|
|
Proceedings of the Known World Dance Symposium 2007 |
_files/image001.jpg){kind=small}
Meredith Courtney
(Countess Mara Kolarova)
Vissevald and … his lady Mara,
Danced the Volta far into the night.
Then he drank some … Imperium Compound,
And she's now a satellite.
(Lady Lark of Esherwood, circa AS XVIII)
The Volta is a sixteenth-century dance, described in "Orchesography", published in 1589 by Thoinot Arbeau. It's a lot of fun, and not hard if you learn the steps before trying to coordinate them with your partner.
Arbeau gives 2 separate descriptions of the Volta, "the text" and "the tabulation". They don't quite match. I think the tabulation version is easier to learn, so we'll start with that. You can switch to the text version later if you want to.
We'll start with the steps. The music has 6 beats per measure.
Ladies
Count 1: Hop on your left foot, raising your right knee. This should travel forward just a little bit.
Count 2: Take a longish step down onto your right foot. The right knee should stay bent.
Count 3: Bring your left foot beside your right. You are now standing with feet together and knees bent.
Count 4: Jump straight up. Get as much height as you can manage easily.
Count 5: Land with your feet together, bending your knees a bit to make a soft landing. Depending on how high you jumped, you may land after the beat. This is OK.
Count 6: Stand still and wait for the measure to finish.
Gentlemen
Count 1: Hop on your left foot, raising your right knee. This should travel forward just a little bit.
Count 2: Take a longish step down onto your right foot. The right knee should stay bent.
Count 3: Turn your left knee and toe out 90 degrees and start dragging the left leg forward.
Count 4: Straighten your right knee and lift your left knee (which is still turned out) so your left thigh is almost parallel to the floor. (Let your lower leg hang straight down.) Meanwhile, pivot on your right foot, turning about a quarter-turn to your right.
Count 5: Bring your left foot beside your right foot.
Count 6: Stand still and wait for the measure to finish.
Practice these steps individually until you're comfortable doing them.
You also need to be able to do a basic galliard step (cinq-pas or five-steps). If you don't know it, you can substitute kicking your legs forward alternately, one kick per beat so that you do 6 kicks per measure.
Putting it together
Lady stands on the gentleman's left (the "wrong" side), so their shoulders make a 90 degree angle. Lady puts her right hand on his left shoulder, her left hand on her own left thigh to hold her skirts down. Gentleman puts his left hand in the small of her back, right hand in front of her waist. The gentleman should hold the lady firmly, but use only the flats of his hands - he is not going to lift her, he is only going to push her when she jumps.
Now the lady and gentleman do their steps, at the same time. On count 4, when the lady jumps, the gentleman gives her a gentle push with his left hand and under her seat with his left thigh, keeping her with him as he pivots.
Practice this one measure at a time for a while - do it once, then stop and regroup. Work up to doing a series of 4 measures in a row, while someone calls out a steady six-count to supply the rhythm. As you get comfortable with it, you can pivot further if you want to.
The "fine points" that make this all work:
1. Look at your partner's eyes to help maintain the 90 degree angle between your bodies.
2. Keep your body vertical. Do not lean or bend forwards or sideways.
3. The gentleman must not think of lifting the lady, lest this cause him to unconsciously dig his fingertips into her ribcage to get a better grip. She supplies all the height, he just guides her through the air.
4. The gentleman must remember that the lady is not a soccer ball. That push on count 4 should be GENTLE. If the partners prefer, the gentleman's left leg need not make contact - just bring it up behind the lady so you get the correct visual effect.
5. The lady should pretend that her right thumb and forefinger have been taped together. Her right hand can go on his left shoulder in any position EXCEPT thumb on his collarbone and fingers pointing to the back of his neck - in this position, it is all too easy to inadvertently dig the thumb in, and that hurts.
6. The lady must land with both feet together. Do not land running.
The entire dance
Use any galliard music with a strong beat and comfortable tempo. Music that is named Volta (or Volte, etc.) may have a rhythmic variation that is easier to follow for some people.
Partners stand side-by-side, lady on the gentleman's right, gentleman's right hand holds lady's left. The usual pattern starts with 3 measures of cinq-pas, moving forward a little. On the 4th measure, the gentleman stands still and the lady moves to his other side, and they get into the jumping position. They do 4 of the turning jumps during measures 5 through 8. At the end of the 8th measure, get into the original position (lady on gentleman's right) as best you can. Repeat until the music ends or you get too tired to continue.
You don't have to use this pattern. You can do as many cinq-pas and turning jumps as you wish, and they don't have to be the same number. You can do galliard variations in addition to cinq-pas if you want to. I've never tried, but you could also learn the steps in mirror-image and do turning jumps in the other direction.
There are 3 problems with this interpretation of the Volta
1. I interpolated a step. My instruction to the lady to join her left foot to her right on Count 3 is not in the original, which implies a one-footed takeoff for the lady's jump. I added it because a two-footed takeoff is MUCH easier, and it is a natural and unobtrusive "cheat". As an alternative, the lady could leave her left foot where it landed on Count 1, and use Count 3 to shift her weight between her feet, so that on Count 4 she does a two-footed takeoff with her feet 1 stride apart. For the most part I think this causes more problems than it fixes, but if it feels comfortable to you, go ahead.
2. This interpretation is based on Arbeau's tabular-form description, which specifies the jump on Count 4. The text description clearly specifies the jump on Count 3. I'm more willing to believe in a printer's error which mispositioned a phrase in a tabulation than to believe Arbeau got that careful text description wrong.
3. After you get comfortable doing the dance, you start wanting more "hang time" for the jumps. You can get some by pivoting further and pushing more, so the lady doesn't land until Count 6. When that isn't enough, you have to switch to an interpretation based on the text, so the jump goes on Count 3.
So, if you want to try the hard-core thrill-seeker version
The lady may wish to provide herself with a stout leather belt, if she does not wear a corset. The gentleman does supply some of the lift in this interpretation.
Ladies
Count 1: Hop on your left foot, raising your right knee. This should travel forward just a little bit.
Count 2: Take a longish step down onto your right foot. The right knee should stay bent.
Count 3: Jump straight up (a one-footed takeoff on the right foot). If you have to have a two-footed takeoff, shorten the step on Count 2 so that you end up with your weight between your feet instead of on your right foot.
Somewhere in Counts 4, 5, and 6: Land with both feet together and wait for the end of the measure.
Gentlemen
Count 1: Hop on your left foot, raising your right knee. This should travel forward just a little bit.
Count 2: Take a longish step down onto your right foot. The right knee should stay bent.
Count 3: Turn out your left toe and knee and bring your left thigh up to give the lady a push under her seat, while straightening your knee and pivoting on your right foot as far as you find comfortable.
Somewhere in Counts 4, 5, and 6: Bring your left foot down and wait for the end of the measure.
The gentleman should be lifting the lady as she jumps, as well as guiding her sideways as he pivots, to give her the maximum height. If she wears a sturdy belt, or Elizabethan garb with an authentically constructed corset (but see WARNING below), his right hand grasps the belt or corset-point to make the lift easier. If neither handle is available, be sure to use only pressure from the flats of your hands – don’t try to grab hold of her ribs.
All other commentary for the other version applies to this one. Happy landings!
WARNING
When dancing the Volta with a lady wearing Elizabethan garb, be sure to discuss the matter before attempting to lift her by the corset-point. This trick only works if the corset is of strong construction and snugly laced. Otherwise you will jam the corset into her armpits, and quite possibly rip the dress as well.
ANOTHER WARNING
Before beginning the dance, sort out with your partner which options you're using. Having the lady jump on Count 4 and the gentleman push on Count 3 is a particularly unfortunate combination...
The "text" version of the Volta derives from Dr. Ingrid Brainard's reconstruction. I learned it from Sir Patri du Chat Gris (Patri Pugliese), who suggested using a belt to substitute for the corset-point. I used Dr. Julia Sutton's edition of the Mary Stewart Evans translation of "Orchesography" while working up the "tabulation" version.
Countess Mara Kolarova OL
Barony of Carolingia, East Kingdom
Meredith Courtney
12 Melville Ave
Boston, MA 02124
meredith@livingpaper.org