'Cause This Is THRILLER!
Mar. 6th, 2010 11:02 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ladyspriteAll righty, then.
I just came back from the SCA event that also hosted the Kings & Queens Arts And Sciences Championship. And now that it's over, I can talk about the project that I entered.
Okay, technically I entered three projects, but that's only because when I went to register two weeks ago I found out that it was a triathlon - so I had to come up with two emergency last-minute entries, in order to get the one I really cared about onto the schedule.
I've been a student of medieval and renaissance dance for many years now, and was finally moved to create a dance in a period style. Admittedly, I was moved by a discussion with my husband, while driving to an SCA event on Halloween and listening to what I felt was appropriate mood music. The conversation went something like....
Him: Honey? 'Thriller' isn't period....
Me: I meant appropriate for Halloween, not Crown Tournament.
Him: Ah.
Me: Though... when you think about it, it really is just a mimed branle.
For those not heinous dance nerds, a mimed branle is a style of dance common in France in the 16th century. Men and women form a line, or a circle, and dance back and forth, pretending to be something else. Like peas. Or hermits, or horses, or Turkish soldiers.
Or.... zombies.
And once the idea got into my head, it just wouldn't leave again. So I had to work it out, and, because the universe likes to encourage and support my bad behavior, by the time I had figured out choreography and documentation, I had half a dozen dancers and a handful of musicians volunteering to help.
It was performed this afternoon, and received rather well, or so it seems. So, for anyone interested, the details are here -
Creating A 16th Century Branle
Dance by Clara Beaumont
Music by Herr Udalrich Schermer
The purpose of this project was to create and perform a mimed branle in the style of those explained and taught in the 16th century French manuscript, “Orchesographie,” by Thoinot Arbeau, published first in 1589. As a reference for this project, I used Mary Stewart Evans’ translation of said manuscript, published in 1967.
In his manuscript, Arbeau refers both to many styles of branles and to many specific dances within those categories. He also notes that it was common to create new dances in these styles, and that those dances would often come into popular fashion –
“And I must tell you that whenever a new branle, termed a ballet and intended for use in a masquerade at some festival, is composed, the young people immediately introduce it into the ballroom…” (Orchesographie, p. 152-153)
My goal here was to do just that – to compose a new branle for our Festa di Michelangelo. In order to do so, I wanted to make sure that my composition was as accurate to the style that Arbeau taught as possible. In order to accomplish that, I first researched the steps he used.
The primary bransle step, according to Arbeau, is the Double Branle.
“…you should understand that the branle is danced by moving sideways and not forward. To begin with, in what is called the double branle you will perform one double to the left and then one double to the right; you are well aware that a double consists of three steps and a pied joints.” (p. 128)
The other basic step often used is the Single Branle.
“You will dance the single branle to the same duple time and with the same steps as… for the double branle, making a double to the left to commence with. But… instead of following the above with a double a droite you will perform a simple only…” (p. 132)
After describing a few basic branles, he then describes that many dances are made up of combinations of steps –
“The various branles noted… represent the source from whence are derived certain other branles composed of a combination of doubles, simples, pieds en l’air [raised foot], pieds joints [feet together], and sauts [jumps], sometimes varied by the insertion of miscellaneous bars, in slow or quick time, as it pleases the composers or inventors.” (p. 137)
One of the types of branles Arbeau describes is the mimed branle, in which dancers pantomime being different people or things –
“…of these the majority are danced with miming and gestures and therefore may be called mimed branles.” (p. 153)
This category includes such dances as The Maltese Branle, in which dancers mime being Turks, Washerwoman’s Branle, in which dancers mime being women beating their washing on the banks of the Seine, and the Hermit’s Branle, where the dancers mime gestures resembling those used by hermits in greeting.
Music
I wanted to use music that was as authentic to period as possible for this project. To accomplish this, Udalrich provided a piece from “Dixhuit Basses Dances,” published in 1529 by Pierre Attaingnant, using the modern reprint, “Die Tabulatur,” by Friedrich Hofmeister. The music he selected is called ‘Branle,’ and as far as we can tell, it does not have an existing dance choreographed to it.
In order to create some variation between the verse and the chorus of the dance, we have interspersed this music with verses from another piece of traditional dance music composed by Rod Temperton. In Orchesographie, there are several mimed branles, such as Horse’s Branle, Washerwomen’s Branle, and Pease Branle that have different music for verse and chorus. In this way, I hope to create a similar feel for my dance. Although there are no documented incidences of reusing music that I was able to find, Orchesographie does imply that many dances are adopted from multiple sources by young folk and brought into common use, and it follows that music would be similarly adopted and reused.
References to the Walking Dead
I wanted to make sure that my branle would mime a person or thing that existed, or was believed to exist, in period. My first choice was to mime the walking dead. Luckily, there are several references to animated dead, walking dead, and the dead rising in period. There are even references to the dancing dead, such as the following woodcut by Michael Wolgemut, from the “Liber Chronicarum” by Hartmann Schedel, published in 1493:
The New Testament, translated by John Wycliffe and John Purvey from Latin into Middle English in 1395, also includes several relevant references.
John 5:28 Do not ye wonder in this, for the hour cometh, in which all men that be in burials, shall hear the voice of God’s Son,
5:29 And they that have done good things, shall go into again-rising of life; but they that have done evil things, into again-rising of doom.
Thessalonians 4:16 …and the dead men that be in Christ, shall rise again first.
William Shakespeare also references the walking dead, in his play “Julius Caesar,” first performed at the Globe Theater in 1599 (ref. Riverside Shakespeare). In Act II, scene 11, Calphurnia states,
“A lioness hath whelped in the streets,
And graves have yawn’d and yielded up their dead….”
Grettir’s Saga, an Icelandic saga believed to be written in the 13th or 14th century, also refers to people rising from the dead and walking and interacting with other people. The Icelandic saga database shares a translation by William Morris and Eirikr Magnusson made in 1900, which includes the following sections in Chapter 32:
“On searching further they came upon Glam lying on the ground a short distance off. He was dead; his body was as black as Hel and swollen to the size of an ox…. It was not long before men became aware that Glam was not easy in his grave. Many men suffered severe injuries; some who saw him were struck senseless and some lost their wits… Next he began to ride on the house-tops by night, and nearly broke them to pieces. Almost night and day he walked…”
Branle De La Mort
By Clara Beaumont
Double branle to the left, Double branle to the right
Single branle to the left. Single branle to the right.
Repeat entire verse twice more.
Stand with arms raised as a rampant charge, left arm higher – double branle to the left
Raise the right arm above the left and turn to the right – double branle to the right
Drop your arms to your sides and lean forward, hunching shoulders – six singles with the right foot, pivoting around the left, turning in a full circle
Circle right arm in front of body, then clap hands and jump.
Dance repeats.
I just came back from the SCA event that also hosted the Kings & Queens Arts And Sciences Championship. And now that it's over, I can talk about the project that I entered.
Okay, technically I entered three projects, but that's only because when I went to register two weeks ago I found out that it was a triathlon - so I had to come up with two emergency last-minute entries, in order to get the one I really cared about onto the schedule.
I've been a student of medieval and renaissance dance for many years now, and was finally moved to create a dance in a period style. Admittedly, I was moved by a discussion with my husband, while driving to an SCA event on Halloween and listening to what I felt was appropriate mood music. The conversation went something like....
Him: Honey? 'Thriller' isn't period....
Me: I meant appropriate for Halloween, not Crown Tournament.
Him: Ah.
Me: Though... when you think about it, it really is just a mimed branle.
For those not heinous dance nerds, a mimed branle is a style of dance common in France in the 16th century. Men and women form a line, or a circle, and dance back and forth, pretending to be something else. Like peas. Or hermits, or horses, or Turkish soldiers.
Or.... zombies.
And once the idea got into my head, it just wouldn't leave again. So I had to work it out, and, because the universe likes to encourage and support my bad behavior, by the time I had figured out choreography and documentation, I had half a dozen dancers and a handful of musicians volunteering to help.
It was performed this afternoon, and received rather well, or so it seems. So, for anyone interested, the details are here -
Creating A 16th Century Branle
Dance by Clara Beaumont
Music by Herr Udalrich Schermer
The purpose of this project was to create and perform a mimed branle in the style of those explained and taught in the 16th century French manuscript, “Orchesographie,” by Thoinot Arbeau, published first in 1589. As a reference for this project, I used Mary Stewart Evans’ translation of said manuscript, published in 1967.
In his manuscript, Arbeau refers both to many styles of branles and to many specific dances within those categories. He also notes that it was common to create new dances in these styles, and that those dances would often come into popular fashion –
“And I must tell you that whenever a new branle, termed a ballet and intended for use in a masquerade at some festival, is composed, the young people immediately introduce it into the ballroom…” (Orchesographie, p. 152-153)
My goal here was to do just that – to compose a new branle for our Festa di Michelangelo. In order to do so, I wanted to make sure that my composition was as accurate to the style that Arbeau taught as possible. In order to accomplish that, I first researched the steps he used.
The primary bransle step, according to Arbeau, is the Double Branle.
“…you should understand that the branle is danced by moving sideways and not forward. To begin with, in what is called the double branle you will perform one double to the left and then one double to the right; you are well aware that a double consists of three steps and a pied joints.” (p. 128)
The other basic step often used is the Single Branle.
“You will dance the single branle to the same duple time and with the same steps as… for the double branle, making a double to the left to commence with. But… instead of following the above with a double a droite you will perform a simple only…” (p. 132)
After describing a few basic branles, he then describes that many dances are made up of combinations of steps –
“The various branles noted… represent the source from whence are derived certain other branles composed of a combination of doubles, simples, pieds en l’air [raised foot], pieds joints [feet together], and sauts [jumps], sometimes varied by the insertion of miscellaneous bars, in slow or quick time, as it pleases the composers or inventors.” (p. 137)
One of the types of branles Arbeau describes is the mimed branle, in which dancers pantomime being different people or things –
“…of these the majority are danced with miming and gestures and therefore may be called mimed branles.” (p. 153)
This category includes such dances as The Maltese Branle, in which dancers mime being Turks, Washerwoman’s Branle, in which dancers mime being women beating their washing on the banks of the Seine, and the Hermit’s Branle, where the dancers mime gestures resembling those used by hermits in greeting.
Music
I wanted to use music that was as authentic to period as possible for this project. To accomplish this, Udalrich provided a piece from “Dixhuit Basses Dances,” published in 1529 by Pierre Attaingnant, using the modern reprint, “Die Tabulatur,” by Friedrich Hofmeister. The music he selected is called ‘Branle,’ and as far as we can tell, it does not have an existing dance choreographed to it.
In order to create some variation between the verse and the chorus of the dance, we have interspersed this music with verses from another piece of traditional dance music composed by Rod Temperton. In Orchesographie, there are several mimed branles, such as Horse’s Branle, Washerwomen’s Branle, and Pease Branle that have different music for verse and chorus. In this way, I hope to create a similar feel for my dance. Although there are no documented incidences of reusing music that I was able to find, Orchesographie does imply that many dances are adopted from multiple sources by young folk and brought into common use, and it follows that music would be similarly adopted and reused.
References to the Walking Dead
I wanted to make sure that my branle would mime a person or thing that existed, or was believed to exist, in period. My first choice was to mime the walking dead. Luckily, there are several references to animated dead, walking dead, and the dead rising in period. There are even references to the dancing dead, such as the following woodcut by Michael Wolgemut, from the “Liber Chronicarum” by Hartmann Schedel, published in 1493:
The New Testament, translated by John Wycliffe and John Purvey from Latin into Middle English in 1395, also includes several relevant references.
John 5:28 Do not ye wonder in this, for the hour cometh, in which all men that be in burials, shall hear the voice of God’s Son,
5:29 And they that have done good things, shall go into again-rising of life; but they that have done evil things, into again-rising of doom.
Thessalonians 4:16 …and the dead men that be in Christ, shall rise again first.
William Shakespeare also references the walking dead, in his play “Julius Caesar,” first performed at the Globe Theater in 1599 (ref. Riverside Shakespeare). In Act II, scene 11, Calphurnia states,
“A lioness hath whelped in the streets,
And graves have yawn’d and yielded up their dead….”
Grettir’s Saga, an Icelandic saga believed to be written in the 13th or 14th century, also refers to people rising from the dead and walking and interacting with other people. The Icelandic saga database shares a translation by William Morris and Eirikr Magnusson made in 1900, which includes the following sections in Chapter 32:
“On searching further they came upon Glam lying on the ground a short distance off. He was dead; his body was as black as Hel and swollen to the size of an ox…. It was not long before men became aware that Glam was not easy in his grave. Many men suffered severe injuries; some who saw him were struck senseless and some lost their wits… Next he began to ride on the house-tops by night, and nearly broke them to pieces. Almost night and day he walked…”
Branle De La Mort
By Clara Beaumont
Double branle to the left, Double branle to the right
Single branle to the left. Single branle to the right.
Repeat entire verse twice more.
Stand with arms raised as a rampant charge, left arm higher – double branle to the left
Raise the right arm above the left and turn to the right – double branle to the right
Drop your arms to your sides and lean forward, hunching shoulders – six singles with the right foot, pivoting around the left, turning in a full circle
Circle right arm in front of body, then clap hands and jump.
Dance repeats.
