Il Bigarà

Balletto

Negri, Le Gratie d'Amore

Couples

Advanced


I	A	1-8	Riverenza		They stand at the head of the dance, as shown in the present figure making together the Riverenza grave, and	Si fermano à capo del ballo, come mostrā le preſenti figure fanno in ſieme la Rx graue, e
		9	Pause
	B	1-4	Ordinario with hop forward on left		two seguiti ordinari with a little jump one walking forward on the left, &	due .S. col ſaltino vno andando innanzi col ſiniſtro, &
		5-8	Ordinario with hop backward on right		the other backward with the right.	l'altro indiettro col destro.
		9-12	Jump to left, right (on 9, 11)		they do two small jumps feet even to the left, & to the right, and	ſi fanno due ſaltinià piè pari alla ſiniſtra, & alla deſtra, e
		13-16	Kick left, right, left (on 13, 14, 15)		three passi fermi in galliard, heedful that the cadences of this dance they make with their jumps, except the galliard, which they dance as accustomed.	tre .P. fermi in gagliarda, auuertendo che le cadenze di queſto ballo ſi fanno col ſuo ſaltino, eccetto la gagliarda, che ſi ballo al ſolito.

II	A	1-8	4 Spezzati forward		They make together four spezzati forward, &	Fanno inſieme quattro .SP. innanzi,
		9	Pause
	B	1-2	Kick left	(Kick, cut-back, hop)	a passo grave and	vn .P. e
		3	Negri Sottopiede onto left		a sottopiede, &	vn ſottopiede, &
		4	Hop leftward on left		a hop sideways to the left with that foot, &	vn ſaltino per fianco alla ſiniſtra con eſſo piede, &
		5-8	Repeat 1-4 to right		a passo grave and a sottopiede, & the top to the right.	vn .P. e vn ſottopiede, & il ſaltino alla deſtra.
		9-12	Drop hands; 2 Spezzati	curving to left, Man going up, Woman going down; end on axis facing partner at a distance	they let go the hands, and they do two spezzati and one seguito ordinario with a hop with the left, the man walking to the foot of the dance, and the woman to the head, turning to the left to face to face	laſciano le mani, e fanno due .SP. e vn .S. col ſaltino col ſiniſtro, andando'l caualier à piè del ballo, & la dama à capo, voltandoſi alla ſiniſtra à faccia à faccia.
		13-16	Ordinario with hop

III	A1	1-2	Man: Beat with right foot forward, Jump onto both feet		The man alone does with the left two beats, one forward, with the foot high, and the other to feet even with a little jump.	Il caualiero ſolo farà col ſiniſtro due botte, vna innanzi, col piede alto, e l'altra à piè pari col ſaltino.
		3-4	Man: Repeat 1-2 with left foot forward		He then makes another two beats with the right, one above the instep of the left foot & the other to feet even,	fa poi altre due botte col deſtro, vna ſopra'l collo del piè ſiniſtro & l'altra à piè pari,
		5-6	Man: Repeat 1-2 with left foot forward		he then makes the same with the right foot.	ſi fa poi il medeſimo col piè deſtro.
		7-8	Man: Repeat 1-2 with right foot forward		he then makes the same with the right foot.	ſi fa poi il medeſimo col piè deſtro.
		9	Pause
	B1	1-4	Both: 2 Spezzati forward, flanking to left then right		they make four flanking spezzati, two walking forward, and two backward.	ſi fanno quattro .SP. fiancheggiando, due andando innanzi, e due indietro.
		5-8	2 Fioretti backward, flanking to right then left
		9-12	2 Spezzati	passing to left of partner and continuing into their place	they make together with the left two spezzati and	fanno inſieme col ſiniſtro due .SP. e
		13-16	Take right hands and little bow; Ordinario		a seguito ordinario taking the right hand with a little bow, passing the one to the place of the other, turning to this hand;	vn .S. toccandoſi la mā deſtra con vn poco d'inchino, paſſano l'vno al luogo dell'altro, voltando ad eſſa mano;
	A2	1-9	Woman: Repeat A1 doing man's steps		The woman alone makes the beats, &	la dama ſola fa le botte, &
	B2	1-16	Both: Repeat B1 (passing to right side, taking left hands, returning to place at beginning of III)		the spezzati which they had made. then they make together the spezzati and the seguito ordinario taking the left hand, and returning to their place.	le .SP. che ſi ſono fatte. poi fanno inſieme li .SP. eil .S. toccandoſi la man ſiniſtra, e tornando al ſuo luogo.

IV	A	1-2	Take both hands; Kick left	(Kick, cut-back, jump)	They take both hands, and they do together sideways to the left a passo grave and	Si pigliano amendue le mani, e fanno inſieme per fiāco alla ſiniſtra vn .P. e
		3	Negri Sottopiede onto left		a sottopiede, &	vn ſottopiede, &
		4	Jump to left onto both feet		a jump to both feet.	vn ſaltino à piè pari.
		5-8	Repeat 1-4 to right		The same to the right with this foot.	altretanto alla deſtra con eſſo piede.
		9	Pause
	B	1-8	Take right hands; 2 Spezzati and an Ordinario (circling to place)		Then they take the right hand, and they make two spezzati and a seguito orignario in a circle, around to the left returning to their place.	poi pigliano la man deſtra, e fanno due .SP. e vn .S. in circolo attorno alla ſiniſtra tornando al ſuo luogo.
		9-12	Take both hands; 2 Jumps		They take both hands. and they do two jumps to equal feet, and	ſi pigliano amendue le mani. e fannoſi due ſaltini à piè pari, e
		13-16	Kick left, right, left; Drop hands		three passi fermi, as above, and they let go both hands.	tre .P. fermi, come di ſopra, e laſciano amendu le mani.

V	A1	1-8	4 fast Ordinari with hop, all on left, circling singly to left		They make together four seguiti ordinari brevi minuti in saltino always with the left foot, &	Fanno inſieme quattro .S. breui minuti in ſaltino ſempre col piè ſiniſtro, &
		9	Jump onto both feet		a jump with both the feet,	vn ſaltino con amendue li piedi,
	B1	1-4	2 Spezzati	passing to left of partner and continuing into their place	and two spezzati and	e due .SP. e
		5-8	Ordinario with hop		a seguito ordinario with hop, passing the one to the place of the other.	vn .S. col ſaltino, paſſando l'vno al lugo dell'altro.
		9-12	Jump to left, right		then they make facing two jumps to equal feet,	poi fanno all'incontro due ſaltini a piè pari,
			Kick left, right, left		and three passi fermi, as above.	e tre .P. fermi, come di ſopra.
	A2		Repeat A1 (circling to right)		after they return to make another repeat of the seguiti ordinari minuti, and	doppo ſi tornano à fare vn'altra volta li .S. minuti, &
	B2		Repeat B1 (passing to right, jumping and kicking to right first)		the jump and the spezzati and the two jumps, and the passi fermi as above with the right foot returning each to their place.	il ſaltino e li .SP. e li due ſaltini, & li .P. fermo come di ſopra col piè deſtro tornando ogn'vno al ſuo luogo.

VI	C1	1-12	Cinquepassi flanking left, then right		Variation of the music in galliard. They make together the galliard, two repeats of the cinquepassi flankingly.	Mutatione della ſonata in gagliarda. Fanno inſieme la gagliarda, due volte li cinque .P. fiancheggiando.
		13-24	Take right arms; 2 Cinquepassi circling		Then they take the right arm, and they do another two repeats of the cinquepassi turning to the right.	poi pigliano'l braccio deſtro, e fanno altre due volte li cinque .P. attorno alla deſtra.
		25-36	Take left arms; 2 Cinquepassi circling		they let go hands, and they do another two repeats of the cinquepassi turning to the left,	ſi laſsciano, & fanno altre due volte li cinque .P. attorno alla ſiniſtra,
	C2	1-2	Jump to right		after this they make the variation with a jump to feet together sideways to the right,	doppo ſi fa la mutanza con vn ſaltino à piè pari per fianco alla deſtra, &
		3	Beat with right foot forward		and a beat forward with the foot high,	vna botta innanzi col piede alto,
		4-6	Cadenza with right		and the cadenza with the right,	e la cadenza col deſtro,
		7-9	2 Beats with left foot forward (on 7,9)		two beats with the left, and	due battute col ſiniſtro, e
		10-12	Beat with right foot forward (on 10)		with the right foot turning both to the said side.	col piè deſtro voltandoſi amendue al detto fianco.
		13-16	2 Ricacciate backward swinging right, left (swing back, cut forward)		then they do two ricacciate, and	poi ſi fanno due ricacciate, &
		17-18	Kick left, right		two passi brevi walking backward with the right foot,	due .P. breui andando indietro col piè deſtro,
		19-24	Cinquepassi to trade places, facing partner		the one to the place of the other turning the face. and they do one repeat of the cinquepassi fermi with the left, and	l'vno al luogo dell'altro voltandoſi la faccia. e fanno vna volta li cinque .P. fermi col ſiniſtro, e
		25-30	2 Spezzati	curving away from partner to right, end facing at a distance	two spezzati and	due .SP. e
		31-36	Ordinario with hop		a seguito ordinario around to the right with a jump with that same foot.	vn .S. attorno alla deſtra col ſaltino con eſſo piede.

VII	A	1-4	2 Spezzati	curving away from partner to left, end facing at a distance	Variation in the first music. They make together turning to the left with this foot two spezzati and	Mutatione nella prima ſonata. Fanno inſieme voltando alla ſiniſtra con eſſo piede due .SP. e
		5-8	Ordinario		a seguito ordinario walking the man to the foot of the dance, & the woman to the head.	vn .S. andando'l caualiero à piè del ballo, & la dama à capo.
	B	1-4	2 Spezzati	Man: going forward to woman, ending facing up while* Woman: curves away to right*	then they make another two spezzati and	poi ſi fanno altre due. SP. e
		5-8	Ordinario		a seguito with the right the man returning to the head of the dance. the woman in this time she turns to the right,	vn .S. col deſtro il caualiero torna à capo del ballo. la dama in quel tempo ſi volta alla deſtra.
		9-12	Take hands; Jump to left, right		then they take the hand and they do two saltini to even feet, and	poi pigliano la mano e fanno due ſaltini à piè pari, e
		13-16	Kick left, right, left		three passi fermi as they had done above, giving end with good style to the dance.	tre .P. fermi come ſi e fatto di ſopra, dando fine con bel modo al ballo.

Reconstruction by Anna Mansbridge, September 2013. Original transcribed from facsimile. Translation by Peter Durham.

Notes

Reconstruction. Concise reconstruction notes:
1. Riv; Ord-Hop FB, 2 Jumps 3 Kicks
2. 4 Spez; Kick-Sot-Hops LR, separate with 2 Spez & Ord-Hop
3. (solos M W) Beat-Jumps RLLR; 2 Spez/2 Fio in diamond, trade with 2 Spez & Ord
4. Kick-Sot-Jump LR; circle with 2 Spez & Ord; 2 Jumps 3 Kicks
5. (repeats to R) circle singly L with 4 fast Ord-Hops; trade with 2 Spez & Ord, 2 Jumps 3 Kicks
6. (galliard) Cinq LR, with R L arms; Jump, Beat R, Cad; Beat LLR; Ric RL Kick LR; Cinq trade; 2 Spez & Ord to R
7. 2 Spez & Ord to L; 2 Spez & Ord (M fwd, W to R), 2 Jumps 3 Kicks

History. I could not find a definition for Bigara in Italian-English dictionaries from 1598 or 1976, but Internet searches have many results where Bigara appears as a surname.

Music. The A section of the music is 4½ breves long, for 9 counts, but the choreography generally fills just 8 counts.

Reconstruction. Negri defines .P. at the beginning of the third treatise as meaning “passi gravi” but in this dance we see “.P. breve” and “cinque .P.” which imply just “passi”. In the translation, I have chosen to expand .P. as “passi gravi” except where it is modified by breve, cinque, or fermi. Negri does not describe passi fermi but does describe passetti firmati in saltino. Markus Lehner notes that Negri's passo fermo is probably the same as Caroso's passo in aria given that both steps are used in the same place in the Chiusa di Pavaniglia which both describe (A Manual of Sixteenth-Century Italian Dance Steps, p. 86).

Reconstruction. In Negri's description, the dancers begin at the head of the dance. I describe the direction dancers face at the beginning of the dance as “up”, which ends up being toward what Negri describes as the foot. My “down” is the opposite direction (toward Negri's head of the dance).

Reconstruction. Anna maps the Ordinario with hop (first seen I B 1-4) to Negri's “seguito with the foot high to the beat”: on beat 1, step with the left foot; on beat 2, step with the right foot; on beat 3, step with the left foot; on beat 4, one zopetto on the left foot is done, raising the right foot behind graciously. The hop can also be done with the foot forward high.

Reconstruction. Negri defines .SP. as fioretti spezzati, but describes fioretti and spezzati as separate steps. In III B1 1-8, the choice to do the first two .SP. as spezzati and the second two as fioretti is an artistic choice reflecting this ambiguity.