Steps: doppio (in 4 and in 6),
movimento, rest all done "in 6" =
ripresa, sempio,
mezavolta, volta tonda,
volta del gioioso
saltarello.
Start: Man 1 on the left, then Woman 1, then Man 2, then
Woman 2, and finally Man 3 on the right, side by side, holding
hands, facing up the hall. (If the dance is for 7, just keep adding
more people of alternate gender.)
Arming (5 + 5 bars in bassadanza)
Ripresa Left, Ripresa Right,
Women Sempio Left, Sempio Right forward, turning toward the man to her left,
Women and Men they turned to do a left hand turn with Doppio Left, Doppio Right
(All end as they started dance.)
Repeat, this time the Woman doing a right hand turn with the man to her right.
Men Change Places (same music as 1st section)
Ripresa Left, Ripresa Right,
Men switch places with Sempio Left, Sempio Right, Doppio Left, Doppio
Right, passing in front of one woman (sometimes more), men who are
moving to the right passing closer to the women than men who are
moving left. The actual pattern here depends on the number of men.
If there are 3 men, the 2 senior men (i.e. the two who are more to
the left, starting in the positions of Man 1 and Man 2), move one
space to the right, while the right-most man moves 2 spaces to the
left. This would result in Man3-Woman1-Man1-Woman2-Man2 after. If
there are 4 men then Man 1 and Man 3 change places and Man 2
and Man 4 change places. (It may seem easier to have Man 1+2 change
and Man 3 + 4 change, but then Woman 2 is being ignored, and tends
to get bitchy.) The man coming from the left (moving right) gets to
go closer to the woman, so when meeting another man, the men pass
left shoulders.) If there are 5 men things are starting to
get more complicated. You could have all the men except Man 5 move
one space right, while poor Man 5 has to charge 4 places left. Or you
could have Men 1, 2 and 3 move 2 places right, while Men 4 + 5 have
to go 3 left. You could develop complicated rules that no one will
remember, involving random directions and places. There may be a neat
mathmatical rule I haven't thought up yet. The easy solution is to
bend the whole team into a ring and have all the men just go one
right
(All end side by side again.)
Repeat, following the same rules as before (but the men are starting in
new positions.)
Travel + Dumbell (8 bars in bassadanza x 2)
Ripresa Left, Ripresa Right,
Sempio Left, Sempio Right, Doppio Left,
Men do a Voltatonda (clockwise, using Doppio Right, Doppio Left),
as Women do Ripresa Right, Ripresa Left,
(I call this figure the "dumbbell" in class, the women describing the
handle, and the men the two balls on either side. After the first
doppio or ripresa, they have all moved over one place to the right,
so Man 1 is in the woman's spot, Woman1 is in Man 2's spot, Man 2
is in Women 2's, etc. The men are facing down the hall,
and women facing up. After the 2nd doppio or ripresa, they are all
back to their usual place, facing up the hall.)
All Volta del Gioioso.
Repeat.
Saltarello (8 bars in saltarello x 2)
Do 16 bars of saltarello.
Crane Mating Dance (4 bars in quadernaria x 2)
Women Movimento, Men respond, Women Doppio Left,
Men Movimento, Women responds, Men Doppio Left,
Women Movimento, Men respond, Women Doppio Right and Mezavolta Right,
Men Movimento, Women responds, Men Doppio Right and Mezavolta Right.
Repeat dance, going the other way.
Recordings
Mesura et Arte del Danzare
Most often use this recording in class.
Music in the Age of Leonardo da Vinci
Musica del XV secolo in Italia - this one has an extra 20 bars thrown in, in the middle. Does not repeat the dance.
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