15C-Ital-Dce-art - 9/4/01
"Fifteenth-Century Italian Dance" by Rosina del Bosco Chiaro (Vivian Stephens). These are the class notes from a class she taught at Pennsic 30.
NOTE: See also the files: dance-msg, ME-dance-msg, dance-par-art, Italy-msg, fd-Italy-msg.
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This article was submitted to me by the author for inclusion in this set of files, called Stefan's Florilegium.
These files are available on the Internet at: http://www.florilegium.org
Copyright to the contents of this file remains with the author.
While the author will likely give permission for this work to be reprinted in SCA type publications, please check with the author first or check for any permissions granted at the end of this file.
Thank you,
Mark S. Harris
AKA: Stefan li Rous
stefan@florilegium.org
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Fifteenth-Century Italian Dance
by Rosina del Bosco Chiaro (Vivian Stephens)
The earliest surviving dance choreographies are in Italian dance manuals dating from the mid to late fifteenth-century. The dances were composed by dancing masters, or occasionally by members of the nobility, and were meant to be performed by members of the court under the critical eyes of their peers. These dances were usually danced by only one set at a time, and the emphasis was therefore much more on performance than as a social activity. It is possible, however, that, as many people would know the dances, at less formal occasions they were danced by as many people as wished to. This is the way we usually do these dances in the SCA.
The two major choreographers whose works survive are Domenico da Piacenza and his student Guglielmo Ebreo da Pesaro (also known as Giovanni Ambrosio). Another student, Antonio Cornazano, wrote a dance manual containing choreographies of Domenico. Dance manuals dating from about 1450 to the early 1500s survive, and show considerable similarity. There are less dance sources thereafter, and by the late sixteenth-century when more sources are again available, the dance traditions have become noticeably different.
The sources for this period are unfortunately somewhat vague, especially regarding the performance of the steps, which are often not described at all. The choreographies, and the music for them, are usually not identical if they appear in more than one source. There also seems to have been considerable variation in how the steps were performed in period, and improvisation was expected. It is important to remember that there was not one, immutable, way of performing dance of this period. Because of this, reconstructions of these dances vary rather more than for later periods. When taking a class you should expect that things may be taught differently than you are used to, and that this does not make the teacher, or yourself, wrong. As well, the same or similar step names were often used for steps that were performed differently in the Burgundian or sixteenth-century repertoires, and these should not be confused with the fifteenth-century Italian steps.
At this time there were four dance tempi, being bassadanza (usually notated as being in 6/4 in modern arrangements), quadernaria (4/4), saltarello (usually 6/8), and piva (2/4 or 6/8). Bassedanze were slow, somewhat processional dances, for which choreographies survive. No matching music is found in the sources, so it seems that any bassadanza tune of the right size could be used. (This differs from the related Burgundian bassedanse, where the choreographies had set tenors.) No choreographies were given for the other three tempi, but the saltarello and piva were also dances. Both were lively, improvised dances, probably danced by any number of people, in couples or perhaps larger groups, at the same time. The saltarello seems to have been the ancestor of the sixteenth-century galliard. Quadernaria was rarely danced as an independent dance type, but may have been something like the later almans. Dancers of this period were expected to be able to dance the basic movement of one dance tempo to the other tempi e.g. dancing saltarello steps in bassadanza music.
The ballo used all four of these tempi, sometimes all in the same dance, though some of the balli remained in one tempo throughout. The choreography of the dance and the music matched exactly, resulting in music that sounds odd to modern ears, as it can even contain half length bars. The choreographies were often theatrical, with a theme usually suggested by their title. Most of the balli required a specific number of dancers, which could range from one couple up to twelve dancers. The dances were not always for couples, often being for trios or larger numbers of uneven genders. When the sexes were not balanced, there were more likely to be more men than women, the most extreme case being the dance Sobria, which calls for five men and only one woman.
Certain figures and patterns were common in these dances, the most notable being a repetitive structure, usually based on gender. In couple dances, the man will often perform a sequence of steps which is followed by the woman repeating the same sequence. (Or, if the woman is on the left side, she may be the one required to do the sequence first.) The entire dance is usually repeated, with the woman doing everything first for the repeat. In dances with more than one couple, a figure may be repeated once for each couple, or the entire dance repeated as many times as it is necessary for each couple to lead the dance. Other common motifs are processional sections, where the dancers move forward together, sections where the dancers move apart and then return, 'arming' figures, where partners take hands and move around each other, and numerous weaves and heys, where one or more dancers weave around other, stationary dancers, or all the dancers move in snakelike patterns around each other. Some dances, perhaps from later in this period, or showing a different school of dance, use a verse format, where the same music is repeated with different steps, or a verse/chorus format, where a repetitive chorus is danced between each verse.
Ornamentation and improvisation were considered important to the dances, but are unfortunately described as casually as the steps themselves. The steps were expected to be done with a rising and falling motion, undagiarre, described as being like the motion of a boat in waves. For another ornament, campegiarre, the torso was swiveled slightly, to lead with one side. At the end of steps extra movements could be added, and, in the saltarello at least, the basic step could be replaced at will with other steps. In the piva men were expected to throw in extra hops and spins. These modifications to the saltarello and piva dances may also have been found in saltarello and piva sections of the balli. However, in all matters of styling, moderation is important, and in bassadanza it is especially emphasized.
The manuals also touch briefly on other matters important to a dancer, such as use of space, music, exercises for dancers (not our modern stretching exercises, but trying to dance with or against rhythms, etc.), dancing in different clothes and how a woman should dance.
Annotated Bibliography
This is a very short list of some of the works available on 15th-century Italian dance.
Discography
Because there is considerable variation in reconstructions of the music, (and of the dances, which then may change how the music is played) not all recordings of a dance will fit all reconstructions of that dance. Some of these recordings were not made with dancers in mind, and the musicians may have decided to trim off repeats, play it much slower or faster than required, or otherwise make the piece unusable for dancing. The three most highly recommended recordings are Alta Danza, Mesura et Arte and Forse Che Si. They are all professionally made, meant for dancing to, and available commercially on CD. The contents given are only those pieces used for fifteenth-century Italian dance.
For any further information, please feel free to contact me at: rosina@pathcom.com
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Copyright 2001 by Vivian Stephens. <rosina@pathcom.com>. Permission is granted for republication in SCA-related publications, provided the author is credited and receives a copy.
If this article is reprinted in a publication, I would appreciate a notice inthe publication that you found this article in the Florilegium. I would alsoappreciate an email to myself, so that I can track which articles are beingreprinted.
Thanks. -Stefan.
<the end>
Copyright © Mark S. Harris (Lord Stefan li Rous)
All Rights Reserved
Comments to author: stefan@florilegium.org
Generated: Sun Oct 7 2001