The Late Renaissance
c.
1535 – c.1620
Little is currently known of dance in the second quarter of the sixteenth century. By the time we reach Elizabeth’s reign, dance has altered considerably in style from that of the Early Renaissance, its increased formality echoing comparable changes in dress.
The dancing highlight of the later sixteenth century was the galliard, a lively vigorous dance said to have gained at least one gentleman an important position at court. Queen Elizabeth herself was an accomplished dancer who is reported to have ‘learnt in the Italian manner to dance high’ and to have been impatient of poor performance among her Maids in Waiting. In the courts of Italy and France dance also played an important role. It was the formidable Catherine de’Medici who introduced the works of the Italian dancing masters Caroso and Negri into France. Mary, Queen of Scots, the third notable female ruler of the time, also played her part in introducing French, and possibly Italian, dance styles to Scotland.
An Italian couple prepares to dance, from a manual of 1600.
Some events of the period
The Dissolution of the Monasteries by Henry VIII began in 1536.
After the brief reigns of Edward VI (1549-53) and Mary I (1553-58), Elizabeth I, the Virgin Queen (1558-1603), successfully ruled a largely peaceful England for nearly half a century.
England lost its final foothold in France when Calais was recaptured in 1558.
Sir Francis Drake circumnavigated the world between 1577 and 1580. He probably did introduce the potato into England, but tobacco may well have arrived via France, where it was already known earlier in the century.
Mary, Queen of Scots, was executed in 1587.
The Spanish Armada was defeated in 1588.
England and Scotland came under a single monarch in 1603, when James VI of Scotland succeeded to the English throne as James I of England (but legal union did not follow until the reign of Queen Anne in 1707).
The dances
Our knowledge of popular FRENCH dance comes from Arbeau, whose book describes many regional varieties of branle, several galliard variations and a gavotte. He also included the volte (or lavolta), delighted in by Queen Elizabeth, and the courante (known in England as coranto).
ITALIAN dances are known to us through the books of several dancing masters, most notably Fabritio Caroso and Cesare Negri. Most dances show a particular emphasis on symmetry, and each has its own music, presented either in notation or in lute tablature. There are several different rhythms within the dances, notably the cascarda (a lively triple rhythm) and the passamezzo (akin to the pavan). The common use of two or three of these varying rhythms in a single dance produces the effect of a short suite. Livio da Lupi wrote a treatise offering numerous variations on the galliard, tordiglione, passamezzo and canaries, showing that there was a demand for professionally designed routines to be used in personal improvisation.
The step vocabulary used in the dances of late sixteenth-century Italy had become well- codified and elaborate, though modern interpretation of the descriptions remains controversial. The interest was strongly on footwork, as the upper part of the body – for ladies and many men – was firmly encased in a corset or ‘stays’. The music is more accessible to modern ears than that of earlier periods and presents fewer problems of interpretation. There is nevertheless considerable variation in the tempi adopted by dancers and teachers today.
The dances of ENGLAND are recorded for us in the so-called Inns of Court manuscripts, which contain a number of measures and almaines, the Quadran Pavan, several perfunctorily described galliards and a miscellany of other dances. The galliard commonly followed the solemn pavan, which, although apparently simple, exemplifies the stateliness and elegance of the period. This pavan-galliard combination had a far-reaching effect on contemporary musical development.
Our knowledge of country dancing, so popular with Elizabeth in the later years of her reign, comes to us only through John Playford’s 1651 publication of The English Dancing Master. Country dances are treated separately and are described on a sheet of their own.
Primary sources
Th. Arbeau Orchésographie (Langres, 1588; facsimiles, Genève, 1972, & Langres, 1988; translation by M. S. Evans, 1948, reprinted, New York, 1967).
F. Caroso Il Ballarino (Venezia, 1588; facsimile, New York, 1967).
F. Caroso Nobiltà di Dame (Milano, 1600; facsimile, Bologna, 1980).
Lutio Compasso Ballo della Gagliarda (Firenze, 1560; facsimile, Freiburg, 1995).
C. Negri Le Gratie d’Amore (Milano, 1602; facsimiles, New York, 1969, & Bologna, 1969).
Secondary sources
Books and cassettes published by the Dolmetsch Historical Dance Society and by Nonsuch/Eglinton Productions (see Additional Resources) give interpretations of many dances with their accompanying music.
There are also other modern versions of some of the dances now in print, often with accompanying music on CD or cassette (see Additional Resources).
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