Sources

30 Pages·2010·0.71 MB·English

Survey of European Dance Sources
1400 - 1700
Peter and Janelle Durham
(Trahaearn ap Ieuan and Jane Lynn of Fenmere)
Burgundian Basses Danses
There daunseth to gether a man and a woman, holding eche other by the hande or the
arme… the meving of the man wolde be more vehement, of the woman more delicate,
and with lasse advauncing of the body, signifienge the courage and strenthe that ought
to be in a man, and the pleasant sobreness that shulde be in a woman.
-The Boke Named the Governour, 1531
About the Sources
There is a broad array of information surviving on the repertoire of dances commonly known as
Burgundian basse dances. Interestingly, the majority of the period sources appear to be derived from an
original text which has been lost. The Brussels manuscript may be copied directly from the prototype, the
Toulouze may be a direct copy, but researchers suspect there is one generation between it and the
original. Moderne is based on Toulouze, and the Coplande translation is from either Brussels or the
original. It is possible to make observations about the evolution of basse dance by examining the details of
these ―generations‖ of text, and several modern researchers have attempted to do just that.
The manuscripts typically begin with a treatise (virtually identical throughout most sources) which
discusses the theory and performance of basse dances. This is followed by a number of dances, which were
tabulated as a tenor line, with abbreviations for the steps running on the line below the music, detailing
the choreography.
Music
Music for these dances survives only in tenor lines, written in undifferentiated rhythmic values. Musicians
were expected to improvise counter-tenor lines above the tenor. In outdoor settings, a sackbut might have
played tenor notes while two shawms improvised counter melodies; a drum may have provided
percussion. At intimate gatherings, ensembles might have included instruments such as flute, lute, viol,
recorder or rebec. Or a solo wind player might have improvised a line of notes which refer back to the
tenor.
Specific choreographies are often associated with multiple tenor lines, and it has been theorized that any
set of steps can be danced to any basse music of the right length. In the Brussels and Toulouze
manuscripts, dances are composed of 28-59 steps; in later sources, they are 14-29 steps (common basse
having 20) plus a standardized 12 step retour or moitié.
Steps
Almost the entire basse dance repertoire is based on combinations of only 4 steps. Each step takes the
same amount of time, referred to as a breve, believed to have a duration of 3-4 seconds.
Singles (ss). ―the first step is done with the left foot raising the body and making the single step forward,
and the second step is done with the right foot and one must raise the body and step a little forward.‖
Singles were always done in pairs; the pair evenly dividing the three beats of the breve. Thus, a pair of
singles counts as one ―step‖.
Doubles (d). ―The first double step is done with the left foot; one must raise one‘s body and go three steps
forward lightly, the first with the left foot, the second with the right foot, and the third with the left.‖ There
were almost always an odd number (1, 3, or 5). The first double began on the left, the second on the right,
and so on.
Desmarche (r). ―The second desmarche must be made with the left foot, lifting the body and turning it a
little towards the lady; and following, bringing the right foot near the left foot raising the body similarly.‖
Desmarches were done one at a time, or in clusters of three, always beginning on the right foot. In later
sources, a desmarche was called a reprise.
Branle (b). ―The branle must start with the left foot and end with the right foot, and is called a branle
because one makes it swaying with one foot towards the other.‖

A courtly couple dance. Note musicians
with flute and drum, the footwear and
Colophon from Toulouze, 1488
masks on the male dancers, and the
inattentive spectators.
Burgundy and France 1445-1500
 1467. Philippe le Bon dies after a 48-year reign in which Burgundy has become the richest state
in Europe. Charles the Bold becomes Duke of Burgundy, begins 10 year war with France. In 1482,
Burgundy is absorbed into France.
 1482. Marriage of Marie of Burgundy, daughter of Charles the Bold, to Maximillian of Austria.
Social Context
Basse dance is believed to have been an extremely graceful dance, with the tempo adjusted so steps could
be light and unhurried. The treatise on basse emphasizes that one ―walks peacefully, without great
exertion, and as gracefully as possible.‖ Basse implies a dance that is low to the ground, and these
choreographies do not include any hops or jumps.
As evidenced by the origin and ownership of various texts, Burgundian basses appear to have been known
in France, England, Spain, and Italy.
Purpose of the manuscripts: ―[The texts were] not intended to be read by performing musicians - dance
musicians of the late fifteenth century surely played from memory… Rather, this volume was designed as
an aid to a noble student of the basse danse, who needed to commit to memory a repertory of complex
choreographies.‖
Sample Dance: Alenchon
The top illustration shows a page from the Brussels manuscript; the lower dance is Alenchon. The lower
illustration shows Toulouze‘s version of the same dance.
In the Brussels example, the steps of the dance are notated as ―R b ss d r ss d d d ss r r r b ss d ss r r r b ss
d d d ss r r r b c.‖
These steps were arranged into choreographies based on a structure of mesures. ―There is a general rule
in basse dances that one always makes a desmarche first of all then one must do a branle, and next, two
single steps, then the double steps [1, 3, or 5], and then two single steps if the measure of the basse dance
requires it, and then the desmarches [1 or 3], and then the branle.‖ Each specific arrangement had a term
to describe it. The number of doubles determined whether it was petite, moierne or grande. It was called
imperfect, perfect, or tres parfaites depending on whether the second set of singles was included.

Primary Sources
Paris, Biblio. nationale, f. fr. 5699. c. 1445. (Nancy ms.)
Bibliothèque Royale de Belgique, MS 9085. Approx. 1470. (Brussels manuscript.) Transcription and
translation by Kronenfeld and Gill in Letter of Dance 14, July ‗92. Facsimile at Library of Congress. Linked
from www.rendance.org/primary.html
S‘ensuit l‘art et instruction de bien dancer. (Toulouze) Published in Paris, c. 1496 by Michel Toulouze.
Facsimile: www.pbm.com/~lindahl/toulouze/
Cervera, Archivo Histórico, Ms. c. 1496. Facsimile: www.pbm.com/~lindahl/cervera/
Antonius Arena, Ad suos compagnones, 1519. Facs: http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k71525c
Coplande. ―Maner of dauncynge of bace daunces.‖ Bodleian Library, Douce B. 507. 1521. Brussels
translated into English.
Moderne. S‘ensuyvent plusieurs basse dances, tant communes que incommunes. Paris, Bibliothèque
nationale, Coll. Rothschild, vi bis-66, No. 19. c. 1529-1538. Facsimile: Editions Minkoff 1985. Facsimile:
www.pbm.com/~lindahl/moderne/ (also a link to translation there)
Salisbury, 1497. Transcription: http://caagt.rug.ac.be/~vfack/ihdp/salisbur.html
Arbeau, 1589. Describes basse dance, says it is out of date.
Secondary Sources
Crane, Frederick. Materials for the Study of the Fifteenth Century Basse Dance. (Institute of Medieval
Music, 1968.)
Heartz, Daniel. ―The Basse Dance: Its Evolution circa 1450 to 1550.‖ Annales Musicologiques 6, 1958-63.
Jackman, James L. Fifteenth Century Basse Dances. Books for Libraries, 1980. Transcriptions of Brussels
and Toulouze with dance descriptions from each source collated for easy comparison.
Kronenfeld, Nathan. ―A Reconstruction of the Brussels Manuscript.‖ Letter of Dance 16, June 1993.
Recordings
15th c dances from Burgundy and Italy. Guildhall Waits. From www.dancebooks.co.uk. 4 dances
Music from the time of Richard III. York Waits, 1987. From amazon.com 3 dances
Sonare e Ballare. Bedford Waits. DHDS, 1990. 5 dances.
The Tape of Dance, Volume 2. Dani Zweig and Monica Cellio, LOD2, 1995. Includes 9 basses arranged by
Mustapha al-Muhaddith; synthesizer by Delbert von Strassburg.
Domenico and Students
I will now present those balli and bassedanze which are beyond the mundane, made for
elegant halls, and only to be danced by very proper ladies— not by those of the lower
classes.
-Cornazano
About the Sources
Italian bassedanze and balli of the 15th century appear in the works of three Italian dancemasters.
Domenico da Piacenza (1390-1464) is credited as the first dance choreographer to establish an Italian
school of the dance, and his students Cornazano and Guglielmo describe themselves as his ―devoted
disciples and fervent imitators‖. De arte saltandi et choreas ducendi, from 1455, was written by
anonymous scribes or students of Domenico. It includes 23 dances and their music as well as a theoretical
treatise.
Antonio Cornazano (1430-1484) was an Italian poet and courtier, who presented his Libro dell’arte del
danzare to the daughter of the Duke of Milan in 1455. A copy from 1465 survives. It contains a treatise
and 11 of Domenico‘s dances.
Guglielmo Ebreo da Pesaro / Giovanni Ambrosio (1420-1481) was a dance master, choreographer,
composer, and theorist. His De practica seu arte tripudii survives in seven known versions, plus three
existing fragments, dating from at least 1463 to 1510. It includes a theoretical introduction on the
elements of dance and other topics. This is followed by the practice, which includes choreographies of
approximately 31 dances: 14 bassedanze, and 17 balli.
Music
The sources describe 4 kinds of misura or measures.
 Bassadanza. a slow measure in 6.
 Quadernaria. A slow measure in 4.
 Saltarello. A fast measure in 2, similar to modern 3/2 or 6/4.
 Piva. The fastest measure, similar to our 6/4.
The bassedanze is a general term for four different kinds of dance, differing in tempo and steps. A
bassedanze is danced to only one of these misura in any given dance. A ballo typically includes sections
composed in a number of different measures.
Contemporary sources indicate that appropriate instrumentation would be either two or three shawms
and a slide trumpet for dance festivals, or the harp, lute, and flute for quieter settings. The one-handed
pipe and tabor are not seen in pictures, but are mentioned in literary documents.
Style
Guglielmo says the following 6 elements must be ―minutely and perfectly grasped, for if one of these is
lacking in any way, the art [of the dance] would not be truly perfect.‖
 Misura. Measure is the ability to keep time to the music, so ―steps will be in perfect accord with
the aforesaid tempo.‖
 Memoria. ―It is necessary... to have a perfect memory... to recall all those elements that need to
be remembered‖ while adapting to unexpected changes in the music.
 Partire di Terreno. In narrow rooms, ―it is advisable to use one‘s wits to measure and partition
the ground...‖
 Aiere. ―An act of airy presence and a rising movement...‖ Domenico uses the metaphor of a
gondola riding calm water, the waves ―rising slowly and lowering themselves quickly.‖
 Mayniera. Manner is an adornment or shading of the movement of the body to match the
movement of the feet.
 Movimento corporeo. Dance must be ―measured, mindful, airy, well-partitioned, and gracious...
far easier to the shapely, the nimble, and those well-endowed with grace...‖
Painted miniature from
Guglielmo‘s 1463 treatise.
Shows appropriate clothing
and musical
accompaniment. The
unusual handhold is a
subject of academic debate:
it is unknown whether hands
were joined in this manner
for dancing, or merely for
the sake of the artist‘s
caprice.

Northern Italy 1455-1465
 1450-1476. Sforzas rule Milan, making their court a rival to the Medici‘s, attracting scholars and
exiles.
 1464. Florence‘s Cosimo de Medici dies at 75 while listening to one of Plato‘s dialogues. Lorenzo
heads Florentine state from 1469-92.
 Donatello‘s art and Alberti‘s architecture symbolize era.
Social Context
Period descriptions of a festival in Florence in April of 1459 reveal several things about the place of
dancing in 15th century Italian society. This festival was held outdoors in the Mercato nuovo, where raised
platforms were set for the musicians, and for those who ―did not dance because of age or weight.‖ This
festival was attended by ―sixty youths dressed up for the beautiful dance, [forty of whom] wore clothing
decorated with brocade‖ and by ―nearly 150 ladies all coiffured and very ornately dressed.‖
After a fanfare of twenty trombetti had announced the arrival of ―important rulers and great champions,‖
―the pifferi and trombone players began to play a saltarello artistically and artfully constructed. Then
every squire… chose his wife or a maiden and began dancing... they danced a great bit to the saltarello,
then to various dances as requested by this person or that… they performed Lauro… Lioncello…
Belriguardo‖
―Two young women who were blessed with beautiful faces... went over to invite the gentle count… [he]
took his place between them and danced without making a mistake…. men and women stood and bowed
every time the three dancers passed by.... [then] they escorted him back to his place.‖
In addition to social dancing, there is also a mention of a dance competition in Guglielmo‘s
autobiography: ―A very great festival was held and I was pressured to dance. Prizes were given to me and
to the woman who danced with me... a beautiful handkerchief of silk... and a purse.‖
Theatrical dances, moresche, appear in contemporary sources: One in 1474 was ―a morality in praise of
Chastity (but with Cleopatra leading various ‗lascivious women of antiquity‘) culminated in
abassadanza performed around Chastity by six ‗queens‘, followed by 12 ‗nymphs‘ who danced in a ring
around them.‖ These were danced by dance-masters, by professional dancers, or by courtiers themselves.
Sample Dance: Mercantia
The dance Mercantia appears in Domenico, Cornazano, and most of the Ebreo manuscripts. Cornazanno
says ―Mercantia is a dance appropriate to the name, because one lone woman dances with three men and
gives attention to all of them, as if she were a merchant of lovers.‖
First do eleven tempi all four together, & the woman goes with one man, & the other two together: the
woman should be with the couple in front & they stop. Next the men at the back should separate with six
riprese sideways, the one going to the left hand and the other to the right. Next the woman does a half
turn to the left hand. The man her parner goes forward with three doppii starting on the left foot, and the
woman comes to remain with the other two men in a triangle. And next the man that is to the right
departs with two sempii and one doppio starting on the left foot, & comes to touch the hand of the
woman, and then turns to the right hand with two sempii & a doppio, starting on the right, and returns to
his place, where he was. Next his partner that is to the left hand does the same. And note that the woman
should do a volta tonda to turn, when the first man comes to touch her hand. And she should do this same
to the second man. Next the top man should do a half turn to the right side. & then the menat the bottom
take hands and do two singles & a double with the right foot in front, & change their places. Next that man
which is at the top departs with two tempi of saltarello beginning with the left and finishing on the right.
And he goes next to the woman. And then the woman turns toward the man, and the man touches her
hand with a reverence on the left. And next the same man goes to the left hand of the woman. & he comes
to take the man that is on the right hand with two singles and a double beginning on the right. And he
who was on the left hand comes to take the woman with these same steps, and he remains with the
woman.
Left is part of the music and text for
Mercantia from Cornazano.
Right is the music, from the
Guglielmo Ebreo ms. in Paris.
The translation by Trahaearn is
based on text from this latter
source.

Primary Sources
Domenico. Facimile: www.pbm.com/~lindahl/pnd/
Smith, A. William. Fifteenth Century Dance and Music: Twelve Transcribed Italian Treatises and
Collections in the Tradition of Domenico da Piacenza. Pendragon Press, 1995. Includes introductory
information, transcriptions and translations of multiple manuscripts, concordances, etc.
Sparti, Barbara. De practica seu arte tripudii. On the Practice or Art of Dancing. Oxford: Clarendon Press,
1993. Introduction, transcription, and translation of 1463 Guglielmo.
Sources
Kinkeldey, Otto. A Jewish Dancing Master of the Renaissance. Dance Horizons, 1966, reprint from 1929.
Stephens & Cellio. Joy and Jealousy: A Manual of 15th century Italian Balli. Self-published, 1997.
Download at: http://sca.uwaterloo.ca/~praetzel/Joy_Jealousy/ Manual, including step reconstructions,
dance reconstructions, and musical arrangements.
Wilson, D.R. The Steps Used in Court Dancing in 15th century Italy. Self-published, 1998.
Recordings
Mesura et Arte del Danzare. Balli Italiani del Quattrocento. Academia Viscontea I Muicanti. Ducale CDL
002, 1991. Available from iTunes.
Forse Che Si Forse Che No. Ferrarra Ensemble. Fonti musicali fmd 182, 1989. Out of print
To celebrate a prince. Alta. Dolmetsch Historical Dance Society, 1992. www.dhds.org.uk
See also: all recordings under Burgundian Basse section.
John Banys’s Notebook
About the Source
―It is a slightly embarrassing story,‖ wrote David Fallows in his introduction to the first transcription of
the dances from John Banys‘ notebook. In 1984 a colleague sent him copies of 13 dance melodies from a
notebook found in the Derbyshire Record Office, but believing it to be Elizabethan, he filed and forgot
them. In 1995, when passing them on to another colleague, he realized the music was much earlier, from
about 1500. Two days later, he visited the office, and discovered that the notebook also contained 26
detailed choreographies, and a list of 91 dance titles. He realized the historical significance of the find, and
quickly published the contents.
Fallows described the source as a ―tiny pocket book, 12½ x 9 cm (4¼ x 3¾ inches). The volume consists
of an outer cover plus three gatherings of, respectively, 11, 6, and 6 bifolia. Most leaves are of paper (now
covered by transparent repairing paper and strengthened by Japanese tissue, making it almost impossible
to see any watermarks); but parchment is used for the cover as well as for the outer and inner bifolia of
each gathering plus the sixth bifolium of the first 11-bifolium gathering.‖
In addition to the dance information, the volume also contains treatises in Latin on chiromancy (palm
reading) and physiognomy (judgment of character from facial features), as well as a collection of Latin
prayers.
The attribution of the work to John Banys comes from the name appearing twice in the volume: at the end
of the second gathering, and inside the back cover. The name is written in the same hand and with the
same ink as the rest of the text. Fallows was not able to find references to Banys in historical documents,
but notes in the back cover make reference to a ―Mr. Rauff Shyrley of Stanton‖. The Shirleys were a well-
known family in southern Derbyshire, and a Ralph Shirley headed the family around the time of the
volume (he married in 1496, died in 1517, but lived in Shirley rather than Stanton).
Steps
The 26 dances described in the notebook share a common style and step vocabulary. The casualness of the
descriptions implies that Banys was familiar with a set of practices and steps common to the repertoire.
Unfortunately, Banys does not record these, so we are forced to read between the lines to determine what
some of the terms may mean.
In some cases, there are obvious parallels to contemporary continental steps. The brawle sounds like the
basse danse branle, and the torne echoes the Italian volta.
Other steps, however, do not have obvious counterparts. The step flowrdilice sounds like fleur-de-lis, but
what does the dancer do to accomplish this? The instruction is given sometimes to multiple dancers, and
at other times to a single dancer. Similarly, the rak step requires some interpretation and research.
Another open question is the nature of the opening sequence of the dances. Most of them are notated
―with trace‖, ―trace‖, or ―doble trace‖ after the title, and many descriptions begin with ―After the end of the
trace‖. Three dances have descriptions of steps before ―After the end of the trace‖, but there is no obvious
pattern by which to extend the different sets of steps to the other dances.
Music
Like many dance sources, the notebook contains only melody lines for the music. Nevile in her 1999 paper
explores the structure of the music. She finds no pattern to the repeat schemes used, or to the lengths of
musical phrases. She concludes that the music and dances are tightly coupled. The tunes do not follow the
structure of the basses danses, with a single note length throughout, but rather vary their rhythms.
Mensuration changes for some of the dances, which opens the question of whether the different sections
would have been performed differently.
John Banys‘ signature from page 69 of the notebook.

At right, 16th century brass monument of an unknown
Tudor couple from St. Peter's Church in Brown Candover,
Hampshire.

England 1500
 1485-1509. Henry VII is King of England. He restores a strong central government, promotes
trade, and avoids foreign wars.
 1500. Black ―lead‖ pencils, composed of graphite mixed with clay, are introduced.
Social Context
Little definite is known about the state of dance in England during the early Tudor years. Jennifer Nevile
presented some information in her 1998 paper. Citing Streitberger, she says that accounts of the Revels
Office collected during this time contain references to ―mores daunces‖, several ―baas dances‖ in 1501, and
a ―pabana‖ in 1522. The revels ―subsumed a variety of forms, including the pageant, the mummery, the
morris, the tourney, barriers, the disguising, the play, and the mask.‖ They ―depended upon variety, and
variety in the disguising depended on elaborate costuming and intricate dancing.‖
In 1494, the Twelfth Night celebration ―included a disguising of 12 gentlemen and 12 ladies.‖ The ladies
were described as dancing ―very demurely, with no violent gestures or movements to disturb their limbs,‖
whereas the gentlemen ―progressed down the hall leaping and dancing‖, and after unmasking continued
―for an hour, performing ‗lepys Ganbawbys & turningys‘ above the ground ‗which made that theyr
spangyls of goold & othyr of theyr Garnyisshys ffly ffrom theym Ryght habundantly‘‖. Nevile observes
that lepes in the dances in the notebook only occur in dances which are specifically for men.
In 1999, Nevile explores the names of the dances. Many are names of English families who would have
been well known in the late fifteenth century. She suggests that ―Kendall could refer to John Kendall,
secretary to Richard III […] who was killed fighting for Richard at Bosworth field.‖ She also notes that
―Talbot was the family name of the Earls of Shrewsbury, and Mowbray the family name of the Dukes of
Norfolk.‖ The later Italian sources regularly dedicate dances to the nobility of the time, and it may be that
this practice was also followed in England.
Sample Dance: Esperans
Esperans is the first dance described in the manuscript, and one of the few dances with accompanying
music. The illustration below is the first page of the description of Esperans, taken from the CD-
ROMfacsimile issued by the Derbyshire County Council. The text of the dance follows; the transcription is
from David Fallows‘ article in the RMA Research Chronicle.
Esperans de tribus: Trace. All the 6 singlis with a trett. Then the fyrst man goo compas till he come
behend, whil the medyll retrett thre, and the last 3 singlis, and the medil 3 singlis, levyng the last on the