in the courtesies connected with the reverence or bow. Caroso and Negri both give suggestions on different ways to wrap the gentleman's cape for dancing.
Footwear is especially crucial to the kinds of steps performed and to the alignment of the body. The heeled shoe first appeared in the late sixteenth century, possibly coinciding with the emergence of the canary, a stamping dance that uses the heel in its movements. For late Renaissance dance it is best to use a shoe with a very small heel (less than half an inch) and shoelace ties, such as the jazz or character shoes made by Bloch or Capezio. For the ladies, one might also experiment with chopines, elevated overshoes that protected delicate slippers and skirts from the mud in the streets; Caroso discusses the hazards they create in walking and dancing.111 By the end of the seventeenth century, fashion dictated a taller heel, which facilitated the bends and rises of the Baroque technique.
Heavily draped arms in the early and mid-seventeenth century probably kept arm motions to a minimum. For example, the manner of taking arms and turning around, used especially in the English country dance, was probably done by the woman placing her forearm on top of the gentleman's forearm rather than the hooking of elbows popular in country dance today. As the cut of sleeves became shorter and lighter fabrics were used later in the century, the arms were freed to make more elaborate motions.
To have a properly costumed performance can be costly unless you have the recourse of borrowing already-made costumes from a theater group or school. Begin well in advance of the performance to get the costumes prepared, because even if you borrow garments, adjustments take time. Good costumers have clever and relatively inexpensive ways of designing costumes that will at least suggest the period.
Production Considerations
The design of the hall can play a significant role in the overall ambience of your performance, especially if the hall has a “historical” feel to it. Ballrooms of the Renaissance and Baroque were mostly long and narrow as opposed to the wide and often shallow shape of most modern stages. Adjustments may be necessary in some of the spatial patterns of the dances.
One also needs to determine the position of the original “audience.” Social dances were probably performed in a ballroom with observers around all sides and at the same floor level; some dances, like the English country dances, definitely face the head of the room where the “presence” is located. The dance director needs to determine the best viewing angle for each dance and decide whether to assign the role of the “presence” to the audience or to stage performers. Audiences for theatrical dance may have been on the same floor level or at a raised level, depending on the period and location; later in the century, nascent proscenium stages were used with increasing frequency.
When looking for a performing space, keep in mind that dancers always appreciate a good-quality floor; a floor with a concrete base underneath is hard on dancers’ feet and legs, and some surfaces (such as waxed floors) can be slippery. Certainly there are many factors that affect the choice of a performing space: type of floor, shape of performing space, cost, backstage facilities, and other considerations.
Just as one would aim for diversity in a music concert, so should one try to vary a program's dances, according to type, tempos, mood, number of dancers, and social setting. Do you intend to represent dances of the court, country, or theater? Be aware that the treatises of this time reflect court dances. Dances such as Arbeau's branles and the English country dances may have been modeled after genuine peasant dances, but it is nearly impossible to trace their origins. If the theme for a concert revolves around a certain country, it is not always necessary to restrict the program to dances or dance sources emanating from that country alone, as some manuals were known in other countries.112
Another issue facing the reconstructor pertains to the manner of presenting the social dances to a modern audience. As many of these dances were designed for a social ballroom setting rather than a theatrical presentation, they may seem rather dry. It is my opinion that it is possible to bring life to the dances while remaining true to the sources. One may add shoulder shading, devise variations (or substitute flashier ones), or enhance the dramatic quality (flirting, chasing, doing battle, etc.). It is most important to remember that these were recreational dances done by young people who were enjoying themselves.
The music may also be made more interesting by changing the instrumentation on repeats, or by adding ornamentation or improvised variations. One may also check various contemporary arrangements of a piece; there are many interesting settings of the passo e mezzo, for example.
Improvisation was apparently an important element in the dance. The Italians—especially Negri, Lupi, and Lutij—treat it with some weight. Caroso, while not as explicit as the other Italians on the subject of improvisation, demonstrates that it was an important element in social dance by occasionally giving the performer a choice of sequences to do, especially in the galliard sections of his dances. Even Arbeau allows for some freedom in certain dances.
When beginning to plan a program that will include period dance, the director should locate a specialist in the historical-dance field. Choreographers or dancers trained in ballet or modern dance are not automatically qualified. As indicated above, reconstructing these dances requires considerable and specific knowledge. Choreography in historical dance should also be done by someone familiar with the style. Attending a workshop to learn these dances firsthand is a valuable experience.113
Many historical-dance specialists have a group of trained dancers, but if it is not financially feasible to bring in a troupe, there are alternatives. Depending on the repertory chosen, a group of local country dancers or the local college dance department may be willing to collaborate. Some of the simpler late Renaissance dances and English country dances can be done quite easily by amateurs, but even with the English country dances, adequate rehearsals are required to be sure that the dancers attain the lovely flow that will bring out the figures of these dances. Some late Renaissance Italian dances (especially certain galliard variations) can be quite challenging, and as one progresses to the late seventeenth century a dance background is necessary, for Baroque technique becomes difficult in footwork, balance, and coordination and grace of arm motions.
Well before the first rehearsal, the music director and dance director should discuss details of the music: overall program, tempos, proportional relationships of musical sections in different meters, number of repeats, instrumentation, and so forth. The musical group should make a rehearsal recording for the dancers so they can become accustomed to the distinctive sound of the ensemble with which they will be working.
Because of the lack of a standard notation system for these dances, the dancers need to be taught at rehearsal by the dance director, and this can take considerable time. In my experience with trained dancers, learning a new dance requires one hour of rehearsal for each minute of dance. In other words, if the program is to comprise twenty minutes of dancing, then one must allow at least twenty hours of rehearsal for the dancers alone, before getting together with the musicians. Amateurs or dancers not yet trained in the period style will require even more time. Dance rehearsals need to be conducted in an appropriate space. One may be lucky enough to have contact with a church or school that will lend space for free, but if not, the director should be aware of the costs involved when renting a dance rehearsal space. In New York, studio rental costs can be prohibitive.
While there are many considerations to take into account when preparing historical dances for performance, the result is gratifying for both musician and dancer, and the work is well worth it. The visual excitement of costumed movement enhances a musical program greatly, and musicians benefit in their performance in seeing the accompanying movements to the dances. From the dancers’ standpoint, nothing can compare to performing with live musicians. Ultimately, our wish is to bring an appreciation of this wonderful material to our audience.
NOTES
The epigraph comes from de Lauze/Wildeblood, Apologie: 55.
1. The terms “Renaissance” and “Baroque” are used by music and dance scholars with slightly different time frames in mind. While musicians generally regard the turn of the seventeenth century as the beginning of the Baroque era, “Baroque” dance refers to the technique expounded in treatises of eighteenth-century dancing masters.
2. For information about research on Italian folk/traditional dance, see Santucci/Sparti, Mastro: 10ff.
3. Certain dances, such as the antimasque dances of the English masque, which represented lowly or grotesque characters, were performed by professional actors.
4. In addition to the encouragement provided when Louis XIV permitted non-aristocratic dancers to assume noble roles after 1670, perhaps the ascendancy of professionalism can be partially attributed to the change in dance technique.
5. See Jones, Relation: 228ff.
6. Single-sex dances such as Arbeau's Les bouffons and several dances in Negri appear to have theatrical intention. See Sutton/Caroso, Nobliltà: 31. There is also evidence of solo dancing at other festive occasions, such as in the Ballet of Twelve Nations, a performance given during the festivities celebrating the baptism of Prince Friedrich von Württemberg. See Bowles, Musical Ensembles: 199–211.
7. For a transcription of this choreography, see D. P. Walker, Intermèdes.
8. “Thoinot Arbeau” is an anagram for Jehan Tabourot (1520–95).
9. “Capriole” is also the name of a step, a virtuosic jump or “caper” into the air while moving the legs and feet rapidly back and forth.
10. Arbeau, Orchésographie (1967): 14.
11. For a facsimile, transcription, and introductory material, see Feves, Angene, ed. Instruction pour dancer: an anonymous manuscript. Freiburg (Breisgau): Fa-gisis, Musik- und Tanzedition, 2000.
12. De Lauze/Wildeblood, Apologie: 99.
13. Lupi, Libro, and Santucci, Mastro, however, present several variations for women.
14. He states that the canary had become very popular.
15. See Mersenne, Harmonie universelle, 2: 158–180, “Traitez de la voix et des chants,” Livre second de chants, propositions 22–27.
16. See Harris-Warrick/Marsh, Musical Theatre: 85. A long-awaited edition (with facsimile) has been published: Julia Sutton and Rachelle Palnick Tsachor, eds., Dances for the Sun King: André Lorin's “Livre de Contredance,” Annapolis, Md.: The Colonial Music Institute, 2008.
17. See the excellent examination of this manuscript in Harris-Warrick/Marsh, Musical Theatre.
18. Portions available online at http://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/compasso/
19. For further information, see the introductory notes by Sparti in the facsimile edition of Compasso, Ballo.
20. Available online at http://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/caroso/
21. With the publication of Nobiltà, Caroso became absorbed with the theory and practice of symmetry in the dance. See Feves, “Changing Shape,” and Caroso/Sutton, Nobiltà.
22. Available online at http://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/negri/
23. Negri includes choreographies for four brandi; Caroso, Santucci, Lupi, and Lutij have none.
24. For a facsimile and more information, see Santucci/Sparti, Mastro. Sparti also provides a list of other Italian sources. The ten dances are Canario, Spagnioletta, Alta regina, Barriera, two Pavaniglias, Contrapasso for six, Gagliarda di Spagnia, Galleria d'amore, and Allegrezza d‘amore ; only one choreography is by Santucci, the other nine dances are by seven other dancing masters. See Santucci/Sparti, Mastro: ch. 7, for a discussion on the choreographies.
25. For a discussion of the distinction between passeggi and mutanze, see Santucci/Sparti, Mastro: ch. 6.
26. See notes by Sparti in facsimile edition of Compasso, Ballo.
27. See Sutton/Caroso, Nobiltà: 19, 22–23.
28. See notes by Sparti in facsimile edition of Compasso, Ballo.
29. Some mss. describe events at a ball. Apparently there was an order for the dances that was adhered to throughout the time span of these mss: Quadran Pavan, Turky Lony, the Earl of Essex, Tinternell, the Old Alman, the Queen's Alman, Sicilia (Cecilia) Almain, Black Almain.
30. For more information on the manuscripts and for modern editions of these dances, see Payne, Almain; Cunningham, Inns; and Pugliese/Casazza, Practise.
31. Descriptions of four country dances jotted down ca. 1648 are also extant, in British Library, Lansdowne no. 1115. See Cunningham, Dancing: 17.
32. Double, single, set and turne single.
33. Transcription in Anuario musical. Barcelona. 5 (1950): 190–198. For further information, see Gingell, “Spanish Dance,” and Stark, “What Steps.”
34. The author Johann Georg Pasch (ca. 1628–1678) had previously written books on various topics such as fencing, riding and training a horse, handling a banner, and carving meats. This Pasch might have had a familial connection with Johann Pasch, who later wrote Beschreibung wahrer Tanzkunst (Frankfurt, 1707). For more information, see Pasch, Anleitung, 75.
35. See Brainard, “Renaissance Dance,” and Sutton et al., Dances for the Sun King: 45.
36. Maisse, Journal: 5.
37. For additional sources, see the bibliography in Hilton, Dance.
38. See Donington, Interpretation: ch. 37, for information on tempos for specific dance types, drawn from original sources. For a discussion of late seventeenth- and early eighteenth-century dance tempos, also see Harris-Warrick, “Pendulum Markings.”
39. Thomas/Gingell, Renaissance Dance, contains an annotated list of sources of early dance music; modern editions are identified for some of these sources.
40. An edition of the Susato work with correctly barred galliards was published by London Pro Musica editions.
41. Arbeau, Orchésographie (1967): 67; he also states that these dances can be sung.
42. See Neumann/Myers, “Percussion.”
43. See Bowles, Musical Ensembles, and Sabol, Stuart Masque: 19–21.
44. See Harris-Warrick/Marsh, Musical Theatre: 4–9, 68ff.
45. This is a selective list; for information on other dance types and for variant names of dance types, see International Encyclopedia of Dance, New Grove, and Brown, Instrumental Music.
46. A bassedanse called La allemande appears in Coplande, Maner. Arbeau, Orchésographie (1967): 125, also suggests German origin.
47. For further information, see Hudson, Allemande.
48. Arbeau, Orchésographie (1967): 125.
49. See Little/Marsh, Danse noble, for listing of Baroque-style allemand choreographies. The almans described in the Inns of Court mss. show processional dances like Arbeau, though with rudimentary figures added. Negri's Alemana d'amore for four dancers is unlike Arbeau's; the tune (like two dances in Caroso) is similar to contemporary musical settings of the ballo or balletto tedesco. See Hudson, Allemande, vol. I: ch. 3.
50. Caroso, Nobiltà: 109–120. For more information on the music, see Hudson, Allemande.
51. In Playford, Dancing Master (1651): 6. There are other versions of this tune throughout the seventeenth century: a six-part version called the Bouree d'Avignonne in the Philidor Collection; a five-part version labeled Paduana soldat in Georg Engelmann's Fasciculus secundus (1617); a texted setting in Valerius, Neder-Landsche Gedenck-Clanck (1626); settings for recorder in Jacob van Eyck, Der Fluyten Lust-hof (1648); and a version for violins and continuo in Johann Schmelzer, Polish Bagpipes (end of seventeenth century). See Bernard Thomas, ed., Playford Dances, vol. I: 68 Dances (LPM 102) (Brighton: London Pro Musica Edition, 1994). Also see Dean-Smith, Playford.
52. As in the Kassel ms. dated ca. 1650-ca. 1670; see Écorcheville, Vingt suites.
53. See Little/Marsh, Danse noble.
54. Cotgrave, Dictionarie.
55. A chart showing the evolution of the branle suite from 1588 to 1660 can be found under “Branle,” by Harris-Warrick/Lecomte in Benoit, Dictionnaire; see also Robertson, Courtly, 53n16.
56. There are five branle-type dances for two or for four dancers in Beauchamps-Feuillet notation; see Little/Marsh, Danse noble.
57. See Jones, Relation: 253ff.
58. Arbeau, Orchésographie (1967): 129.
59. Ibid.: 180.
60. Most canaries are intended as theatrical dances. For Beauchamps-Feuillet notations, see Little/Marsh, Danse noble.
61. Group chaconnes were often used as finales in opéra-ballets and tragédies-lyriques, but there are no extant choreographies. For other notations of chaconnes, see ibid.
62. Arbeau, Orchésographie (1967): 124.
63. Examples of the fast coranto are found in duple and in triple meter. Arbeau's coranto is in duple; Negri's La correnta is in triple.
64. See Hilton, Court and Theater: 287. For extant Beauchamps-Feuillet notations of courantes, see Little/Marsh, Danse noble.
65. Some dances change meters.
66. The longways dance is “progressive,” a dance in which the top couple progresses down through the set (away from the “presence” or highest-ranking noble at the head of the room), while the other couples progress up the set. Once a couple reaches the top, then it, too, begins the progression downward.
67. See Pressacco, Sermone.
68. Pierre Phalèse and Jean Bellère, Chorearum Molliorum Collectanea…Recueil de danseries (1583). See Brown, Instrumental Music.
69. See Little/Marsh, Danse noble, for a list of notations.
70. Previously Matteo Maria Boiardo's poem Orlando innamorato (ca. 1490) has been cited as the earliest reference to the galliard. Sparti corrects this error and supplies new information in her introductory notes to Compasso, Ballo: 6–7.
71. Other afterdances were the tordion, saltarello, hupfauff, and proportz.
72. Morley, Plaine and Easie: 296–297.
73. Arbeau, Orchésographie (1967): 78.
74. Most la voltas have regular phrasing and are musically similar to galliards; however, there are some interesting, irregular la voltas: see Volte CCI in Praetorius, Terpsichore.
75. Mace, Musick's Monument: 129.
76. See Little/Marsh, Danse noble, for a list of notations.
77. See Hilton, Court and Theater: 232–235.
78. Arbeau, Orchésographie, 175; Praetorius, Terpsichore, section IV, Interpretatio: no. 5, p. x.
79. There are several in Playford (1651), including All in a Garden Green, Kemps Jegg, and Pauls Steeple.
80. See Little/Marsh, Danse noble for a list of notations.
81. Ibid.
82. Ibid.
83. Several scholars have attempted to unravel the mystery of the term “measure.” Ward, “English Measure”; Mullally, “Measures”; Pugliese/Casazza, Practise; Cunningham, Inns of Court.
84. See Olsson, “English Measures.”
85. See New Grove, s.v. “Minuet.”
86. There were two types of minuet, a “generic” one that followed a customary series of patterns, and a “figured” one that was a specifically choreographed dance. See Harris-Warrick/Marsh, Musical Theatre: 53.
87. See Little/Marsh, Danse noble.
88. See Olsson/Mainz, Beautiful Clarinda.
89. The pas de menuet à deux mouvements. There are also many variations. Favier's is distinctly different from other steps and may typify an earlier version. See Harris-Warrick/Marsh, Musical Theatre.
90. See Little/Marsh, Danse noble, for a list of notations.
91. See Sutton/Caroso, Nobiltà: 38–39, and Sutton's notes in Arbeau, Orchésographie (1967): 233.
92. See Sutton's notes in Arbeau, Orchésographie (1967): 236.
93. The passepied in the Favier manuscript begins with the dancers moving sideways to the left, the same direction which Renaissance branles begin. See Harris-Warrick/Marsh, Musical Theatre: 162. For dances in Beauchamps-Feuillet notation, see Little /Marsh, Danse noble.
94. Italian: “of Padua”; Spanish: from pavon, meaning “peacock.”
95. Its earliest appearance is in Joan Ambrosio Dalza, Intabulatura de lauto (1508).
96. Some pavans are in triple meter. See Sutton, “Triple Pavans.”
97. See Harris-Warrick/Marsh, Musical Theatre; Little/Marsh, Danse noble.
98. Ibid.
99. As Sutton (Nobiltà, 43) points out, this may be due to Morley's statement (Introduction) that the Italians call their galliards a saltarello.
100. Sutton/Caroso, Nobiltà, 43–44.
101. See Little/Marsh, Danse noble.
102. See articles by Robert Stevenson and Richard Hudson listed in New Grove, s.v. “Sarabande .”
103. See Little/Marsh, Danse noble.
104. Caroso has four; two in Il ballarino and two in Nobiltà. Negri offers only one, in duple meter, in Le gratie d'amore. Santucci presents a “Spagnioletta” by Barbetta. The spagnoletta is similar in form to the cascarda, found in Caroso's two manuals. For information on spagnolettas in other sources, see Santucci/Sparti, Mastro: 75.
105. See Sutton/Caroso, Nobiltà: 44.
106. The most accessible edition of Orchésographie is the 1948 translation by Mary Stewart Evans, reprinted in 1967 by Dover Publications, listed in the bibliography. One should be sure to read the notes given by Julia Sutton and study the volume side by side with the original French edition. A facsimile edition of the 1596 edition of Orchésographie is available from Minkoff; see Bibliography. A digital reproduction may be accessed at http://imslp.org/wiki/Orchésographie_(Arbeau,_Toinot)
107. See Cunningham, Inns of Court: 27.
108. Symmetry does not seem to be an overarching concern of Santucci, Instruction pour dancer, or Pasch. Santucci merely states that one “may” perform a certain step on the other side, Instruction pour dancer sometimes directs the performer to repeat a sequence to the other side. Pasch's treatment of symmetry is erratic. In his six dances, only occasionally do complete phrases repeat beginning on the other foot.
109. See Jones, Relation: 196ff.
110. Feves, Instruction pour dancer: 19.
111. See Sutton/Caroso, Nobiltà: 140–141.
112. See Brainard, “Renaissance Dance”: 320. Also see Sutton/Caroso, Nobiltà: 2.
113. See listings in Early Music America magazine, or online at http://www.earlymusic.org. Also see the Calendar of Early Dance for international listings: www.early-dance.de
SELECT RESOURCES
The internet can be a valuable resource. You can link to the Renaissance Dance sources page (which offers other links to source translations, bibliography, discography, and early music and dance resources) at the following address: http://www.rendance.org. To find historical-dance specialists or workshops, consult Early Music America (www.earlymusic.org), the Calendar of Early Dance for international listings (www.early-dance.de), or Society of Dance History Scholars (www.sdhs.org).
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Bowles, Festival Books; Brainard, “Renaissance Dance”; Brown, Instrumental Music; Buch, “Ballets de cour”; Caroso/Sutton, Nobiltà; Christout, Ballet de Cour au XVIIe siècle; Christout, Ballet de cour; Christout, “Court Ballet”; Coplande, Maner; Cunningham, Inns of Court; Dean-Smith, Playford; Dixon, “Nonsuch,” vol. 2; Donington, Interpretation; Ellis, Lully; Feves, “Changing Shape”; Feves, Noble Gathering; Fletcher/Cohen/Lonsdale, Famed; Garcia-Espu-che, Dansa; Harris-Warrick, “Pendulum Markings”; Harris-Warrick/Marsh, Musical Theatre; Helwig/Barron, Purcell; Hilton, Dance; Hudson, Allemande; Inglehearn, Ten Dances; Instruction pour dancer; International Encyclopedia of Dance (various articles on dance types); Jones, Pamela, Relation; Lacroix, Ballets; Little/Marsh, Danse Noble; Maisse, Journal; McGowan, Margaret, L‘art ; Nagler, Theatre Festivals; Neumann/Myers, “Percussion”; New Grove (article “Dance,” various articles about individual dance types, aspects of music and performance practice); Olsson, “English Measures”; Olsson/Mainz, Beautiful Clarinda; Orgel, Jonsonian Masque; Pasch, Anleitung; Payne, Almain; Pugliese/Casazza, Practise; Robertson, Courtly; Sabol, Stuart Masque; Santucci/Sparti, Mastro da Ballo; Schwartz/Schlundt, French Court; Skeaping, “Three Crowns”; Sutton, “Minuet”; Sutton, “Triple Pavans”; Thomas/Gingell, Renaissance Dance; Ward, “Measure”; Ward, “Maner.”
RECORDINGS
Canzoni e Danze: Wind Music from Renaissance Italy. Piffaro, the Renaissance Wind Band (formerly the Philadelphia Renaissance Wind Band), Joan Kimball and Robert Wiemkin, directors. Archiv, compact disc 445 883–2.
Celeste Giglio: Flowers of 16th-century Italian Dance Music. Lacrimae Ensemble. Erasmus Muziek Productions, compact disc WVH186.
Cesare Negri, Maestro di ballare, Le Gratie d'Amore (1602). Ensemble La Follia. Dynamic, compact disc S 2001.
Country Capers: The Music of Playford's The English Dancing Master. New York Renaissance Band, Sally Logemann, director. Arabesque Recordings, cassette tape NB 7520, compact disc Z6522.
Danses populaires françaises. The Broadside Band, Jeremy Barlow, director. Harmonia Mundi, compact disc HMA 1951152.
English Country Dances from Playford's Dancing Master, 1651–1703. The Broadside Band, Jeremy Barlow, director. SayDisc, compact disc CD-SDL 393.
Folie Douce: Renaissance Improvisations. Ensemble Doulce Mémoire. Dorian, compact disc DOR-90262.
Homage to Amor: Sixteenth Century Dances of Love from Fabritio Caroso's Il ballarino (1581) and Nobiltà di dame (1600). Feves, Angene. Played by Les Verres Cassés. Copyright Angene Feves, 1987. Cassette tape only.
Il Ballarino: Italian Dances, c. 1600. The Broadside Band, Jeremy Barlow, director. Hyperion, compact disc A66244.
Johann Caspar Ferdinand Fischer, Le Journal du Printemps. L'Orfeo Barockorchester, Michi Gaigg, director. Classic Produktion Osnabrück, compact disc CPO 777 150 2
Michael Praetorius: Dances from Terpsichore, 1612. New London Consort, Philip Pickett, director. L'Oiseau-Lyre, compact disc 414 633–2.
Musiques à danser de la Renaissance. Adami. Compagnie Maître Guillaume. Compact disc CMG-1/R96.
Musiques à danser de la Renaissance française. Compagnie Maître Guillaume. Pierre Verany, compact disc PV 730056
Musiques à danser la cour et l'opéra. Les Talens Lyriques, C. Rousset, director; and La Simphonie du Marais, H. Reyne, director; Francine Lancelot, supervision. Erato, compact disc 0630–10702–2.
The Playford Consort. See Helwig/Barron, “Purcell,” under Secondary Sources.
Praetorius: Excerpts from Terpsichore. New York Renaissance Band, Sally Logemann, director. Arabesque Recordings, cassette tape NB 7531, compact disc Z6531.
Praetorius & Guédron, Grand Bal à la cour d'Henri IV. Ensemble Doulce Mémoire, Denis Raisin Dadre, director. K617, compact disc K617186.
Spanish Dances. The Harp Consort, Andrew Lawrence-King, director. Deutsche Harmonia Mundi, CD 05472–77340–2.
Tielman Susato: Danserye 1551. New London Consort, Philip Pickett, director. L'Oiseau-Lyre, compact disc 436 131–2.
Washerwoman, War and Pease: The Music of Arbeau's Orchésographie. New York Renaissance Band, Sally Logemann, director. Arabesque Recordings, cassette tape NB 7514, compact disc Z6514.
William Brade: Hamburger Ratsmusik um 1600 (Consort Music c. 1600). Deutsche Harmonia Mundi, compact disc 77168-2-RG.
See also practice tapes accompanying published reconstructions, listed above in bibliography: Dixon, Feves, Inglehearn, Pugliese, and Thomas/Gingell.
DANCE MUSIC SOURCES
This is a very select list, citing only sources of ensemble music (in chronological order) that are available in reliable modern editions. For additional sources and listings of music for solo instruments (lute, keyboard, etc.), see Brown, Instrumental Music, and Thomas/Gingell, Renaissance Dance; the latter volume includes an annotated list of printed and manuscript sources from 1530 to 1645. Collections of dance music not mentioned in the list below can be found in Thomas/Gingell, Renaissance Dance; B. Thomas, Playford Dances; Sabol, Stuart Masque; Helwig/Barron, Purcell; Nettl, Wiener Tanzmusik.
There are also facsimiles of original sources available online at various websites, including http://gallica.bnf.fr/.
Digital library for the Paris Bibliothèque Nationale contains facsimiles of late seventeenth-century French music and can be found at http://www.digital.library.unt.edu/browse/department/music/jblc/.
The Jean-Baptiste Lully Collection, opera and ballet scores by Jean-Baptiste Lully and his sons, can be accessed through the University of North Texas.
ABBREVIATIONS
ARS = American Recorder Society Editions
DM = Early Dance Music (London Pro Musica [LPM]series)
EM = English Instrumental Music of the late Renaissance (LPM series)
EML = Early Music Library (LPM series)
LPM = London Pro Musica edition
MP = Musica Practica (LPM series)
TM = Thesaurus Musicus (LPM series)
TS = Thomas Simpson (LPM series)
For a complete list of London Pro Musica editions, see http://www.londonpromusica.com/catalogues.html; LPM editions of can be obtained from the source in England at http://www.londonpromusica.com/dancemusic.html or in the United States through Magnamusic at http://www.londonpromusica.com/dancemusic.html.
PRIMARY SOURCES FOR DANCES AND MUSIC