[SCA-Dance] The Ulm 1503 Ball

[Tim McDaniel]

Interesting ball at KWDS: the Ulm Ball of 1503.  The people were
sorted by sex on each side of the room, then sorted in order of
precedence.  The top people were paired and chose a dance, which
everyone who willed could dance, then the next pair, und so weiter.
Extra factor: the only dances were those that could have been known in
1503, so 15th C Italian, Gresley, basse dance, and a few others.

A comment I heard from someone in the peer section is that they would
have been willing to try a few Gresleys with someone who knew of them,
but their paired one didn't know them; their paired one knew Italians,
but they didn't.  And by then, the most popular dances had been done
-- yes, you could choose a repeat, but ...  I lucked out with Petit
Rose: I was able to cram a bit for it, and people around dragged me
thru it. (No, of course it's not hard -- I simply had done it only a
couple of times and only at the most recent Terp.)

I'm wondering about ways it might be improved.  I've not been to a
Caroso ball, so I don't know what if anything is done there that might
apply here.
- a limited set of dances (like say 10), and maybe of couples to
   choose from them?
- include ECD?
- a ball class?  On the list was, for example, Armynn, but we hadn't
   been able to get to learning that.
- pairing well in advance, so we could locate each other and work out
   a dance?  Only after did I think of Casuelle Nouvelle, which I
   haven't done in years but might have been able to prep for.
   (Nobody did a basse dance.)
- the next high-ranking person might not be stuck with just one
   possible partner?
- Calling / quick teaching reminder?  One brave soul induced
   Newcastle, but despite doing it well in the street during the fire
   alarm, I and those nearby fumbled too badly after the start to do
   it.

Danielis de Lindo
-- 
Tim McDaniel, tmcd at panix.com