La Caccia d'Amore
(The Chase of Love)
Balletto
Negri, Le Gratie d'Amore
Longways for three couples
Challenging

 
IA11-8RiverenzaFirst Part with the Passage and the Variation. They will all together do the riverenze grave, Prima Parte col Passeggio e la mutanza. Faranno tutti insieme la .Rx. grave,
9-16Continenze left and rightand two continenze. & due .C.
A21-164 Ordinarii forwardsThey do four seguiti ordinarii going forward si fanno andando innanzi quattro .S. lasciano le mani
B11-82 Ordinarii turning to left; end facing partnerthey let the hands go and do two seguiti ordinarii together going around to the left turning face to face, e fanno insieme due .S. intorno alla sinistra volgendosi à faccia à faccia,
9-16Riprese left and righte due .R. and two riprese.
B21-8Take right arms; 2 Ordinarii trading placesThe men take the right arm of his lady, and they do two seguiti ordinarii passing the one to the place of the other, li cavalieri pigliano’l braccion destro della sua dama, e fanno due .S. passando l’uno al luogo dell’altro,
9-162 Ordinarii turning to left; end facing upthey let go, and do another two seguiti ordinarii going around to the left, staying in said place. si lascia-no, & si fanno altri due .S. intorno allo sinistra, restando nel detto luogo,
A31-168 Spezzati leading down middle and casting up to placeThe man that leads the dance with his line turning to the right, and his lady with her line, also turns to the left, ant the do all together eight spezzati going to the head of the dance floor, and then they return to the foot opposite their ladies il cavaliere, che guida’l ballo con la sua filla si volta alla destra, & la sua dama con la sua fila, anch’essa si volta alla sinistra, e fanno tutti insieme otto .SP. andando à capo del ballo, e poi tornano à piede all’incontro delle sue dame
A41-8Riverenzaand they do the riverenze grave all together, e fanno la .Rx. grave tutti insieme,
9-16Continenze left and rightand two continenze. e due .C.
B31-8Take right arms; 2 Ordinarii trading placesThe women take the right arm of partners and do two seguiti ordinarii passing the one to the place of the other. le dame pigliano’l braccio destro del suo caualiero, e fanno due .S. passando l’uno al luogo dell’altro,
9-162 Ordinarii turning to left; end facing partnerThey let go and do two other seguiti ordinarii going around to the left, and turning to face. si lasciano e fanno altri due .S. attorno alla sinistra, voltandosi’l viso,
B41-8Riprese left and rightThen they do two riprese poi fanno due .R.
9-162 Ordinarii turning to left; end facing partnerand two seguiti ordinarii around to the left, staying each one at said place. ¶& due .S. intorno alla sinistra, restãdo ogn’uno al detto luogo ¶
 
IIA11-8RiverenzaSecond part with the Passage and with the Variation. They will do together the riverenze Seconda parte col passegio e con la mutanza. Farãno insieme la . Rx.
9-16Riprese left and rightand two riprese. e due .R.
A21-16 Men: 8 Ordinari heying with hands to place; end with small bow to partner The one that leads and the other men, turn to the left, and go to the head, and then return to the foot of the dance floor doing eight seguiti ordinarii in a braid, taking now the right hand, and now the left, standing each one with the face turned to his lady with a little bow,  quello che guida e gli altri cavalieri, si voltano alla sinistra, & vanno à capo, e poi ritornano à piè del ballo, con far otto .S. in trezza, pigliãdo hora la man destra, & hora la sinistra, fermãdosi ogn’uno con la faccia rivolta alla sua dama con un poco d’inchino,
A31-16
B11-8M1-W1: Take right arms; 2 Ordinarii trading placesthe one that leads, takes the right arm of his lady, and does two seguiti ordinarii going around to this hand, and lets go, quello che guida piglia’l braccio destro sua dama, e fa due .S. intorno ad essa mano, e si lasciano,
9-16M1-W1: Take left arms; 2 Ordinarii trading places; end with little bow and M1 down one position, M2 moves to topand they do two seguiti ordinarii going around to the left returning to place with a little bow, e fanno due .S. intorno alla sinistra tornando al suo luogo con un poco d’inchino,
B21-16Repeat B1 with M2-W1, M1-W2 dancing, M3 moves to topthen takes the second lady, and does the same that he did with the first, poi piglia la seconda dama, & fa’l medesimo c’ha fatto con la prima,
A41-16Repeat B1 with M3-W1, M2-W2, M1-W3 dancingthen takes the third, and all the others one by one until the end, and all the others follow also this one hand in hand all together beginning with the first lady, until the last. poi piglia la terza, e tutte le altre ad una and una sino alla fine, & tutti li altri seguitano anch’essa di mano, in mano tutti insieme cominciãdo dalla prima dama, sino all’ultima,
A51-16Repeat B1 with M3-W2, M2-W3 dancing, M1 idle at bottom
B31-16Repeat B1 with M3-W3 dancing, M1 M2 idle at bottom
B41-16Men: 4 Ordinarii casting up to place; Meze RiverenzaThat one that leads turn to the right, and returns to the foot of the dance floor, and the others all follow him, and they do four seguiti ordinarii with half riverenza to their ladies, quello che guida si rivolge alla destra, etorna à piè del ballo, e li altri tutti lo seguitano, & fanno quattro .S. con meze .Rx. Alle sue dame,
A61-16 Repeat A2-B4 reversing gender, and taking right arms first in reel then the woman, that leads, turns to the right with her comrades, and goes to the head then to the foot of the dance floor with eight seguiti ordinarii in a braid taking the right hand and the left standing each one opposite her partner, with half riverenza. The woman, that leads, takes the right arm of her partner, and does the two seguiti ordinarii to this hand, they let go, and do two seguiti ordinarii going around to the left returning to place, with a little bow. The woman, that leads, with her ladies turns to the left, and they do two seguiti ordinarii returning to the foot of the dance floor with a half riverenza opposite their partners. ¶ poi la dame, che guida, si volge alla destra con le sue cõpagne, e vano in capo poi à piè del ballo con otto .S. in trezza pigliando la man destra e la sinistra fermandosi ogn’uno all’incontro del suo cavaliere con meza . Rx. la dama, che guida, piglia’l braccio destro del suo cavaliero, e fà li doi .S. ad essa mano, si lasciano, & fanno due .S. intorno alla sinistra tornà do al suo luogo, con un poco d’inchino, quella, che guida, con le sue dame si volta alla sinistra, e fanno quattro .S. tornando à piè del ballo con meza .Rx. all’incontro de suoi cavalieri. ¶
A71-16
B51-16
B61-16
A81-16
A91-16
B71-16
B81-16
 
IIIA11-8M1-W1: Take hands; Continenze left and rightThird Part with Passage and with the Variation in the manner of a chase. The man, that leads, takes the hand of his lady, and they do two continenze and Terza parte col passeggio e con la mutanza à modo di caccia. Il Cavaliere, che guida, piglia la mano della sua dama, e si fanno due .C.
9-16M1-W1: Riprese left and righttwo riprese opposite, & due .R. all’incontro,
A21-16M1-W1: Cast to bottom of set*then they let go the hand, the man turns to the left in order to go to the head of the dance floor to take his lady, and she in that time turns to the right in order to go also, to the head of the dance floor, poi lasciano la mano, il cavalier si volta alla sinistra per andar à capo del ballo à pigliar la sua dama, & essa in quel tempo si volta alla destra per andar anch’ella, in capo del ballo,
B11-16 W1 runs away up middle of set, M1 chases her, takes her hand, and brings her back to new place at bottom* noticing her partner that wants to take her by the hand, quickly returns backwards running, then passes in the middle of the two lines, and the said follows her, as the woman in she will have taken pleasure at her liking to glance at, he will let go to take by the hand, accompanying her then to the head of the dance floor at the end of the lines.  & vedendo il suo cavaliere che la vol pigliar per la mano, subito ritorna adietro scorrendo, poi passa nel mezo delle due fila, & il detto la seguita, come la dama se haverà pigliato piacere à suo gusto di scorrere, si lascierà pigliar per la mano, accompagnandola poi in capo del ballo, all’ultimo delle file,
B21-16
A31-16 Repeat A1-B2 with M2-W2 dancing The second that follows with his partner, will do the same as they did, going also this one with the woman to the head of the dance floor and this all the lines will do hand in hand, returning each one to the place where they were first. ¶ il secondo che segue con la sua dama, farà altretanto come si è fatto, andando anch’esso con la dama in capo del ballo, & cosi faranno tutte le file di mano in mano, tornando ogn’uno al suo luo go dove erano prima. ¶
A41-16
B31-16
B41-16
A51-16 Repeat A1-B2 with M3-W3 dancing
A61-16
A71-16
A81-16
 
IVA11-8RiverenzaFourth part with the Variation, and the Passage. All together they do the riverenza grave, Quarta parte con la mutanza, e’l passeggio. Tutti insieme fanno la .Rx. Grave,
9-16Riprese left and rightand two riprese & due .R.
A21-4Take right hands; 1 Ordinario to trade placesand then two seguiti ordinarii one taking the right hand of his lady passing the one to the place of the other, è poi due .S. uno pigliando la man destra della sua dama passando l’uno al luogo dell’altro,
5-8Take left hands; 1 Ordinario to trade placesthen they take the left, and do the other seguito ordinario returning to place. poin pigliano la sinistra, & fanno l’altro .S. tornãdo al suo luogo,
9-162 Ordinarii turning to left; end facing upThey do then another two seguiti ordinarii going around to the left. si fan poi altri due .S. in torno alla sinistra,
B11-164 Ordinarii casting off and returning to placeThe man that leads the dance with his line turns to the left, and the woman also with her line turns to the right, and they return to the head of the dance floor, and they do four seguiti ordinarii. il cavalier che guida’l ballo cõ la sua fila si volta alla sinistra, e la dama anch’essa cõ la sua fila si volta alla destra, e tornãno a capo del ballo, e fanno quattor .S.
B21-164 Ordinarii curving right to form the set into a circleThen they take each one the hand of his partner with a little bow, and they do together another four seguiti ordinarii in the manner of a circle with all the women in the middle, poi pigliano ogn’uno la mano della sua dama con un poco d’inchino, e fanno insieme altri quattro .S. à modo d’un circolo con tutte le dame nel mezo,
All dancers continue walking forward* within the circle. A leader will call commands such as "one forward" or "one backward". The gentlemen quickly find their new partners and join hands with them. A fourth gentleman can be added in for this section to make a musical chairs type game. When the lead dancer chooses to finish this section of the dance, he and his lady spread out to form a circle with all dancers facing inwards.the one that leads thus walking one will say one forward, and quickly, they will let go the hand of this lady, and they will go quickly to take the hand of that one [sic], that he will do forward, in that time another man, that did not enter in the dance, will take quickly one woman, which always like that that leads the dance, one will say at his pleasure one forward or one backward, always will stay one man without his woman, and each one will take endless pleasure of this one, and that one that leads with his lady will spread out rather in the manner of a big circle, and all the others will follow him. ¶quello che guida cosi passeggiando dirà uno innanzi, & subito si lascieràno la mano della sua dama, & andaranno presto à pigliar la mano di quella, che gli sarà innanzi, in quel tempo un’altro cavaliero, che non sarà entrato nel ballo, piglierà presto una dama, talche sempre come quel che guida’l ballo, dirà à suo piacer un’innanzi ò un indietro, ò due innanzi, ò due indietro, sempre restarà un Cavaliero senza la sua Dama, & ogn’uno si piglierà piacere infinito di questo e quello che guida con la sua dama si allargarà alquanto à modo d’un gran circolo, & tutti li altri lo seguiranno. ¶
 
VFirst couple: walk a bit* (either into the center of the circle, or away toward their seats, as they choose). Drop hands, Riverenza. Dance a little the dance "del piantono".* Lady leads gentleman back to his seat, then returns for a second gentleman. They dance together a bit, and then he leads her to her seat and returns for a new lady, and so on until all are seated.Fifth Part change of the tune to gagliard with it reprise. The first man with his lady will walk a bit, and then will let go the hand, and they will do together the riverenza and will dance a little the dance of the guard, and then will take her by the hand, and will lead her to place, and they will do the riverenza. The other man that is on the right hand with his lady, will do the same, and so will all follow hand in hand. In this manner will give the end to the Love’s Chase with amusement and to the pleasure of everyone, they could add other whimsies but not to be too long these variations will be enough. ¶Quinta Parte. Mutatione della sonata in gagliarda con la sua ripresa. Il primo Cavaliero con la sua Dama passeggierà un poco, e poi lascierà la mano, e faranno insieme la .Rx. & ballaràno un poco il ballo del piantono, e poi la piglierà per la mano, & la condurrà al suo luogo, & faranno la .Rx. L’altro Cavaliero che è à man destra con la sua dama, farà altretanto, & cosi seguiranno tutti di mano in mano, in questa maniera si darà fine alla Caccia d’Amore con spasso e piacere d’ogn’uno, si potrebbero aggiongere altre bizzeriema per non esser troppo lungo basteranno queste mutanze. ¶
 

New ballo of the author called La Caccia d’Amore, danced by many men and women. Ballo nuovo dell’auttore detto La Caccia d’Amore, si balla con molti Cavalieri, e Dame.
Dedicated to the most illustrious signora, the Signora Lady Giovana of Cordova, second wife of the most illustrious Signor Count of Aro, son of the most Excellent Signor Constestabile of Castille, Governor of Milan. In gratie dell'Illustriss. Sig. la Sig. Donna Giovana di Cordova, seconda moglie dell' Illustriss. Sig. Conte d'Aro figlivolo dell' Eccelentiss. Signor Contestabile di Castiglia Governatore di Milano.
In this ballo there may be confusion, especially in the beginning of it; because the men run in competition to take the woman, whence sometimes loathsome things follow when it happens that two men go to take one lady: who in order not to do wrong to the one or the other stays until time to go to dance; so that it is good that the man go modestly to take the woman that looks to him, and that the one that will lead the dance, will not begin as long as all have not taken the ladies, and then they will put themselves all in order in their line. In questo ballo suol essere confusione, & massime nel cominciarlo; percioche i Cavaliere corrono à gara à pigliare la dama. ondel tal hora ne seguono de gli odij, quando s'incontra, che due cavalieri vanno per pigliara una dama : la quale, per non far torto, ne all'uno, ne all'altro resta tal volta d'andare in ballo; perciò e ben che i Cavalieri vadano modestamente à pigliare la dama che gli parerà, & quello che guiderà'l ballo, non l'incominciarà insino à tanto che tutti non habbiano prese le dame, e poi si porranno tutti per ordine alla loro fila.

Reconstruction by Peter and Janelle Durham. Original text transcribed from Fonti facsimile of Negri. Translation from dissertation of Yvonne Kendall.

Notes
Reconstruction.  This dance is for as many couples as will; the reconstruction illustrates how it is done for three couples.
Performance.  In several figures, as indicated by asterisks (*), Negri does not specify which steps should be used. This may have been typical for caccia dances. Passi gravi (plain un-ornamented steps) or seguiti scorsi (running on tiptoes) are some appropriate options.
Reconstruction.  Jones (p. 296-97) reconstructs the braiding figure (IIA2-3, IIA6-7) as a combining of the men’s line and the women’s line into a hey. I do not see a justification for this, as the text states: “the one that leads and the other men” do the braid. (Kendall, 472)
Reconstruction.  During the reel figure (IIB1-B3), Negri specifies that you join right arms for the first two .S. He does not say to join arms for the second two .S., we have chosen to do so for sake of symmetry.
Reconstruction.  Other modern reconstructions of this dance have interpreted the progression differently for the reel figure, having each man return to his original place as soon as he has reached the end of the line. My choice to have them lined up at the bottom of the dance is due to the final choreography for this section, which states: “That one that leads turns to the right, and returns to the foot of the dance floor, and all others follow him.” (Kendall’s translation, p. 282) This seems to be a clear indication that all men cast up to the top at the same time.
Reconstruction.  The fifth section states that dancers should perform a Piantone. Negri (Negri 102, regola LIII) describes this as a mixer dance in which the dancers trade partners, and dance for a while before returning to their seats, as has been described in La Caccia. He is not specific about which dance steps should be done here, although a galliard is implied by the placement of the Piantone at the end of the section of Negri which is devoted to galliards, and by the change of the music to galliard meter.