Basse danse

The basse danse, or "low dance", was the most popular court dance in the fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries, especially at the Burgundian court, often in a combination of 6/4 and 3/2 time allowing for use of hemiola. When danced, couples moved quietly and gracefully in a slow gliding or walking motion, raising and lowering their bodies—movements from which the name originated. The basse danse later led to the development of the pavane. [http://www.music.vt.edu/musicdictionary/textb/Bassedance.html] The latter half of a basse danse consisted occasionally of a tourdion, due to their contrasting tempi, and both were danced alongside the Pavane and galliard, and the allemande and courante, also in pairs. [http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-15700/Western-music#363047.hook] [Grove,George: "A Dictionary of Music and Musicians: (A.D. 1450-1880)", p154. Macmillan, 1889.] The earliest record of a basse danse dates to the 1320s and is found in an Occitan poem of Raimon de Cornet, who notes that the "joglars" performed them.

Monophonic songs were based on a tenor cantus firmus; the length of the choreography was often derived from popular chansons. In performance, 3 or 4 instrumentalists would improvise the polyphony based on this tenor. In others, multiple parts were written, though in the style of the day choices regarding instrumentation were left to the performers. Most famous, perhaps, are the basse danses assembled in 1530 by Pierre Attaingnant that remain today in "The Attaingnant Dance Prints", which included parts for four voices which were typically improvised upon by adding melodic embellishment (as Attaingnant rarely included such ornamentation, with occasional exceptions such as "Pavin of Albart", an embellishment upon "Pavane 'Si je m'en vois'"). [Thomas, Bernard: "The Attaingnant Dance Prints", volume I, pages iii-iv. London Pro Musica Edition, 1972.] Basse danses from this collection have been revisited and recorded by various ensembles including the Josef Ulsamer & Ulsamer Collegium. Most basse danses consisted of a binary form with each section repeated, such as the "No. 1: Basse Danse" from the publication "Danseries a 4 parties" by Pierre Attaingnant, published in 1547. [Hanning, Barbara: "Concise History of Western Music", edition 3, page 209. W&W Norton and Company, Incorporated, 2006.]

Dance Elements

Due to a treatise in the Bibliothèque Royale Albert I in Brussels, information about the elements of a basse danse (along with choreography of specific examples) remains today.

Basse danses are developed around four types of steps: the "pas simple", "pas double", "démarche" (also known as the "reprise"), and the "branle". There also exists the "révérence", a bow typically executed before or after the basse danse.

* In a "pas simple", dancers take two steps (typically first left and then right) in the span of one measure, in the feel of 6/4.
* In "pas double", dancers take instead three steps, in the feel of 3/2. These steps take advantage of the hemiola feel of the basse danse.
* In the "démarche", dancers take a step backwards and shift their weight forward and then back in three motions in the feel of 3/2.
* In the "branle", dancers step to the left, shifting their weight left, and then close again, in two motions in the feel of 6/4.
* The "révérence", occurring typically before or after the choreography, takes place over the course of one measure.

Notes

** cite web |last=Cole |first=Richard|url=http://www.music.vt.edu/musicdictionary/textb/Bassedance.html |title=Basse Dance |accessdate=2007-02-07
** cite web |last=Baert |first=Lieven|url=http://caagt.rug.ac.be/~vfack/ihdp/brussels.html |title=Basse danse, Brussels ms 9085 |accessdate=2007-04-13
** cite web |last=Almond |first=Russell|url=http://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/almond/basse/ |title=Basse Dance Project |accessdate=2007-04-13