Spero

15th century Italian ballo

Lady Andreva Rigaldi, Lord Lorenzo Petrucci, Lady Alasais Bandeli

Magna Fair, 2007

 

 

 

Spero is a 15th century Italian ballo for 3 people, specifically 2 women and 1 man. Unless specified Man or Women, all dancers perform the steps.

 

I.                   Choreography

 

Piva misura:

4 doppii in tedescho beginning left, battendo il tempo innanzi

Man 2 sempii and 1 doppio forward beginning left, Women stand still

Women 2 sempii and 1 doppio forward beginning left, Man mezavolta with 1 doppio right

 

Quadernaria misura:

2 saltarelli tedeschi beginning left, battendo il tempo in galone (mezavolta at the end)

 

Saltarello misura:

4 saltarelli beginning left with Man passing between Women, mezavolta at the end

Riprese left and right

Riverenza left, 1 sempio left back

 

Bassadanza misura:

3 riprese in portogalese beginning right, Women mezavolta right at the end

Ripresa left

Voltatonda with 2 sempii beginning right and a ripresa right

Riverenza

 

Piva misura:

Man takes right hands with Woman on the right, circle with three pive beginning left

Man takes left hands with Woman on the left, circle with three pive beginning right

Man scosso

Women scosso

Man voltatonda with 1 doppio

Women voltatonda with 1 doppio

 

Dance repeats with the women having switched places and ends with a riverenza.

 

II.                Definitions

 

Besides the dance terms seen in many 15th century Italian balli, Spero has a variety of steps that were new to us as we interpreted the dance:

 

in tedescho – perfoming a specific step in a different misura that it is typically done. A piva tedescha is a piva performed in quadernaria misura. A doppio in tedescho is a doppio done in either saltarello or piva misura. In this case, 4 doppii in tedescho are performed to 8 bars of piva misura, or 2 bars of music per doppio. (2) This results in music with a 4/4 feel instead of the 6/8 that is written, because each step is on the strong beat.

 

battendo il tempo innanzi – beating the tempo forward. (3) We have interpreted this step as tapping the floor in front of the step rather than the typical pause that follows a doppio.

 

saltarello tedescho – a saltarello done in quadernaria misura. (2) In Prigioniera (another ballo), Guglielmo describes the step as un passo doppio & una ripresa per tempo di saltarello, (3) or a doppio and a ripresa per step.

 

battendo il tempo in galone – beating the tempo to the flank. (3) We have interpreted this step as tapping the floor diagonally in front of the step in place of the ripresa at the end of the saltarello tedescho.

 

ripresa – a step to the side. In bassadanza misura, a ripresa takes an entire bar of music and is typically interpreted as a double to the side rather than one long step. However, a ripresa in other misura is only half a bar of music or less. One example of this is the saltarello tedescho, where a ripresa is a single beat step. An example of a ripresa in half a bar of music is in Petit Rinense – two riprese are done in the same time as one doppio. (2)

 

riprese in portogalese – riprese done in a flanking direction. Guglielmo uses the term interchangeable with riprese in galone. (2) We have interpreted this step as a double to the side but the direction of the dance moves diagonally right and left.

 

scosso – movimento. Guglielmo uses the term scosso where Domenico uses movimento. (2)

 

III.             Sources

 

 Choreography for Spero appears in 5 sources (1, 3):

 

PnA - Giovanni Ambrosio (Guglielmo Ebreo da Pesaro), Practica Seu Arte Tripudii Vulgare Opusculum, c. 1475. Paris, Bibliotheque Nationale, f. Ital. 476

 

PnG - Guglielmo Ebreo da Pesaro, De Pratica Seu Artetripudii Vulgare Opusculum. 1463, Paris, Bibliotheque Nationale, f. Ital. 973

 

Fn - Firenze, Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale, Magliabecchiano XIX 88

 

NYp - Guglielmi Ebrei Pisaurienses De Pracha Seu Artetripudi Vulghare Opuschulam Feliciter Incipit Senper Chongratia Sia Didio Senper. ca. 1470, New York, Public Library, Dance Collection, Lincoln Center, MGZMBZ-Res. 72-254

 

Fl - Firenze, Biblioteca Medicea-Laurenziana, Cod. Antinori 13

 

The first source does not give an indication of who choreographed the dance; the second source attributes the dance to the author; and the last three sources attribute the dance to Domenico da Piacenza. The choreography in all the sources is remarkably similar with very few differences.

 

  1. NYp is the only source that describes the first steps as saltarelli tedeschi rather than doppii in tedescho.

 

  1. NYp is the only source that does not have battendo il tempo in galone after the saltarelli tedeschi.

 

  1. NyP is the only source that has a mezavolta after the saltarelli tedeschi. This is why the step is in parentheses in the choreography section. It seems to be understood in the other sources, since in the step prior the man and women are going in opposite directions and in the step after they are approaching each other.

 

  1. PnG is the only source that does not have a ripresa right as part of the voltatonda after two sempii.

 

  1. NYp is the only source that has all dancers putting their right foot forward at the end of the dance.

 

  1. PnA and PnG do not repeat the dance.


Bibliography

 

 

1.  Cellio, Monica and Vivian Stephens. Joy and Jealousy: A Manual of 15th Century

Italian Balli. Pittsburgh, PA: Real Soon Now Press, 1997. Ed. Eric Praetzel.

Thursday, January 17, 2002. University of Waterloo. February 14, 2007.

<http://sca.uwaterloo.ca/~praetzel/Joy_Jealousy/>

 

2.  Guglielmo, and Barbara Sparti. De Pratica Seu Arte Tripudii = On the Practice or Art

of Dancing. Oxford [England]: Clarendon Press, 1995.

 

3.  Smith, A. William. Fifteenth Century Dance and Music Twelve Transcribed Italian

Treatises and Collections in the Tradition of Domenico Da Piacenza 2

Choreographic Descriptions with Concordances of Variants. Stuyvesant, NY:

Pendragon Press, 1995.