NONA MONAHIN
Introduction
[1] Information about dancing in Europe before the middle of the fifteenth century can be gleaned from sources such as eyewitness accounts, letters, memoirs, literary references, iconography, and music with dance titles. None of these, however, provide us with enough detail to be able to reconstruct a dance. Beginning at about the mid-fifteenth century, a new category appears: notated choreographies. This may be further subdivided into dance treatises (today often referred to as “dance manuals”) with step descriptions, choreographies, and often also with accompanying music; collections of choreographies without step descriptions and usually also without music; and isolated choreographic notes, possibly aides-mémoire of dance students. Most of the dances described in the Renaissance sources were social dances, although they could no doubt be adapted and elaborated for theatrical purposes.
[2] Needless to say, all of these notated choreographies were the products of, and describe the dances of, the nobility and the upper urban classes. Many were written by court dancing masters (whose duties could include teaching dance, deportment, and even horseback riding, in addition to arranging and choreographing new dances) and were dedicated to their wealthy patrons. Others were urban clones of courtly manuscripts, likely created to be sold to those wishing to emulate the ways of the nobility. A notable example of a dance manual written by someone outside of the dancing profession is the 1589 Orchésographie of Thoinot Arbeau (real name Jehan Tabourot) – a cleric from Langres in Northeastern France, who regarded dancing as a useful and respectable pastime, and notated many dances that he had learned in his youth.
[3] The division of dance movement into discrete, discernable units (what we today call “dance steps”), along with the naming of each such unit, obviously facilitates the notating as well as the teaching of dances. The quantity and variety of Renaissance dance steps mentioned and/or described varies from source to source, depending in part on the type of dances described therein. Thus, while the fifteenth-century dance type called bassedanse is made up of various combinations of only a handful of different steps, the dances subtitled balletto in Fabritio Caroso’s first manual, Il Ballarino (1581), can draw upon any of the fifty-two different steps described by the author. Different sources describe steps in varying degrees of detail and clarity, while some seem to assume that the readers are already familiar with the basics and merely state how many of what particular step, and in what order, make up a given dance. In such cases, we can speak of “choreographies without step descriptions.” The sources listed below vary greatly in scope and content.
Rationale For Categorization
[4] In compiling this list, decisions had to be made regarding how to categorise the entries – chronologically or by region/country. The main problem with a chronological list is that many of the dates, especially in the case of manuscripts, are not known with certainty, and different scholars have often assigned different probable dates to the same work. Additionally, because this source list is intended for a journal focusing on the “Northern Renaissance,” I felt that an arrangement where sources belonging to the “North” are placed together would be preferable to a strictly chronological list. Therefore, I chose to group the sources first by region/country, and within that, by date. Nevertheless, there remain considerable problems, which are discussed briefly below.
Problems
[5] Do we list by the region/country where the item is/was located, or where it was created? Or perhaps by the nature of the contents? Consider, for example, a recently discovered early seventeenth-century manuscript, that is located in a library in Stockholm. The contents were apparently written by a French dance master who was active in Brussels. Do we list this work under Sweden, France, or Belgium? In this case, the fact that the earlier (fifteenth-century) Burgundian and French sources tend to share many similarities, meant that I had already created a category called “Burgundy and France,” and so that is where I chose to deposit this later source, even though to term it “Burgundian” would be anachronistic.
[6] Or consider the case of an early sixteenth-century manuscript located in Nuremberg, which contains choreographies for several Italian dances. This has the additional complication in that the Italian dances were notated in Bologna for, and at the request of, certain ladies from Nuremberg. Since the dances were presumably danced, or at least intended to be danced, in Nuremberg upon delivery of the manuscript, I chose to list it under “Germany.”
Other Possible Categories
[7] Published works versus manuscripts. This does not appear to be a fruitful division because some of the most important and substantial treatises were, in fact, unpublished, such as Domenico da Piacenza’s seminal fifteenth-century treatise, “De arte saltandi & choreas ducendi,” and Ercole Santucci’s lengthy volume of 1615, titled “Mastro da Ballo.”
[8] Scope. An additional problem arises when we consider the scope of the entries, which range from brief notes on an isolated sheet of paper describing a single dance, to hefty treatises of several hundreds of pages describing numerous choreographies. To intermix the brief notes with the large treatises might give the list a somewhat cluttered appearance. On the other hand, separating by scope of contents is perhaps even more problematic. An isolated sheet of paper containing a single choreography is one thing, but what about one that has three or four choreographies? Or five or six? Where does one draw the line? In the end I chose to intermingle the entries, regardless of their length.
LIST OF EXTANT EUROPEAN DANCE SOURCES
ENGLAND
The “Salisbury” manuscript. 1497.
Notes on flyleaf of the Salisbury Cathedral Library copy of the Catholicon by Johannes Balbus de Janua, published in Venice, 1497.
Contents: Choreographies for over 20 dances, in shorthand notation (steps represented by letters). No music.
Facsimile and transcription: Daniel Heartz, “The Basse Dance.” Annales Musicologiques, 6 (1958-1963): 287-340.
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The “Gresley” manuscript. c. 1500.
Derbyshire Record Office, D77 box 38, pp. 51-79, from the Gresley of Drakelow papers.
Contents: Choreographies for 26 dances. 13 dance tunes. Also a list of 91 dance titles without choreographies.
See: David Fallows, “The Gresley Dance Collection, c. 1500.” Royal Music Association Research Chronicle 29 (1996): 1-20; Jennifer Nevile, “Dance Steps and Music in the Gresley Manuscript,” Historical Dance 3, no. 6, (1999): 2-19.
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Coplande, Robert. The Maner of Dauncynge of Bace Daunces After the Use of Fraunce and Other Places. London, 1521.
Contents: Choreographies for 7 “bace daunces” in shorthand notation (steps represented by letters). No music, but relative durations of steps are given. Discussion of qualities needed for dancing.
Transcription and brief commentary in: http://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/lod/vol2/translation_coplande.html
See also: David Wilson, The Basse Dance Handbook (Hillsdale, NY: Pendragon Press, 2012), for discussion of this and other basse danse collections.
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The “Inns of Court Manuscripts.” Mid-16th – mid-17th centuries.
Nine manuscripts, most of which had belonged to persons associated with the Inns of Court, provide brief choreographic descriptions of English dances known as “measures,” a category that included dances labeled “pavin,” “almain” (in various spellings), and “measure.” The steps (mainly called “singles” and “doubles”) are not described, but can be deduced from other sources. Several of the manuscripts also mention, or provide brief notes about, other dances. One manuscript includes music for several of the measures. Although a direct connection to the Inns of Court has not been proven for the recently rediscovered Dulwich College manuscript, nor for the Memorandum Book of Sir Timothy Hutton, they are included here because of the similarity of their contents to that in the other Inns of Court dance manuscripts.
- Oxford, Bodleian Library, MS Rawlinson Poet. 108, folios 10r-11r (ca. 1563-1570)
Contents: Brief choreographies for thirteen measures. Other dances: “Quanto dyspayne,” “The nine muses.” No music.
- Dulwich College MS, 2nd Series XCIV, fol. 28 (ca. 1570-1590)
Contents: Brief choreographies for thirteen measures. No music.
- Taunton, Somerset Record Office, DD/ WO 55/7, item 36 (1594)
Contents: Brief choreographies for eight measures. Mention of galliard. No music.
- Oxford, Bodleian Library, MS Douce 280, folios 66 (a)v-66 (b)v (ca. 1609)
Contents: Brief choreographies for eleven measures. Other dances mentioned: cinquepace, galliard, coranto, Spanish pavin, volta, spanioletta, French brawles. No music.
- London, British Library, MS Harley 367, folios 178r-179v (1611-1621)
Contents: Brief choreographies for eight measures. No music.
- Northallerton, NYCRO, ZAZ 75-76, Memorandum Book of Sir Timothy Hutton, (early seventeenth century)
Contents: Brief choreographies for eight measures. No music.
- Oxford, Bodleian Library, MS Rawlinson D 864, folios 199r-199v, 203r-204r (ca. 1630)
Contents: Brief choreographies for eight measures. Other dance: coranto. No music.
- London, Inner Temple Library, Records of the Inner Temple, Vol. XXVII, folios 3r-6v (mid- to late seventeenth century)
Contents: Brief choreographies for nine measures. Other dance mentioned: “sinke a pace.” Also, brief description of a “ceremony.”
- London, Royal College of Music, MS 1119, folios ir-2v (mid- to late seventeenth century)
Contents: Brief choreographies for eight measures, some with music. Other dances mentioned: snicke [sic] a pace, “Tricetees,” “An Holy Dance.” Also, brief description of a ceremony with mention of a “House Measure.”
Transcription of measures (with the exception of those in the Dulwich MS and in the Memorandum Book of Sir Timothy Hutton): Ian Payne. The Almain in Britain, c. 1549-c. 1675: A Dance Manual from Manuscript Sources (Aldershot, Hampshire, UK; Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 2003).
Transcription of measures in the Dulwich MS: Anne Daye and Jennifer Thorp. “English Measures Old and New: Dulwich College MS. XCIV/f.28,” Historical Dance 4, no. 3 (2018): 27-40.
The measures in the Memorandum Book of Sir Timothy Hutton are reproduced in the Records of Early English Drama: https://ereed.org/records/yksnr-ridm135934152/
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Playford, John. The English Dancing Master: or, Plaine and Easie Rules for the Dancing of Country Dances, with the Tune to each Dance. London, 1651.
(Also many later editions, with some changes in contents, titled The Dancing Master).
Contents: Descriptions, with music, of many English “country dances.”
Reprint of 1651 edition, edited by Hugh Mellor and Leslie Bridgewater (London: Dance Books, 1984).
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FRANCE and BURGUNDY[i]
The “Nancy” manuscript. c. 1445.
“Ballet de la Reine de cessile.” Nancy, c.1445.
Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale de France, fonds français 5699.
Contents: Choreographies for 7 basse danses in shorthand notation (steps represented by letters). No music.
Facsimile in: Peggy Dixon, “Reflections on Basse Danse Source Material – A Dancer’s View,” Historical Dance 2, no. 5 (1986–1987): 23-29.
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The “Brussels” manuscript. c. 1490.
“Basses danses dites de Marguerite d’Autriche.” Ms. 9085. Brussels Bibliothèque Royale.
Contents: Discussion of the basse danse, followed by choreographies and music for 58 basse danses in a shorthand notation (steps represented by letters, music notated mostly as tenor lines in black breves, with some tunes in mensural notation). Written in gold and silver ink on black parchment.
Online facsimile at the Library of Congress: Basses danses dites de Marguerite d’Autriche (Ms. 9085 aus dem Besitz der Bibliothèque royale Albert Ier, Bruxelles) vollständige Faksimile-Ausgabe im Originalformat der Handschrift. Akademische Druck- u. Verlagsanstalt, Graz, monographic, 1987. https://www.loc.gov/item/90172142/
See also: Robert Mullally, The Brussels Basse Danse Book, A Critical Edition. (London: Dance Books Ltd., 2015).
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Toulouze, Michael (publisher). S’ensuit l’art et instruction de bien dancer. Paris, c. 1488.
Contents: Discussion of the basse danse, choreographies and music for 48 basse danses, in shorthand notation (steps represented by letters, and corresponding music notated mostly as tenor lines in black breves, with some tunes in mensural notation.)
Facsimile reprint by Minkoff (Geneva: 1985).
Online facsimile: http://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/toulouze/
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Arena, Antonius de. Ad suos compagnones studiantes. Section titled “Leges Dansandi” (Rules of Dancing). Lyon, c. 1528.
Contents: Written in macaronic Latin verse. Often humorous. Choreographies for 58 basse danses in shorthand notation. Description of basse danse from Arena’s student days in Avignon. Advice on comportment and manners. Brief mention of other dances, including pavane, branle, tourdion, galliard, martingale. No music.
English translation by John Guthrie and Marino Zorzi, “Rules of Dancing,” Dance Research 4, no. 2 (Autumn 1986): 3-53.
See also: W. Thomas Marrocco and Marie-Laure Merveille, “Anthonius Arena; Master of Law and Dance of the Renaissance,” Studi Musicali XVIII, no. 1 (1989): 19-48.
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Moderne, Jacques (publisher). S’ensuyuent plusieurs basses dances tant communes que incommunes. Lyon, c. 1533-1540.
Contents: Discussion of the basse dance, followed by 115 basse dance choreographies in shorthand notation. Many of the choreographies have more than one title associated with them, giving a total of 199 dance titles. No music.
Preserved in Paris, Bibliothèque nationale, Coll. Rothschild, vi-3, bis-66, no. 19.
Facsimile reprint by Minkoff (Geneva, 1985).
Online facsimile: http://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/moderne/
Online English translation: http://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/lod/vol2/moderne_translation.html
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Arbeau, Thoinot (pseudonym of Jehan Tabourot). Orchésographie. Et traicte en forme de dialogve, par leqvel tovtes personnes pevvent facilement apprendre & practiquer l’honneste exercice des dances. Langres, 1588/1589.
Contents: choreographies and music for many dances including basse danse, pavane, galliard, tourdion, volte, branle, allemande, courante, canaries, bouffons, and brief excerpt of morisques (morris). Some notes on comportment and manners.
Online facsimile at the Library of Congress: https://www.loc.gov/item/55003658/
English translation, as Orchesography, by Mary Stewart Evans, with corrections, new introduction, and notes, by Julia Sutton, and a new Labanotation section by Mireille Backer and Julia Sutton. (New York: Dover, 1967).
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“Instruction pour dancer les dances cy après nomnez.” c. Late 16th century.
Anonymous manuscript. Darmstadt, Hessische Hochschul- und Landesbibliothek, HS304.
Contents: Descriptions of pavanne, several bransles, and other dances. No step descriptions. No music.
Facsimile reprint: Instruction pour dancer: An Anonymous Manuscript, eds. Angene Feves, Ann Lizbeth Langston, Uwe Schlottermüller, and Eugenia Roucher (Freiburg: fa-gisis, 2000).
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Untitled manuscript. Early 17th century.
Handwritten notebook comprising notes of an unnamed French dance master who was active in Brussels, together with non-dance-related material. Appears to have been compiled by several scribes. Current location: Kungliga Biblioteket in Stockholm, Cod. Holm S 253.
Contents of dance-related portions: Plot outlines for 6 ballets, lengthy list of ballet titles, and 450 diagrams indicating the shapes (floor patterns) employed in ballet choreographies. Music. No step descriptions. Instructions for a pike exhibition.
For facsimile and English translation see Jennifer Nevile, Footprints of the Dance: an Early Seventeenth-Century Dance Master’s Notebook. Series: Drama and Theatre in Early Modern Europe: Volume 8 (Leiden; Boston: Brill, 2018).
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de Lauze, Francois. Apologie de la danse. 1623.
Dedicated to George Villiers (later Duke of Buckingham).
Contents: Descriptions of gaillarde, courante and bransles. No music.
English translation by Joan Wildeblood, as F. De Lauze, “Apologie De La Danse” (London: Frederick Muller, 1952).
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de Montagut, Barthélemy. Louange De La Danse. 1620s.
Contents: Plagiarized version of de Lauze’s Apologie de la danse.
English translation and edition by Barbara Ravelhofer (Cambridge: RTM Publications, 2000).
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GERMANY
Cochläus, Johannes. “Hie innen sindt geschriben die wellschen tenntz.” 1517.
Manuscript. Nuremberg, Germanisches Nationalmuseum, MS 8842.
Notated in Bologna, brought to Nuremberg.
Contents: 7 dances (6 are similar to extant 15th-century Italian dances). No step descriptions. No music.
Facsimile copy by Ingrid Wetzel in Guglielmo Ebreo da Pesaro e la danza nelle corti italiane del XV secolo: atti del Convegno internazionale di studi, Pesaro 16/18 luglio 1987, ed. Maurizio Padovan (Pisa: Pacini Editore, 1990) 321–343.
See also: Ingrid Brainard, “The Art of Courtly Dancing in Transition: Nürnberg, Germ. Nat. Mus. MS. 8842, a Hitherto Unknown German Source,” in Crossroads of Medieval Civilization: The City of Regensburg and Its Intellectual Milieu, eds. Edelgard E. Dubruck and Karl Heinz Goller (Michigan: Michigan Consortium for Medieval and Early Modern Studies, 1984), 61-79.
Online facsimile: http://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/nurnberg/
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ITALY
Domenico da Piacenza. “De arte saltandi & choreas ducendi” / “De la arte di ballare et danzare.” c. 1455.
Manuscript. Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale, MS fonds it. 972.
Contents: Theory of dancing, step descriptions and timings. Choreographies (verbal descriptions) for 18 balli with music, and 5 bassedanze without music.
Transcription by D.R. Wilson, as: Domenico of Piacenza: (Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale, MS ital. 972). Transcribed from electrostatic enlargements of microfilm supplied by the Bibliothèque Nationale (Cambridge: Early Dance Circle, 2006).
Transcription and English translation by A. William Smith, in Fifteenth-century Dance and Music: The Complete Transcribed Italian Treatises and Collections in the Tradition of Domenico da Piacenza. 2 vols. (Stuyvesant, NY: Pendragon Press, 1995), 4-67.
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Guglielmo Ebreo da Pesaro/ Giovanni Ambrosio. “De pratica seu arte tripudii.” 1463.
Manuscript. Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale, MS f. ital. 973 and 476.
Also several later versions of the manuscript, including, after Guglielmo’s conversion to Christianity, those written under the name Giovanni Ambrosio.
Contents: Theory of dancing, step descriptions and timings. Choreographies for many bassadanze and balli (total varies according to version). Music for balli.
Edition and English translation, with introduction, of 1463 edition, by Barbara Sparti; poems translated by Michael Sullivan. (Oxford: Clarendon Press / New York: Oxford University Press, 1993).
Transcription and English translation of several manuscript versions by Ambrosio in A. William Smith, Fifteenth-Century Dance and Music: Twelve Transcribed Italian Treatises and Collections in the Tradition of Domenico da Piacenza (Stuyvesant, NY: Pendragon Press, 1995), 108-185.
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Cornazano, Antonio. “Libro dell’arte del danzare.” 1455-1465.
Manuscript. Rome, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Cod. Capponiano Nr. 203.
Contents: Theory of dancing, step descriptions and timings. Choreographies for balli and bassedanze. Music for balli and 3 tenors for bassedanze and saltarelli.
English translations: Madeleine Inglehearn and Peggy Forsyth, Antonio Cornazano, “The Book on the Art of Dancing” (London: Dance Books Ltd., 1981); A. William Smith. Fifteenth-Century Dance and Music: Twelve Transcribed Italian Treatises and Collections in the Tradition of Domenico da Piacenza (Stuyvesant, NY: Pendragon Press, 1995), 68-107.
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The “Il Papa” manuscript. Early 16th century.
Ticcio, Cosimo. “Manoscritto di balletti composti da Giovannino e Il Lanzino e Il Papa; scritto da Cosimo Ticcio,” Cia Fornaroli Collection. NN 72-7014766. New York Public Library, Performing Arts Research Center, Dance Collection.
Contents: Choreographies for 15 dances. No music.
Transcription by Joseph Casazza and Elizabeth Cain, The “Il Papa” Manuscript (New York: New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Dance Collection, 1994). https://www.nypl.org/node/33839
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The “Stribaldi” roll. 1517.
Manuscript. Turin, Archivio di Stato, Archivio Biscaretti, mazzo 4, no. 14.
Contents: 54 dance names and 20 choreographies in shorthand notation. Strong resemblance to the French basse danse, with many of the dance names in French.
See: David Wilson, The Basse Dance Handbook (Hillsdale, NY: Pendragon Press, 2012), 132-141.
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The “Chigi” manuscript. Mid to late 16th century.
Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Chigi S. V. 6 (3), fols. 24r-33v.
Contents: thirteen anonymous choreographies, including a Barriera and a Contrapasso.
Transcribed and discussed in Fabio Carboni, Barbara Sparti, Agostino Ziino, “Balli to Dance and Play in a Sixteenth-Century Miscellany,” in Music Observed: Studies in Memory of William C. Holmes, eds. Colleen Reardon and Susan Parisi (Sterling Heights, MI: Harmonie Park Press, 2004), 44-51.
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A Tuscan manuscript. c. Mid 16th century.
Florence, Biblioteca Nazionale, MS-I-Fn Magl. XIX/31, fol. 1r-5v.
Contents: four anonymous choreographies and music.
Published in Gino Corti, “Cinque balli toscani del cinquecento,” Rivista Italiana di Musicologia 12 (1977): 73–75.
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“La Caccia.” 1559.
Manuscript. Archivo di Stato in Florence: MS I-Florenz, Archivo di Stato. Carte Strozziane, Serie I, No. 22,cc. 138r – 140v.
Contents: Anonymous choreography for a dance called “La Caccia,” found in a letter. No music.
Published in Gino Corti, “Cinque balli toscani del cinquecento,” Rivista Italiana di Musicologia 12 (1977): 73–75.
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Compasso, Lutio. Ballo della Gagliarda. Florence, 1560.
Contents: 166 galliard variations. No music.
Facsimile reprint, with introduction, by Barbara Sparti, (Freiburg: fa-gisis, 1995).
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Toloso, Leone. “Martel d’Amore.” 1580.
Manuscript. Biblioteca Estense, Modena. MS. Alpha K.2.14.
Contents: choreography for a balletto titled “Martel d’Amore,” created by Leone Toloso for the Duchess of Ferrara, Margherita Gonzaga. No music.
Discussed in Kathryn Bosi, “Leone Tolosa and Martel d’Amore: a balletto della duchessa discovered,” in Recercare: Rivista per lo studio e la pratica della musica antica. Journal for the Study and Practice of Early Music 17, no. 2, (2005): 5-70.
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Fabritio Caroso. Il Ballarino. Venice, 1581.
Contents: Step descriptions, advice on comportment. Choreographies and music for 82 dances by Caroso and others. Illustrations.
Facsimile reprint: New York: Broude Brothers, 1967.
Online facsimile: https://www.loc.gov/item/09013367/
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Lutij di Sulmona, Prospero. Opera Bellissima nella quale si contengono molte partite, et Passeggi di Gagliarda. Perugia, 1587, 1589.
Contents: 31 galliard variations and 24 “passages” to be danced between galliard variations. No music.
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Cavalieri, Emilio de’. “O che nuovo miracolo.” Florence, 1589.
Final ballo of Intermedii to La Pellegrina. In Cristofano Malvezzi’s Intermedii et Concerti, fatti per la Commedia rappresentata in Firenze nelle Nozze del Serenissimo Don Ferdinando Medici et Madama Christiana di Lorenzo, Granduchi di Toscana. Venice: Vincenti, 1591, II.
Contents: Choreographic instructions and music for an elaborate ballo.
Transcribed and edited by D. P. Walker, Les Fetes de Florence: Musique des intermedes de ‘La Pellegrina’ (Paris: Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, 1963).
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Cavalieri, Emilio de’. Final ballo for La Rappresentazione di Anima e di Corpo. Rome, 1600.
Contents: Some choreographic descriptions and music.
See Cavalieri, Emilio de’, Rappresentatione di Anima, et di Corpo, Rome, 1600, ed. Murray C. Bradshaw (Middleton, Wisconsin: American Institute of Musicology, 2007).
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Fabritio Caroso. Nobiltà di dame. Venice, 1600, 1605.
Contents: Step descriptions, advice on comportment. Choreographies and music for 48 dances by Caroso. Illustrations.
Facsimile reprint of 1600 edition: Bologna: Forni, 1970.
Online facsimile: https://www.loc.gov/item/30003284/
English translation: Fabritio Caroso, Nobiltà di dame. Translated and edited by Julia Sutton, music edited by F. Marian Walker (Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press, 1986); reprinted as Courtly Dance of the Renaissance: A New Translation and Edition of the Nobiltà di Dame (1600). With Appendix: Italian Renaissance Dance Steps, a Labanotation Manual of Dance Step-Types Selected from Fabritio Caroso’s Nobiltà di Dame (1600) by Julia Sutton and Rachelle Palnick Tsachor (New York: Dover, 1995).
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Lupi da Caravaggio, Livio. Libro di mutanze di gagliarda, tordiglione, passo è mezzo, canari è passegi. Palermo, 1600 (and 1607, with slightly altered title).
Contents: 300 pages; mainly galliard variations but also other dances. 1607 edition has two extra dances with music.
Transcription: Dario De Cicco, ed., Modelli educativi dell’esperienza coreutica: Livio Lupi da Caravaggio (Padua: Armelin Musica, 2010).
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A manuscript by Antonio di Fiorenza. 1601.
Contents: choreography and music for a balletto titled Barriera.
This is currently in a private collection. Cited in Sparti, Santucci, 78 (see below).
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Negri, Cesare. Le Gratie d’Amore. Milan, 1602.
Contents: Lists of dance teachers, places where Negri danced; instructions for dancing galliard variations, advice on comportment, step descriptions. Choreographies and music for 44 dances by Negri and others. Illustrations.
Facsimile reprint: New York: Broude Brothers, 1969.
English translation, with musical transcription, by G. Yvonne Kendall. DMA dissertation, Stanford University, 1985.
Reprinted as: Nuove inventioni di balli. (Milan: Bordone, 1604)
Online facsimile of Nuove inventioni di balli: https://www.loc.gov/item/12018603/
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Santucci, Ercole Perugino. “Mastro da Ballo.” 1614.
Manuscript. Contents: 214 “rules” of steps descriptions and advice on comportment, 12 choreographies (mostly not by Santucci). No music.
Facsimile reprint: edited, with historical introduction, by Barbara Sparti (Hildesheim; New York: G. Olms, 2004).
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Jacobilli, Ludovico. “Modo di ballare.” 1615.
Manuscript. MS Foligno, Biblioteca Jacobilli, AIII.19, ff. 102–104.
Contents: Brief choreographic notes for several dances. No music.
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SPAIN
The “Cervera manuscript.” ca. 1496.
Two sheets in a notarial manual in Cervera, Archivo Historico, fonds notarial 3,3.
Contents: Brief choreographies for six Baixas (basse dances) and four other dances (two labelled “Ioyos”) in a unique notation using symbols to represent steps. No music.
Facsimile: F. Carreras y Candi, ed., Folklore y Costumbres de Espana. 2nd ed. (Barcelona: 1934), vol. I, p. vii; vol. II, p. 303.
Online facsimile: http://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/cervera/
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“Reglas de dançar.” Anonymous manuscript, c. late 16th century.
Fol. 149v in manuscript volume, tom. N-25, of the Coll. Salazar, Madrid, Biblioteca de la Real Academia de la Historia.
Contents: Brief instructions for dances titled Baxa, Alta, and Pavana Italiana, and passing reference to Canario and Gallarda.
See Maurice Esses, Dance and Instrumental Differencias in Spain during the 17th and early 18th Centuries (Pendragon Press, 1992), vol. 1, 422.
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“The Tarragó manuscript,” or “Manuscrit del Hospital.” 1580.
Incomplete flyleaf in Barcelona, Biblioteca Centrale (formerly Hospital de la Santa Creu).
Contents: brief descriptions (including some with symbols similar to those in the Cervera MS.) of several dances. No step descriptions. No music.
Facsimile in Fancesca Pujol and Joan Amades, “Canconer popular de Catalunya,” vol. 1, Diccionari de la Danza. (Barcelona: 1936).
See also: Carles Mas I Garcia, “Baixa Dansa in the Kingdom of Catalonia and Aragon in the 15th century,” Historical Dance 3, no. 1 (1992): 15-23.
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Navarro, Juan de Esquivel. Discursos Sobre el Arte Del Dançado. Seville, 1642.
Contents: Brief choreographies for 3 dances: pavana, gallarda, and villano. Many other dances mentioned. Step descriptions. Information about dance teaching. No music.
For transcription, English translation, and discussion see: Lynn Matluck Brooks, The Art of Dancing in Seventeenth-Century Spain; Juan de Esquivel Navarro and his World (Bucknell University Press, 2003).
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Notes
[i] Note that ‘Burgundy’ in this instance refers also to territory outside France, including the Burgundian Netherlands that incorporated parts of modern Belgium, such as the city of Brussels.