[SCA-Dance] Fw: Gresley: Grene Gynger

[Mary Railing]

Given that the primary sources differ on just how the rising and falling motion is supposed to work in a 15th century double and just what a ripresa is, etc., and that modern reconstructors differ on just what a ripresa is, etc. (try comparing Ingrid Brainhard and Barbara Sparti sometime*) I don't think is is necessary to sweat the footwork too much, especially in "light" dances like Petit Riens. A double in bassadanza is slow enough to need attention to timing, but telling people that a saltarello is three steps and a hop and a piva is step-cut-step should be enough to get people dancing. The rest may be learned as they say, "by practice and demonstration". If you are concerned with trying to get it exactly right, you will find that's a moving target as more data becomes available and scholars rethink the existing interpretations. That can be an exciting hunt, but you can't drag everyone else along with you. The people who just want to dance don't need
 or want those details, and social dancers of the fifteenth century may not have cared about doing steps in one precise way either. Barbara Sparti wrote an article called "Rostiboli, Take Two" in which she talked about some lawyer's notes (why is it always a lawyer??) that described two versions of Rostiboli *with ornaments written in*. Apparently dancers at the time did not regard the steps as something written in stone.

--Urraca

*Ingrid Brainhard said a double was down-up-flat. Barbara Sparti said a double was step flat on the upbeat and rise on the next two steps. At least she taught it that way at a workshop many years ago. I once posted something on the Rendance mailing list to the effect that "Barbara Sparti says such and such" only to have Sparti herself post something like, "I used to say that, but not anymore".


________________________________
 From: Tim McDaniel <tmcd at panix.com>
To: 
Cc: "sca-dance at sca-dance.org" <sca-dance at sca-dance.org> 
Sent: Monday, June 4, 2012 11:19 AM
Subject: Re: [SCA-Dance] Fw: Gresley: Grene Gynger
 
On Mon, 4 Jun 2012, Mary Railing <mrailing2 at yahoo.com> wrote:
> I find it surprising that your dancers think Gresley dances feel
> ECD-like. They are much more like 15th century Italian dances than
> like anything in the ECD repertoire. I wonder if it is just that
> Scadians are conditioned to believe Italian dance = scary dance.

More that *I hope* they feel it's more ECD-like.

A problem is the fancy footwork in Italian Ren -- maybe I'm
emphasizing the footwork too much?  I'm not even going as far as "and
Perronnelle says that these doubles should be done rising with each
step and go flat on the last step".  Well, OK, I didn't say it more
than once.  At least one lady said something like "I did ballet in
school and I'm not doing it now".

Still, of the 5 of us present (light house the last few times), 2 or 3
had trouble even with pive.

Danyll de Linccolne
-- 
Tim McDaniel, tmcd at panix.com
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