This class teaches 3 period 15th-c Italian dances, and modern versions of them for different numbers of people. (Creating a new version of a dance, sometimes for a different number of people, was quite common at the time.)
Caveat
The sources for Renaissance dance are ratehr vague, having
been created for people who were already at least partially familiar with
the dance form. This is especially true for the 15th-century Italian dances,
where the steps are often not described at all, and the choreographies for
specific dances often vary in different manuscripts. There was probably
considerable regional variation, and improvisation was admired, so there was
not, even at that time, one, immutable, way of performing these dances.
Because of this, modern reconstructions show considerable diversity, and the
steps, dances and styling will probably be taught at least slightly
differently by any teacher, or even by the same teacher at a later date.
Also, the same or similar step names were often used for steps that were
performed differently in different repertoires.
Balli -
The following reconstructions are all by V. Stephens (SCA = Rosina del Bosco Chiaro) unless otherwise specified. Links are to write ups of the dance, either on these pages, or from Joy and Jealousy. If the write up is on these pages, I've noted which recording were used there, otherwise I include that here.
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