[ This article appeared in volume 5 of the Letter of Dance. ]
Mistress Amber (Gwynneth Annora)
Within the Society there are a myriad of period style dances that are performed in halls all across the Known World. Many of them are dubbed as "authentic" because they were taken from the period book Orchesography in which the dance master Arbeau taught his student Capriole the popular dances in dialogue form. This book was first published in 1589 in Langres and was later reprinted in various languages. The English translation now being used was provided by Lady Mary Stewart Evans in 1948 and was published by Dover in 1967. According to Dover editor Julia Sutton "Thoinot Arbeau's Orchesographie is one of our most valuable and delightful sources on sixteenth-century dances, dance music, and social mores." (1)
The SCA renditions of the dances from this book do not all seem to be performed as Arbeau intended. The dances that we thought were period all of these years often bear little resemblance to the actual tabulation. To demonstrate the contrasts between the SCA's and Arbeau's versions of the same dance we will concentrate on dissecting two popular dances: the tordion and the Maltese branle. The tabulations of the SCA versions take common elements from SCA dance books I have taught from (such as the Iron Mountain Dance Book) and combine some popular embellishments that differ from kingdom to kingdom.
A common SCA version of the tordion (tabulated by Amber):
Begin the dance with the dancers facing one another. Feel free to kick high, spin, chase each other about the room, and perhaps even swap partners.
Kick kick kick kick
Kick kick kick kick
Kick kick kick kick
Kick kick kick kick
Repeat above
Cross palms
Cross palms
Turn single
Cross palms
Cross palms
Kick kick kick kick
Repeat from cross palm sequence
Start over from beginning
The tordion as described by Arbeau in Orchesography:
"....in dancing the tordion one always holds the damsel by the hand and he who dances boisterously causes needless discomfort and jolting to the said damsel." The steps are to be performed close to the ground and with grace.
| Tabulation from Orchesography: (96) | Amber's translation |
| "Pied en l'air gauche" | Raise the left foot |
| "Pied en l'air droit" | Raise the right foot |
| "Pied en l'air gauche" | Raise the left foot |
| "Pied en l'air droit" | Raise the right foot |
| "Saut moyen" | A little jump |
| "Posture gauche" | Share weight between feet with the left foot forward |
Do the same movements again only start with the opposite foot.
| Tabulation from Orchesography: (97) | Amber's translation |
| (a variation) | |
| "Marque pied gauche" | Left toe to right foot |
| "Marque talon gauche" | Left heel to right foot |
| "Marque pied droit" | Right toe to left foot |
| "Marque talon droit" | Right heel to left foot |
| "Saut moyen" | A little jump |
| "Posture gauche" | Share weight between feet with the left foot forward |
Perform the same movements again, only start with the opposite foot.
Arbeau's tabulation is very different from the dance that gentles in the SCA have danced all these years. The first discrepancy is apparent at the beginning of the dance. In the SCA, we often start facing our partners rather than holding hands. The high kicks that we see done at SCA revels are far removed from the refined steps of Arbeau's tordion. In the SCA, partners sometimes "chase" or "follow" each other around the hall while dancing. Arbeau describes a similar variation in the galliard, but not in the tordion. It seems that many dancers in the SCA dance the tordion in the manner that Arbeau described to dance the galliard; these are not the same dance. There is no reference in Arbeau's tabulation of the tordion that gives credence to the cross palm sequence in our SCA version. By the same token, the SCA leaves out the little leap described in both of Arbeau's renditions.
A common SCA version of the Maltese branle (tabulated by Amber):
Since this dance is supposed to be a mimicry of those dances executed in the Middle East, it is important to thrust one's hips in an exaggerated manner from side to side. Begin in a circle without holding hands. The dance is done faster and faster until the dancers can barely keep up.
A version of the Maltese branle as described by Arbeau in Orchesography:
The Knights of Malta invented this dance as a ballet to imitate the Turkish. (153) "...facial expressions and gestures are made, such as touching the hands, or, on another occasion, raising them in mock praise with the head thrown back and eyes lifted heavenward."(155)
| Tabulation from Orchesography: (154-55) | Amber's translation |
| "Pied large gauche" | A large step to the left |
| "Pied droit approche" | Move the right foot by the left |
| "Pied largi gauche" | A large step to the left |
| "Pied joints" | Place feet together (This completes a left double) |
| "Pied largi droit" | A large step to the right |
| "Pied joints" | Place feet together (This completes a right single) |
| "Pied gauche avance" | Left single forward into circle |
| "Pied droit avance" | Right single forward into circle |
| "Pied gauche avance" | Left single forward into circle |
| "Pied droit avance" | Right single forward into circle |
| "Pied gauche avance w/ greve droite" | Left single and place right foot in air as if about to kick |
| *Drop hands and begin to turning to the left | |
| "Pied droit avance" | Right single |
| "Greve gauche" | Place left foot in air as though about to kick |
| "Pied gauche avance" | Left single |
| "Greve droit" | Place right foot in air as though about to kick |
| "Pied en l'air gauche" | Raise the left foot |
| "Pied en l'air droit" | Raise the right foot |
| "Pied en l'air gauche" | Raise the left foot |
| "Pieds joints" | Place feet together |
| Repeats |
The reader will find many distinctions between Arbeau's writings and the widely accepted SCA versions of the above dances. The SCA seems to simplify the dances, placing less emphasis on the sizes of the steps to the left and right. There are enhancements as well....Arbeau makes no mention whatsoever of any clapping in the Maltese branle. While the SCA stresses the movements of the hips in this dance, Arbeau concentrates more on the facial expressions and the actions of the hands. There is also no reference in the period version to the dance speeding up. The SCA does not utilize the music offered by Arbeau, but instead dances to a period piece entitled "Schiarazula Marazula".
Perhaps the reasons for the differences encountered in this narrative are simple. We are the Society for CREATIVE Anachronism. If a dance seems too difficult or boring the way it was written it is our prerogative to spice it up. A few claps here and there, or chasing your partner around the room seems harmless enough. It can make the dance more enjoyable for everyone. Arbeau himself, throughout his book, tells dancers how they may improvise certain dances and movements, or do steps on one dance to the music of another.
However, I feel that this topic needs to be addressed because of one thing: we are a historical re-creation organization. It is one thing to know how the dance was done and choose to change it. It is entirely different if a person comes into the SCA and believes that the way we have never seen are performing the dance is the way it was actually done. (After all, the tabulation was taken from Orchesography.... right?) I a [ XXX ] heading in a dance book that says "The tordion- an SCA choreographed dance". If we are attempting to learn the dances the way they were done in period, Arbeau is one of the most readily available sources.
I have been dancing in the SCA for over a decade, and until I read Orchesography I thought that we were effecting the dances in as similar a way as possible to the people of past ages. It was difficult to tabulate the tordion and the Maltese because 10 years doing it a different way kept causing confusion. It is the responsibility of those who teach and research dance to provide their students with the actual dance and let them make the choice. There is nothing wrong with SCA choreographed dances; that's how they were created in olden times! However, dances should be billed as what they are, whether it be the closest rendition as possible to Arbeau's tabulation, a modernized version of the latter, or an SCA choreographed period style dance. By providing this knowledge to those who participate in period dance, all dances have their value.
Arbeau, Thoinot. Orchesography. 1596. New York: Dover Publications, Inc. 1967. (translated by Mary Stewart Evans) ISBN 0-486-21745-0
Sokoll, Katrina. The Iron Mountain Dance Book.
Webbed by Gregory Blount of Isenfir (Greg Lindahl)