> From: Barbara Webb > > Hi - I'm forwarding this to the list at the request of Janelyn. It's my > reconstruction of two dances from the Gresley manuscript. They are not > intended to be definitive, but just to describe what we are currently > doing; of course alternatives are possible. Hope they are of some use... > > Caitlin de Courcy "Ly bens destonys/Lubens discunens/Lebens disinens de 2". (dance no. 15, p.64; music no.13 p.78)) "After the end of the trace, the first 3 forth and torne, whill the second retrett 3 bake. Then come togeder and ethir torne into oders plas. Then last man 3 forth and torne, whill the first retrett. 2 Then come togeder in such wys as they did afore and ethir end in ther own place. 1 Then trett and retrett and torne." (This transcription is taken directly from Fallows p.10) Music: [I don't have a good way of sending music on a stave by email so have tried the following: if you can't work out how to transcribe it let me know and I'll try something else. The rhythm is 6/8, I've given pitch by letter and note length by repetiton i.e. e=quaver (ee)=crochet (eee)= dotted crochet. \ marks the bar ] A: (eee)(dd)e \(ff)e(dd)c \(eee)d(ee) \(ff)d(cccccc) || B: (ee)f(ggg) \(aaa)(ggg) \(c'c'c')(ggg) \(aaa)(ggg) \ (ee)f(ggg) \(aaa)(ggg) \(ff)ec(dd) \(cccccc) :|| C: (ee)e(dd)e \(ff)e(dd)c \(ee)e(dd)e \(ff)d(cccccc) || This music I have transcribed from the photo of the music in Fallows, after noticing a few discrepancies in his transcription. He has cut short the extra half-bar length of the last note in sections A and C, and left out two bars of section B. The repeat of B comes from the choreography, it is not marked on the music. Below, a single, "quick double", or half-turn takes 1 bar; a double takes two bars. My reconstruction ---------------- "Pleasure to learn" (see notes below) (For two people) A. [Together do 4 quick doubles (piva)] B. The man does three singles forward and a half-turn while the woman does 3 singles backward Both [do a double] back towards each other and [taking left hands] do a half-circle to change places [both facing forward again] Repeat above with woman going forward and man back, turning at the end to original places. C. Together do a single forward, single back and [double] turning round [the left shoulder] [Repeat as many times as you want.] Notes on the reconstruction: ------------------------ The meaning of the title is rather obscure. I have given one possible translation that assumes the phrase is Latin: Lubens means "joyful, with pleasure" and the second word could be a declension of discere - "to learn". However other people have suggested the phrase is French "Le bien [something]". I've used a man-woman couple for simplicity though the choreography doesn't specify, using 'first' and 'second', except for at one point 'last man'. It could be done by two men (or two women). A: A 'trace' is the first part of most of the dances in the manuscript. Generally, each dance choreography is preceded (in the margin) with the words "trace", "with trace", "double trace"- and many then start the description with "after the trace". Following Nevile's suggestion I've taken the trace to be like the first section of many Italian balli where a number of salterelli, piva or contrapassi are done around the room before the dancers separate. However, I think some of the dance instructions (e.g. Esparans) actually specify the trace in their first section because "after the trace" occurs at the start of the second section, and there doesn't seem to be the extra section of music needed. B: The marginal "2" I have associated with all the steps up to and including this line, meaning that for these steps, the B section of music repeats twice. 3 forth are taken to be singles as 'singlis' are the most common step, often found in threes in the other choreographies. It seems logical that if they about to come together, the 'turne' should be a half, to face the other dancer. A double to 'come togeder' leaves time in the music for the turn into each others place. It might be quite elegant (especially if being performed by a same sex couple) not to take hands during this swap. The rest of this section seems to describe a repeat with opposite people C: 'trett and retrett and turne' is quite a common sequence in the dances, that reminds one of Playford's "set and turn", but using a forward-and-back rather than side to side move. Note that 'retrett' is used both as a step and a direction in the choreographies, and 'trett' is simply taken as the opposite of 'retrett'. The dance is very short if you don't repeat it... Reconstruction of 'Prenes a gard' (dance no 6, music no 1) ----------------------------- A: (ff)f(ff)f / (cc)c(cc)c / (fff)a(gg) / (ffffff) :|| (repeats 3 times) B: (ccc)(aaa) / (ddd)(ccc) / pause... (aa)fa(gg)/ (ffffff) :|| (repeats 3 times) C: (ccc)(ccc) / (fff)(fff) :|| (repeats 3 times) D: (aaa)(bbb) / (ccc)(ccc) / (aa)ba(gg) / (ffffff) || (no repeat) E: (ff)c(ff)c / (ff)g(fff) :|| (repeats twice) F: (aaa)(bbb) / (ccc)(ccc) / (aa)ba(gg) / (ffffff) || (no repeat) [This is taken from Fallows transcription, with the 'obvious' completion at the end, Repeats are dictated by the numbers beside the choreography] For 3, standing side by side A: 12 piva or contrapassi forward [as in Lubens above, this is the 'trace'] B1: first man jumps, then middle man jumps, a pause, and the third turns a double over left shoulder B2: third man jumps, then middle man jumps, a pause, and the first turns a double over left shoulder B3: first man jumps, then third man jumps, a pause, and the middle turns a double over left shoulder C: (six bars altogether) the middle man does three singles forwards (in three bars) and a half turn to face the other two (fourth bar). At the same time the first and third do 3 singles backwards (wait while middle person turns on fourth bar), then the first turns a double (fifth & sixth bar) and the third jumps (sixth bar) D: With two doubles, the first & third change places, while the middle goes through to return to their place again between them, facing forward E: First does a double turning over left shoulder, a backwards single and a single diagonally to their left [this is a guess for 'rake'...] At the same time, the middle does a double turning over left shoulder, a single diagonally to their left and a backwards single. Also at the same time the third does a backwards single and a single diagonally to their left, then a double turning over left shoulder F: With a double the middle goes forward, the first casts left and the third casts right [this makes the floor pattern a 'fleur de lys' - however this interpretation of the step is pretty tenuous as 'flowerdelice' for two or even one person are given in other dances. An alternative is 'fleurette' perhaps?] Then all turn and do a double back together (ending facing each other in a triangle) (We've tried this dance a few times and it is rather fun - it starts quite simple and then gets more rapid and confusing as it goes on, particularly when everyone does something different in E, but if done with conviction looks rather good. It is also short (<40 seconds when our musician plays) but we rather like it that way...)