[SCA-Dance] Italian dance workshop suggestions

[Margaret Roe]

Perronnelle,


There are many people on this list that have better knowledge of 15th century Italian than I, so I won't add my two cents to that list.  But my top choices for teaching dancers new to late-Italian are:

1. Ballo del Fiore - if the dancers are comfortable with dancing sections alone, otherwise,
Gracca Amorosa - because its done everywhere, so it gives the dancers something they can travel with

2. La Castellana - one I've done forever, so I can break it down well

3. Contra Passo (from the Chigi ms.) - Contrapasso in Due is a lovely dance and fairly well known, but the Chigi manuscript version is far more simple, using regular spatial patterns and only four steps in all.  It does require 8 dancers, or else your dancers need to be okay with switching partners at the end of the hey.  You can find the reconstruction of this dance in last quarter's La Mezavolta at http://dance.atlantia.sca.org/mezavolta/index.php , or on my website at http://www.ageofthegalliard.com/chigi.html .  It works to Caroso's music except that it requires only two repeats of the A section at the beginning - I usually use that one extra repeat in recorded music to count the dancers in.

Happy teaching!
Margaret


THL Margherita Battistina (Margaret Roe)


Dean of the School of European Dance, Pennsic 42
Chronicler and Web Minister, L'Academie Atlantienne de la Danse
Deputy Chatelaine for the Shire of Spiaggia Levantina