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[fool's maze] |
So, how does one go about choreographing something like a pastiche of a fourteenth century dance? The period pre-dates Arbeau by at least a century and there’s precious little detailed material around, but as Roy Dommett has previously pointed out, 'this is sometimes very useful, because no-one can say you’re wrong'. I’m using a technique I first employed in 1975 for Farnborough Town's-Women's Guild, for whom I choreographed three Pavans for use on stage. I'm no real stranger to showing all my workings (much later, starting in 1992, I was privileged to help facilitate a few workshops on border choreography), so make yourself a cup of mint tea, pull up a chair (oh yes, you're already sitting comfortably) and we'll begin.
I'm working from the assumption that very early Morris was a professional pastiche of whatever dance-form was popular at court. There's no clear evidence for this: early written records show that Morris Dancing took place, pictures show the costumes and that’s it. But it's certainly the case later that the dances adjusted to up-to-the-minute fashions, so it's a valid hypothesis. For valid source material I'm limiting myself to the choreographies from a document known as the 'Salisbury Ms', the 'tenors' from the French ma known as 'Toulouze' and the description of the 'Cleves' which adds some details. If none of this makes sense, it will later if you read on.
Stags already use two two-person dances of my own composition, the Whiffler, based on a Basque chorus from Roy Dommett's notes but using Playford style figures, and The Pelican Gunner, whose rather more chequered history is told elsewhere. At New Year 2006/7, we swapped the choruses between the two dances to make a third, Don't Break the Twigs, which used the irregular chorus from the Pelican Gunner with the (by now very much altered) Playford inspired figures.
I decided that this was the way to go: a standard set if figures based on the Basse Danse steps, with four irregular but interchangeable choruses inspired by dances from the Salisbury manuscript. For a first outing, I had to prove that a chorus would fit with the Playford figures. I selected the following four dances from Salisbury for variety and the fact that versions of the tenors appear in Brussels and Toulouze, giving me some tunes to damage: 'The kings basse dance', 'Amour', 'Filles a maried' and 'La bell'.
I’ll show you the working for the latter, which I selected for May Littleton’s weekend of dance 2007 (an appropriate event). [more...]