Alta Somaglia

(High Somaglia)

Balletto

Negri, Le Gratie d'Amore

Couples

Advanced (to regulars)



I	A1	1-8	Take hands; Riverenza Grave				First Part. They stand at the head of the dance, as is shown in the present diagram, and having taken the hand they do the Riverenza Grave, &		Prima Parte. Si fermano à capo del ballo, come si vede nel presente dissegno, e pigliato la mano faranno la .Rx. graue, &
	A2	1-4	2 Saltini left, right				two Saltini with even feet to the left, & to the right,		due saltini à piè pari alla sinistra, & alla destra,
		5-8	4 Kicks right, left, right, left (Stepping on left, right, left, right)				they do four Passi in Saltino in the said place,		si fanno quattro .P. in saltino nel detto luogo,
	B1	1-8	2 Semidoppi on left, right				then they do walking forward to the foot of the dance two Seguiti and		poi faranno andando innanzi à piè del ballo due .S. e
		9-16	Repeat A2				the two Saltini, & the four Passi standing in Saltino ss they did above.		li due saltini, & i quattro .P. fermati in saltino come s’è fatto di sopra.
	B2	1-8	Drop hands; 2 Semidoppi on left right (casting back to head of dance); Take hands				They let go the hand. The man turns to the left, & does two Seguiti returning to the head of the dance. The woman in that time she turns to the right, and does two Sqguiti & returns to the head of the dance to take the hand, and		laciano la mano. il caualiero volta alla sinistra, & fa due .S. tornando à capo del ballo. la dama in quel tempo si volta allla destra, e fa due .S. & torna à capo à pigliare la mano, e
		9-16	Repeat A2				they do together the two Saltini and the four Passi standing as they did above.		fanno insieme i due saltinii e i quattro .P. fermari come s’è fatto di sopra.

II	A1	1-8	2 Puntati forward on left, backward on right				Second Part. They do together two Passi Gravi with the left one forward, and the other backward,		Seconda Parte. Faranno insieme due .P. col sinistro vno innanzi, e l’altro indietro,
	A2	1-8	2 Semidoppi forward on left, right; Face partner (keep holding ordinary hands)				two Sequiti going forward to the foot of the dance, then		due .S. andando innanzi à piè del ballo, poi
	B1	1-8	2 Semidioppi circling clockwise on left, right; last step circles counterclockwise to right		(Twist) Circling 180° to partner's place, then back 45º to end on diagonal		two Seguiti in a circle going the one to the place of the other, & the last Passo of the two Seguiti they do to the right a little distant from the other foot.		due .S. in vn circolo andando l’uno al luogo dell’altro, & l’vltimo .P. delli due .S. si fà alla destra vn poco lontano dall’altro piede.
		9-12	Drop hands; 2 Spezzati on left, right			(Cast) Casting leftward, man to foot, woman to head, to end facing partner on vertical axis		they drop hands, and they do two Spezzati and one Sequito turning to the left, the man returns to the foot, & the woman goes to the head of the dance		lasciano la mano, e fanno due .SP. e vn .S. intorno alla sinistra, il caualiero torna à piè, & la dama va à capo del ballo
		13-16	Semidoppio on left
	B2	1	Fioretto on right				they do then facing with the left foot two Fioretti in Saltino di Gagliarda, and		fanno poi all’incontro col piè sinistro due .F. di gagliarda, e
		2	Kick right, left				two Passi Gravi and		due .P. e
		3-4	Trabuchetti left, right				two Trabuchetti Brevi, &		due .T. breui, &
		5-8	Semidoppio on left; Mezza Riverenza		Advancing toward right hand of partner		one Seguito going forward to the right hand of the woman, & at the middle of the dance a small bow is made		vn .S. andando innanzi à man destra della damma, & a mezo’l ballo si fa vn poco d’inchino
		9-12	2 Spezzati on right, left			(Cast) Casting leftward and returning to place on vertical axis	two Spezzati and		due .SP. e
		13-16	Semidoppio on right				one Seguito turning to the left, returning each to their place.		vn .S. attorno alla sinistra, tornando ogn’vno al suo luogo.

III	A1	1-8		Men: 4 Semidoppi flanking starting on left (advancing toward partner); Take ordinary hands				Third Part. The man alone does four Seguiti forward flanking, & going to take the hand to the woman, & placing her at the right side		Terza Parte. Il caualiero solo fa quattro .S. innanzi fiancheggiando, & andando à pigliare la mano alla dama, & ponendola al fianco destro
	A2	1-8
	B1	1-16	Repeat II B1 (Twist and Cast) (end facing partner on horizontal axis)				they do two Seguiti in a circle, & the last passo a little distant, as they did above. They drop hands, and then do two Spezzati and a Seguito turning to the left, returning to their place,		si fanno due .S. in vn circulo, & l’vltimo .P. vn poco lontano, come s’è fatto di sopra. si lasciano, e poi fanno due .SP. e vn .S. attorno alla sinistra, tornando a suo luogo,
	B2	1-8	2 Semidoppi on right, left (taking right hands and ending in partner's place); Mezza Riverenza				they do two Seguiti going forward, taking the right hand at the middle of the dance, with a little of a bow		si fanno due .S. andando innanzi, toccando la mano destra à mezo’l ballo, con vn poco d’inchino
		9-12	2 Spezzati on right, left			(Cast) Casting leftward ending in partner’s place on horizontal axis	Then they do another two Spezzati and		poi fanno altre due .SP. e
		13-16	Semidoppio on right				a Seguito passing the one to the place of the other		vn .S. passando l’vno al luogo dell’altro.
	A3			Women: Repeat A1 A2				The woman alone does the four Seguiti & goes to take the hand of the man.		la dama sola fa i quattro .S. & và à pigliar la mano al caualiero.
	A4
	B3		Repeat B1 (Twist taking opposite hands and Cast)					then they do together the other actions, as said above.		poi fanno imsieme l’altre attioni, come di sopra.
	B4		Repeat B2 (end on vertical axis, man at head)

IV	C1	1-12	Man: 2 Cinquepassi forward on left, right while Woman: 2 Cinquepassi flanking forward on left, right					Change of the tune to a Galliard. Fourth Part. They do at the same time four times the Cinquepassi with the left, the man goes to the foot of the dance, and then returns to the head turning to the left. The woman in the same time dues the Cinquepassi flanking, and two time turning to the right and also going to the head of the dance.		Mutatione della sonata in gagliarda. Quarta Parte. Faranno insieme quattro volte i cinque .P. col sinistro, il caualiero và à piè del ballo, e poi ritorna à capo voltanto alla sinistra. la dama in quel tempo fa i cinque .P. fiancheggiando, & due volte attorno alla destra andando anch’essa à capo del ballo.
	C2	1-12	Man: 2 Cinquepassi casting left on left, right while Woman: 2 Cinquepassi curving right on left, right (returning to head of dance)
	D1	1-2	Face foot of dance; Take hands; Passi on left, right				Then they take hands. And they do together the variation, that is, two Passi forward with the left, &		poi pigliano la mano. e si fa insieme la mutanza cioè due .P. innanzi col sinistro, &
		3	Hop on right kicking left (“cha”)				one Botta forward high, and		vna botta innanzi alta,
		4	Cadenza on left				and the cadenza with these feet.		e la cadenza con esso piede.
		5-6	Drop hands; 2 Saltini backward, Woman: turning to right to face head				they drop hands, and do two Saltini backward with equal weight on both feet, turning to the right side.		si lasciano, e fanno due saltini indietro à piè pari, voltando’l fianco destro.
		7-12	Cinquepassi turning left on right; end facing partner				they do one time the Cinquepassi turning to the left with the right foot, and		si fanno vna volta i cinque .P. attorno alla sinistra col piè destro, e
		13	Hop on left, kicking right					two Battuti standing opposite, one with the right,		due battuti ferme all’incontro, vna col detto,
		14-15	Cadenza on right
		16	Hop on right, kicking left					the other with the left.		l’altra col sinistro.
		17-18	Cadenza on left
		19-24	Take right hands; Cinquepassi on right to trade places (end improper, facing foot of dance);				then they take the right hand, and they do the Cinquepassi one time with that foot turning to the right, passing the one to the place of the other.		poi pigliano la man destra, e fanno i cinque .P. vna volta con esso piede attorno alla destra, passando l’vno al luogo dell’altro.
	D2		Repeat D1 on other side, on other foot				the woman takes the left hand of the man, They do then another time the same variation with the right foot as said above. This variation is of 20 beats, & four tempi of the galliard.		la dama piglia la man sinistra del caualiero. si fa doppo vn’altra volta la medesima mutanza col piè destro come di sopra. questa mutanza è di 20 botte, & quattro tempi della gagliarda.

			Riverenza				then they take hands and they do the Riverenza finishing the dance with beautiful grace.		poi pigliano la mano e fanno la .Rx. finendo con bella gratia l’ballo.
260129 1621

Balletto for two by M. Stefano called Alta Somaglia.
In honor of the most illustrious Lady, the Lady Deidamia Somaglia, and Viscountess.

Balletto a due di M. Stefano detto Alta Somaglia.
In gratia dell’ illustrissima Signora, la Signora Deidamia Somaglia, e Visconta

Tabulation by Peter Durham of a reconstruction by Sara Bonneville based on a reconstruction by Markus Lehner as taught at the HDS Summer Dance Program, 2025. Translation by Peter Durham. Original transcribed from facsimile.

Notes

Reconstruction. I follow Bonneville's lead in describing Negri's Seguito Ordinario (.S.) as a Caroso-style Semidoppio, and the relative positions of the dancers as vertical (axis from head/upstage to foot/downstage) or horizontal (axis from stage left to stage right)

Reconstruction. In II A1, the Passi Puntati are from the Lehner reconstruction.