Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in Emma of's LiveJournal:

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Sunday, September 16th, 2018
12:19 pm	Index Greetings all, This is my attempt at keeping my dance reconstructions under control :-) I will try to add information about a reconstruction under the original entry, rather than making a new one. Enjoy! Emma :-) ( Index ) (5 Comments |Comment on this)
Thursday, December 4th, 2008
11:42 am	CF Peasants' Dance Branles: Simple Branles -- Double, Single, Gay, Burgundian Regional Branles -- Poictou, Scottish, Trihory Almans: Old Alman Lorrayne Alman New Alman English Country: Sellengers Round Gathering Peascods Up Tailes All Rufty Tufty Hit and Misse Hearts Ease (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Thursday, November 20th, 2008
5:03 pm	Suggested CF Peasants' Country Dance list Branles: Simple Branles -- Double, Single, Gay, Burgundian Regional Branles -- Poictou, Scottish, Trihory Official Branle Almans: Lorrayne Alman Old Alman New Alman Black Alman English Country: Gathering Peascods Sellengers Round Up Tailes All Rufty Tufty Hearts Ease Hit and Misse New Boe Peepe Dargason (Comment on this)
10:59 am	Cassandra Branle How to (Comment on this)
Monday, November 17th, 2008
2:15 pm	Update: UCMRS Spring Ball this Saturday Revised dance list (late period): For as many couples as will: Mixed branles Sellenger's Round Lorrayn Alman New Alman For fours: Hearts Ease Hit and Misse St Martins Bizzaria d'Amore For couples: Gracca Amorosa Contentezza d'Amore Chiara Stella Spagnoletta For as many couples as will: New Boe Peepe Dargason Requests (if there be time) (Comment on this)
Wednesday, October 29th, 2008
3:12 pm	Amy's draft CF ball list (not in order) ECD: Cuckolds Scotch Cap Fain I Would (If I Could) C16th Italian: Lo Spagnoletto So Ben Mi Ch'ha Buon Tempo Ballo del Fiore Chiara Stella Gresley: Ly bens Distonys Prenes on Gre C15th Italian: Amoroso Rostiboli Goioiso La Fia Guielmina Leoncello Arbeau: Mimed Branles (I don't know which ones though) Pavan Galliard Inns of Court: Black Alman Earl of Essex Measure Basse danse: Alenchon/Alesandresca (Comment on this)
Monday, October 20th, 2008
11:17 am	CF 2009 dance classes Medium/Difficult English Country Dances Exploring the more challenging choreographies from Playford's "The English Dancing Master". Knowledge of common English Country dance figures recommended Reconstructing a C16th Italian Dance Taking a page or two from Caroro's "Il Ballarino" and systematically turning it into a dance with sheet music. Knowledge of common Italian dance steps recommended, ability to read sheet music a bonus The Southron Gaard Seven Seven easy and popular dances. No previous dance experience required (Comment on this)
Tuesday, September 23rd, 2008
5:31 pm	UCMRS Spring Ball We have set a date for the UCMRS ball: Saturday, November 22. Venue to be arranged, but we are hoping to hire a room at the Christchurch Music Centre on Barbadoes St. Dancing from 7:30pm Free admission Please bring a plate for supper Garb encouraged but not necessary if you don't have any. Period recipes encouraged, but again we won't turn you away if you're offering chocolate biscuits ;-) Cordial provided, so please bring a vessel. The ball list was composed on the plane home after Bal d'Agent and leans somewhat toward the evil side *grin* We will be learning these dances in the up coming weeks at UCMRS dance classes. UCMRS dance classes are held in room 217 of the Christchurch School of Music. Monday nights from 7:30pm (drumming first at 7pm). The next block of 10 weeks begins this coming Monday (Sept 29) as is $25 to cover room hire. Contact me if you'd like more details :-) ( Dance list ) (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Monday, August 4th, 2008
4:30 pm	cinque pas "sank pah/par" -- five steps (4 Comments |Comment on this)
Wednesday, July 2nd, 2008
10:17 pm	Skeleton ball list for Bal d'Argent Old Measures - Earl of Essex, Lorrayne, Queen's, New, M'm Cecilia, Black Comp dances - Chestnuts, Presionera, Contentezza d'Amore, Galliards (at least 2!) Quadran pavin Other: Il Canario, La Castellana Likely: Gavottes, Chiaranzana Also some more ECDs (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Wednesday, April 9th, 2008
7:08 am	Sausages! So I taught the Candle Branle from Arbeau's book on Monday, and I remembered a few things from the Medieval History paper I took a few years back, and Bevin made a comment that got me thinking ... Evans' translation reads: Those who wish to dance it take a candlestick with a lighted candle, or a torch or link, and make one or two turns around the room ... So what is a link? -- Well, there was a painting our Medieval History lecturer showed us with people dancing. However, they were not holding hands, they were holding either side of a hoop which may have been a foot across or a little larger. There were also people holding either end of a string of sausages ... I have No Idea why people where dancing with sausages ... However, after discussing this with the class, at the end of the class Bevin mentioned that a string of sausages is also called a link. If you poke the OED, you'll find out that he's correct. Now I know Arbeau was originally written in French, so the word he used in place of the English "link" may not also mean sausage, but bear with me: What if people danced with hoops (links) and some smart person turned up with a link of sausages instead? Y'know how much Shakespeare loved a pun (or, at least, his audiences did :-). If anyone knows the painting I'm referring to, can you please let me know? -- I can't remember :-S (Comment on this)
Wednesday, April 2nd, 2008
10:28 pm	Ly Bens Distonys (Gresley Manuscript) Trace. After the end of the trace, the first 3 forth and torne, whill the second retrett 3 bake. Then come togeder and ethir tirne into oders plas. Then the last man 3 forth and torne, whill the first retrett. Then come togeder in such wys as they did afore and ethir end in ther own place. Then trett and retrett and torne. For those that were asking :-) (Comment on this)
Thursday, March 6th, 2008
7:33 pm	"Hands a crosse ..." This is from the 1651 edition from the first section of the dance Irish Trot: "The first man take his Wo. with his right hand, then with his left, and so holding hands a crosse change places ..." So does it follow that circling holding hands across is just like circling holding hands, only instead of holding a person's left hand with your right, you hold it with your left? (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Tuesday, October 30th, 2007
8:17 pm	Golly gosh! I was just asked for permission to use my arrangement of La Castellana on a CD! Cool! (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Monday, April 30th, 2007
4:20 pm	I made a forum I did *beams* It's still a work in progress, but I'm hoping eventually it will be a useful resource and discussion board for dancers. Either that or it's free space on the web where I can dump my dance reconstructions without having to deal with web hosting and writing in html (!!) http://historicdance.freeforums.org/index.php (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Friday, April 20th, 2007
9:36 pm	Coronation ball list I have already had a couple of people comment that I wasn't the one selecting the ball list; guess I must be getting predictable, as yes, someone else chose these: provisional dance list (as posted to the SG list): Mimed Branles (Washerwomen's, Peas, Shoes, Horses) Queens Alman Amoroso Ly Bens Dystonys Picking of Sticks Alenchon Rostiboli Gioioso Merry Milkmaids Earl of Essex Spagnoletto Ballo del Fiore Scots Branle Hearts Ease Il Conto del Orco Whirligig (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Friday, February 23rd, 2007
3:17 pm	Arbeau coranto puzzle (I'm working from the Evans book:) In the text on page 123, Arbeau describes the simple a gauche as hop on the right foot and step left, hop on the left foot and step right closing feet (so this is a four movement step). However, in the description of the dance and music on the following page he writes "pas du gauche, pieds joints" and calls that a simple a gauche (!!), which to me sounds like a two movement step. The double a gauche goes hop right step left, hop left step right, hop right step left, _hop right_ land feet together (which seems a bit odd, as you have to put your right foot down to then hop off it for the last movement). So this is an ... eight movement step. However, again looking at the description on the following page, the double a gauche is "pas du gauche, pas du droit, pas du gauche, pieds joints", so again I'm confused ... Oh, and as an aside, I can't find anywhere in the book that explains "pas du gauche/droit" and so far have assumed it meant "step left/right". Is this correct? -- Maybe this assumption is wrong and this is what is causing my confusion? (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Wednesday, January 10th, 2007
7:56 pm	Canterbury Faire Ball 2007 Amaze and astound your friends and court members with your authentic, period masque garb! Be an Amazon, a mermaid, or a Classical solider! Too shy? -- then hide behind an elaborate mask that disguises you completely to your friends! Feeling energetic? Then come, defend the SCA's name against the spry young members of the University of Canterbury Medieval and Renaissance Society, who won back the coveted title of Tassel-kicker at their Lindisfarne event last June. All you need do is kick the tassel; surely it can't be difficult? There will be a fine supper provided to all comers during the evening, and, entertainers willing, there may also be live music and performances sprinkled throughout. Set the first: Mixed/cut bransles (Cassandra, Pinagay, Charlotte, La Guerre, Aridan) Offical bransle Earl of Essex Queens Alman Lorayne Alman Ly Bens Distonys Set the second: Jenny pluck Pares Gathering Peascods Hearts ease Rufty Tufty Hide Parke Set the third: Petit Riense Rostiboli Gioioso Amoroso Spagnoletta Gracca Amorosa Lo Spagnoletto Set the fourth: Requests (Comment on this)
Sunday, January 7th, 2007
11:35 am	Alman -- "Orchesography", Arbeau C16th France. Both Evans' and Sutton's notes pair it with the coranto/courante. However, while Arbeau describes the coranto and then the alman, and mentions that the third part of the alman has steps as in the coranto, he doesn't specifically make the pairing (that I can find, anyway :-) Simple, sedate dance. Done with one couple leading, the rest falling in behind. Duple time, moves forwards or backwards with three steps and one kick (and sometimes with one step and one kick). It is unclear (to me) whether when the end of the hall is reached the dancers convert (as in Arbeau's description of the pavan) -- though the translation describes it as turning without dropping hands -- or continue by circling the room. Danced in three parts: one slow, a second the same (and to the same music(?)), and a third that is more lively and with springs on the kicks (and to different music, though still in duple time). The dancers pause between the sections to converse with their partners. Arbeau says the kicks can be big or small (barely off the ground), but in the example he gives they are all big -- greve: the foot raised very high and the movement made with vigour. He also notes that sometimes the young men steal damsels from each other, but frowns on this practice, as it leads to quarreling and heartache :-) The sections themselves are quite basic: one and two: step L, R, L, kick R step R, L, R, kick L step L, R, L, kick R step R, L, R, kick L step L, kick R step R, kick L step L, R, L, kick R step R, L, R, kick L three (faster and with springs on the kick): step L, R, L, kick R In reverse: step R, L, R, kick L There is a note with the third section I don't quite follow: "and continue thus by repeating from the beginning". Does this mean the third section goes 'forward, backward, forward, backward, forward, backward ...? Seems a bit silly, as you wouldn't get anywhere! :-) (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Tuesday, August 22nd, 2006
4:22 pm	La Castellana From Caroso's 1581 "Il Ballarino". Facsimile here. Translation here. For two. Begin facing, close enough to hold hands Verse one Riverenza minima left Four seguito spezzati in a clockwise wheel, beginning with the left foot Two seguito spezzati in a circle to the left, beginning with the left foot Chorus Two Puntate, one flanking forward, the other back, beginning with the left foot Four trabuchetti facing, beginning with the left Seguito spezzato left, Riverenza presta right. Repeat to the other side Two riprese left, two trabuchetti, one left and the other right Seguito spezzato left in a circle to the left, cadenza with the right foot to end facing Repeat from the riprese section to the other side Verse two Take right hands: two seguito spezzati to change places, beginning with the left foot Two seguito spezzati in a circle to the left, beginning with the left foot Take left hands: two seguito spezzati to change places, beginning with the left foot Two seguito spezzati in a circle to the right, beginning with the left foot Chorus Verse three Two passi presti in a clockwise wheel, beginning with the left foot. Cadenza left Two riprese right, two trabuchetti, one right and the other left, in an anticlockwise wheel Repeat all this to the other side Chorus Riverenza after the music finishes (5 Comments |Comment on this)