SCA Dance Cheat Sheets

La Regina

Source: Invention by Geffrei Louarn de Kaermeridec published in The Letter of Dance v1.

Setting: couple(s) facing the musicians.

Version: 1.1

V1:  1- 2  Single inside, single outside,
Co:  3- 8   chorus: double inside, single apart, single together, double back.
     9-16  Repeat 1-8.

V2: 17-18  Men turn in place using single inside, single outside, turning
             towards their partner and passing under their partner's arms,
    19-20   women do the same,
Co: 21-26   chorus.
V2: 27-28  Women turn,
    29-30   men turn,
Co: 31-36   chorus.

V3: 37-40  Drop hands. Men dance 4 singles around their partner, passing
             in front, take hands,
Co: 41-46   chorus.
    47-56  Repeat 37-46 with women dancing around their partners.

V4: 57-62  Take right hands, turn your partner twice using 6 singles,
Co: 63-68   chorus.
    69-80  Repeat 57-68, taking left hands.

Discussion:

The motivations behind this particular invention is described in the Letter of Dance article about it --- we have no dance manual describing dance from this period, so this dance is based solely on the music and paintings from that era of people dancing. The step used in this dance is described in the steps section at the end of this document. Note that, in the description above, ``inside'' and ``outside'' refer to the foot that you start a single or double with, while ``apart'' and ``together'' in the chorus specify which direction the dancers move.

Dancers should note that the verses increase in length: the first is 2 singles, the second is 4, the third is also 4, and the fourth is 6 singles in length. Even if you can't remember exactly what the verses are, you can at least remember their length, and dance the chorus at the proper time.

The steps suggested by the inventor of the dance are as follows: A single is a step forward, followed by a hop on the foot which just moved, bending the other knee. A double is step-step-step-hop.

I believe that this reconstruction is incorrect for two reasons. The first is that this particular music is very atypical for saltarello music; the number of measures is even and the chorus is relatively long. Thus, it is much more like an English Country Dance than usual, and this invention is very much like an English Country Dance. Second, in the 15th century, dancing the saltarello step in the saltarello misura involves moving half as fast as this reconstruction.