[SCA-Dance] Haut Barrois branle

[Kirsten Garner]

Greetings all,

I'll admit to being a bit confused at the moment. I
went back and had a look at the original. According to
Arbeau, when one does a "pied largis gaulche", "le
pied gaulche se repose obliquement, et le pied droicte
soustient le corps" (the left foot rests to the side
and the right foot holds the body). That seems to me
to be saying that your weight should be on your
*right* foot, not your left. This is borne out in the
diagram just beneath it in which the gentleman
labelled "pied largis, oblique gaulche" clearly has
his weight on this right foot with his left foot
setting out to the side. 

Likewise, in other movements, the foot signified in
the name of the step is the foot *doing the movement*,
not the foot supporting the body (reverence, ruade,
rue de vache, marque pied, marque talon, pied croise,
etc.). 

The way I've always done bransles and seen them done
now seems incorrect. The weight has always been on the
leading foot, whereas it seems Arbeau wants the weight
on the trailing foot, somewhat behind the motion. Have
we been doing it wrong all this time? Or is it just
me?

Julian
Gleann Abhann