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Fedelta d'Amore
Note that this is Negri's dance, quite different from Caroso's Fedelta.
For three people, holding hands, side by side in a line. The description given is for two men and one woman, with the woman standing in the middle. They start at the "head" of the room, dancing towards the "foot". The direction changes many times during the dance - keep track of which is which.
FIRST VERSE
Let's call the man who starts the dance to the left of the woman Man 1, and the man who starts to the right of the woman Man 2.
If the top of the screen is the head of the room, and the bottom of the screen is the foot of the room, they start like this:
Man2 - Woman - Man1 (facing the bottom of the screen)
| Balletto - first two parts of the music, each played twice | |||
| A | 1 | Riverenza | Holding hands, in a line, facing forwards. |
| 2 | |||
| 3 | Ripresa L | Releasing hands | |
| 4 | Ripresa R | ||
| A' | 5 | 2 seguiti LR turning left | Each person turns in their own figure-8, first going to the left, then to the right |
| 6 | |||
| 7 | 2 seguiti LR turning right | ||
| 8 | |||
| B | 1 | 2 spezzati LR |
The whole set together goes forwards towards the foot of the room, not holding hands. At the end of the final seguito, each person makes a half-turn in place, so they all end facing the head of the room. Now they are arranged like this (facing the top of the screen / head of the room): Man2 - Woman - Man1 |
| 2 | seguito ordinario L | ||
| 3 | 2 spezzati RL | ||
| 4 | seguito ordinario R | ||
| B' | 5 | 8 Spezzati in a hey |
The woman, who is in the middle, starts this by going in front of the man who is standing to her left (Man 2). Then all do a hey, without hands, with eight spezzati. At the end they are all facing the head of the hall again. Man 1, who started the hey to the right of the woman, finishes in the middle. To do this, you do a hey, until everyone is back in their own place, then one more exchange, so the Woman and Man1 swap places. The final position is this, facing up (facing the head of the room) Man2 - Man1 - Woman |
| 6 | |||
| 7 | |||
| 8 | |||
| Galliard - third part of the music, played twice | |||
| C | 1 |
2 cinquepassi circling right |
Man1, who is in the middle, turns to the Woman, who is at his right, takes her right arm, and they circle using two cinquepassi, each ending in place (i.e. the man back in the middle). |
| 2 | |||
| 3 |
2 cinquepassi turning left |
Man1 and the Woman each turn in place to their own left using two more cinquepassi. | |
| 4 | |||
| C' | 5 | 2 cinquepassi circling left | Man1 takes the left arm of Man2, who is to his left, and they circle with two cinquepassi, each ending in place. |
| 5 | |||
| 7 | 2 cinquepassi turning right | Man1 and Man2 each turn in place to their own right using two more cinquepassi. | |
| 8 | |||
This hey and the galliard are repeated in the second and third parts, so each person in turn gets a go in the middle.
SECOND VERSE
They begin the second verse in a line, facing the head of the hall (or top of the screen), like this:
Man2 - Man1 - Woman
| Balletto - first two parts of the music, the first played once, the second played twice | |||
| A | 1 | Seguito L |
4 seguiti forwards, together, in a line, towards the head of the room At the end of the last seguito each person turns in place, to the left, to face the foot of the hall. They're now, facing the foot / bottom of the screen, like this: Man2 - Man1 - Woman |
| 2 | Seguito R | ||
| 3 | Seguito L | ||
| 4 | Seguito R | ||
| B | 1 | 2 Sottopiede L, 2 trabuchetti LR | |
| 2 | Seguito turning L | ||
| 3 | 2 Sottopiede R, 2 trabuchetti RL | ||
| 4 | Seguito turning R | ||
| B'5 | 5 | 8 Spezzati in a hey |
Man1, who is in the middle, starts by going in front of the Woman, who is standing to his left. Then all do a hey, without hands, with eight spezzati. Man2 finishes this hey in the middle. Facing down (the foot): Man1 - Man2 - Woman |
| 6 | |||
| 7 | |||
| 8 | |||
| Galliard - third part of the music, played twice | |||
| C | 1 |
2 cinquepassi circling right |
Man2 takes Man1, who is at his right, by the right arm, and they circle using two cinquepassi, each ending in place. |
| 2 | |||
| 3 |
2 cinquepassi turning left |
Man2 and Man1 each turn in place to their own left using two more cinquepassi. | |
| 4 | |||
| C' | 5 | 2 cinquepassi circling left | Man2 takes the Woman, who is to his left, by the left arm, and they circle with two cinquepassi, each ending in place. |
| 5 | |||
| 7 | 2 cinquepassi turning right | Man2 and the Woman each turn in place to their own right using two more cinquepassi. | |
| 8 |
|||
THIRD VERSE
They begin the second verse in a line, facing the foot of the hall (or bottom of the screen), like this:
Man1 - Man2 - Woman
| Balletto - first two parts of the music, the first played once, the second played twice | |||
| A | 1 | 2 Spezzati LR |
Moving forwards together, towards the foot of the hall. At the end of the final Seguito, each person turns in place to face the head of the hall (?) |
| 2 | Seguito L | ||
| 3 | 2 Spezzati RL | ||
| 4 | Seguito R | ||
| B | 1 | Ripresa L | |
| 2 | Ripresa R | ||
| 3 | 2 Seguiti turning left | Each person turning in place to their own left | |
| 4 | |||
| B'5 | 5 | 8 Spezzati in a hey |
Man2, who is in the middle, starts by going in front of Man1, who is standing to his left. Then all do a hey, without hands, with eight spezzati. The Woman finishes this hey in the middle. Facing up (the head): Man1 - Woman - Man2 |
| 6 | |||
| 7 | |||
| 8 | |||
| Galliard - third part of the music, played twice | |||
| C | 1 |
2 cinquepassi circling right |
Woman takes Man2, who is at her right, by the right arm, and they circle using two cinquepassi, each ending in place. |
| 2 | |||
| 3 |
2 cinquepassi turning left |
Woman and Man2 each turn in place to their own left using two more cinquepassi. | |
| 4 | |||
| C' | 5 | 2 cinquepassi circling left | Woman takes Man1, who is to her left, by the left arm, and they circle with two cinquepassi, each ending in place. |
| 5 | |||
| 7 | 2 cinquepassi turning right | Woman and Man1 each turn in place to their own right using two more cinquepassi. | |
| 8 |
|||
FOURTH VERSE
They begin the second verse in a line, facing the head of the hall (or top of the screen), like this:
Man1 - Woman - Man2
| Balletto - first two parts of the music, the first played once and the second played twice | |||
| A | 1 |
2 Seguiti, LR, turning |
Woman: 2 seguiti going forwards, end by turning to face men Men: 2 seguiti turning in place to the left. End in triangle - woman faces foot of hall, men face woman. |
| 2 | |||
| 3 | Ripresa L | ||
| 4 | Ripresa R | ||
| B | 1 | 2 Seguiti, LR, turning |
Each person turns in place, to the left, with two seguiti
|
| 2 | |||
| 3 | Seguito L forwards | All do a seguito left forwards, meeting, turning left at the end, to return to place | |
| 4 | Seguito R returning | All do a seguito right returning to place, turning to face at the end | |
| B'5 | 1 | 2 seguiti LR turning |
Each person turns in place, to the left, with two seguit (finishing close enough to take hands) |
| 2 | |||
| 3 | 2 trabuchetti LR, ripresa L | Taking hands in a circle, moving a little to the left | |
| 4 | 2 trabuchetti RL, ripresa R | Holding hands, moving a little to the right; drop hands at end | |
| Galliard - third part of the music, played twice | |||
| C | 1 |
Seguito L |
2 seguiti, each person turning in place to the left. Note that this is to galliard music (using the Copenhagen musicians recording). Each seguito takes two tempi of the galliard. (step-&-a step-&-a step-&-a spez-za-to) |
| 2 | |||
| 3 |
Seguito R |
||
| 4 | |||
| C' | 5 | 4 cinquepassi |
Woman does her galliard mutanze of 4 tempi, and 17 movements; while the men do their galliard mutanza, of 4 tempi, and 20 movements. See below for the details, or replace with 4 plain cinquepassi. |
| 5 | |||
| 7 | |||
| 8 |
|||
FIFTH VERSE
They begin the second verse in a triangle, facing each other.
The woman is in looking towards the foot of the hall (bottom of the screen).
Woman
Man1 Man2
| Balletto - first two parts of the music, each played twice | |||
| A | 1 | 2 Spezzati LR |
Woman: turn around to the left, in place, end facing head of room (turn-and-a-half), while Men: go forwards to join the woman. End in a line, facing the head of the hall (top of the page). Man1-Woman-Man2 |
| 2 | Seguito L | ||
| 3 | 2 Spezzati RL |
Together, in a line, go forwards to the head of the room. At the end of the final seguito, all three turn in place to the left, so they face the foot of the room. Man1-Woman-Man2 |
|
| 4 | Seguito R | ||
| B | 1 | Ripresa L | |
| 2 | Ripresa R | ||
| 3 | 2 Seguiti |
Each turning in place, to the left. | |
| 4 | |||
| B'5 | 5 |
4 scorsi, hey Riverenza |
Woman turns right to Man1, takes his right hand, all do a hey with 4 scorsi (well, 4 .S. scorrendo), taking hands each time. End back in place. Riverenza. |
| 6 | |||
| 7 | |||
| 8 | |||
The description of starting position is made quite clear by the image.
Starting at the "head" of the room and dancing towards the "foot" is Negri's usual language.
It's not always immediately clear who turns when, and how, but following the pattern given above has everyone in the right place for each of the heys. The major point of ambiguity is at the end of the third verse - exactly when you turn isn't specified (but a turn is implied by the later directions).
The dance as described seems to have irregular verse-length. This reconstruction fits the repeat structure used by the Copenhagen Musicians' recording on "In the Italian Manner: Dances from the Royal Courts of Europe".
The timing of the final hey and riverenza is a little unclear, but it works well enough in practice.
I've been dancing this to:
Fedelta d'Amore, "In the Italian Manner: Dances from the Royal Courts of Europe", this track by the Copenhagen Musicians.
The CD is available from the Dolmetsch Historical Dance Society.
The music is in three strains, each marked with repeats. The text says that each part of the dance takes one time through the music.
Each strain is 8 bars long. The first two are in duple time, the last is in triple - two bars make one tempo of the galliard.
The dance as written appears to have verses of irregular length.
The recording I use (by the Copenhagen Musicians) solves this by having different internal repeats for different verses. That is:
- verse 1: AA BB CC
- verses 2, 3, 4: A BB CC
- verse 5: A BB
Katherine Davies, 2016.
In this translation I've tried to preserve all the ambiguity of the original phrasing and punctuation, at the expense of some pretty clunky English.
New dance for three by the author, called the Faithfulness of Love (la Fedeltà d'Amore), danced by two gentlemen and a lady in the middle.
In honour of the most illustrious lady, Lady Lucia Cusanae a Litta, Marchesa of Gambalò.
FIRST PART
All three stop in a line at the head of the room. The woman, who leads the dance stops in the middle, as shown in the picture, taking hands, and they do the .Rx. [Riverenza] together and two .R. [Riprese] releasing hands, and they do four .S. [Seguiti] two turning around to the left, and two to the right, then they do together going forwards two .SP. [Spezzati] and a .S. [Seguito] with the left, and two .SP. [Spezzati] and a .S. [Seguito] with the right foot, turning to the left at the foot of the room. They stop in a line turned towards the head of the room with the lady in the middle, and she, who leads the dance passes in front of the man who is at her left hand. Then they do eight slow .SP. [Spezzati] together, in the manner of a braid, and the gentleman who was at the right hand comes to rest in the middle, takes the right arm of the lady, who is to that side, and they do the the five-step of the galliard together twice, turning around to the right, each returning to their own place. They release [hands] and they do the five-step another two times turning around to the left, taking the left arm of the other gentleman, and they return to do the same five-steps of the galliard that he did before, each returning to his own place.
SECOND PART
Together they will do four .S. [Seguiti] returning to the head, and turning around to face the foot of the room. They do two sottopiedi to the left side, and two .T. [Trabuchetti] one on that foot, and the ohter on the right, and one .S. [Seguito] turning around to the left; this is then done another time to the right hand, and the gentleman, who is in the middle, turns to the left, and they will do together the braid, as they did above, stopping with him who was on the right in the middle, then he takes the right arm of the one who stands to that side, and then the left of the other, and they do the five-step of the galliard, as above, each returning to their own place.
THIRD PART
Together they do two .SP. [Spezzati] and one .S. [Seguito] with the left, adn two .SP. [Spezzati] and one .S. [Seguito] with the right foot, returning to the foot of the room; they do the the two .R. [Riprese] and two .S. [Seguiti] turning around to the left; the gentleman who is in the middle does the braid and the woman, who leads the dance, returns to the middle, and takes the arm, and they does the five-step as they did the other times, each returning to their own place.
FOURTH PART
She who leads does two .S. [Seguiti] going a little forwards, and turning around to the left, stopping in a triangle in the middle of the two gentlemen all three turned to face, and the gentlemen in this time do two .S. [Seguiti] turning around to the left, then together they do two .R. [Riprese] and two .S. [Seguiti] turning to that hand. Together they do two .S. [Seguiti] one going forwards one meeting the other, and turning to the left side, the other .S. [Seguito] returning each to their own place; they do another two .S. [Seguiti] turning around to that hand, and then taking both hands they two two quick .T. [Trabuchetti] to the left, and to the right, and one .R. [Ripresa] a this is done twice going around to the left in a circle, and returning into place. They release, and they do two .S. [Seguiti] turning around to that hand, all going into their own places. Then is the galliard. The lady, who leads does her own mutanza, that is three .P. [Passi] with the left foot, one forwards, the other high behind, placing the foot on the ground, and the other .P. [Passo] high forwards, and the cadenza with that foot. Then two .R. [Riprese] minute to the right, and to the left. Then the five-step scurrying around to that hand, and the cadenza with that left. This mutanza is of 17 botte [motions, or beats], and four tempi of the galliard. At the same time the gentlemen do a saltino [little jump] on the right foot, and three .P. [Passi] backwards, and the cadenza with the left high, and two zoppette with that foot high, and two botte backwards and forwards, and the cadenza with the right foot, and then three .P. [Passi] backwards with the left raising the right foot, and one fioretto with that foot, and two botte forwards and backwards, and one sottipiede with the left, and one botta forwards wiht the right foot, and one .P. [Passo] and the cadenza with the left. This mutanza is of 20 botte and four tempi of the galliard, and then they stop each in their own place, turned face to face.
FIFTH PART
Together they do two .SP. [Spezzati] and one .S. [Seguito] and she who leads turns herself to the left, and the gentlemen go forwards joining themselves all three equally (or evenly). Then they do another two .SP. [Spezzati] and the .S. [Seguiti] returning to the head of the room, and turning around to the left all three in a line; they will do two .R. [Riprese] one to that hand, and the other to the right, and two .S. [Seguiti] turning around to the left; she who leads will turn to the right and take the hand of the gentleman and they will do four .S. [Seguiti] scurrying in a braid, and always taking hands, returning then each to their own place, as they were when the dance started. Then they will do the Rx [Riverenza] together finishing the dance with beauty and grace, and standing again with the lady in the middle.
The translation below I've tidied up into rather more readable English, at the expense of imposing more of my own opinions where there's ambiguity in the original.
New dance for three by the author, called the Faithfulness of Love (la Fedeltà d'Amore), danced by two gentlemen and a lady in the middle.
In honour of the most illustrious lady, Lady Lucia Cusanae a Litta, Marchesa of Gambalò.
FIRST PART
All three stop in a line at the head of the room.
The woman, who leads the dance, stands in the middle, as shown in the picture. They take hands and they do the Riverenza together, and two Riprese releasing hands. They do four Seguiti: two turning around to the left, and two to the right. Then, going forwards together, they do two Spezzati and a Seguito with the left, and two Spezzati and a Seguito with the right foot, turning to the left at the foot of the room. They stop in a line, turned towards the head of the room, with the lady in the middle. She, who leads the dance, passes in front of the man who is at her left hand. Then they do eight slow Spezzati together, as a braid (hey, in English), and the gentleman who was at the right hand finishes in the middle. He takes the right arm of the lady, who is to that (right) side, and they do the the five-step of the galliard together twice, turning around to the right, each returning to their own place. They release hands and they do the five-step another two times turning around to the left. He takes the left arm of the other gentleman, and they do the same five-steps of the galliard as before, each returning to his own place.
SECOND PART
Together they will do four Seguiti returning to the head (of the room - i.e. where they started) and turning around to face the foot of the room. They do two sottopiedi to the left side, and two Trabuchetti one on that (left) foot, and the other on the right, and one Seguito turning around to the left; this is then done another time to the right hand. The gentleman, who is in the middle, turns to the left, and together they do the braid, as they did above, stopping with him who was on the right in the middle. Then he takes the right arm of the one who stands to that side, and then the left of the other, and they do the five-step of the galliard, as above, each returning to their own place.
THIRD PART
Together they do two Spezzati and one Seguito with the left, and two Spezzati and one Seguito with the right foot, returning to the foot of the room. They do the the two Riprese and two Seguiti turning around to the left. The gentleman who is in the middle does the braid and the woman, who leads the dance, returns to the middle, and takes the arm, and they do the five-step as they did the other times, each returning to their own place.
FOURTH PART
She who leads does two Seguiti going a little forwards, and turning around to the left, stopping in a triangle in the middle of the two gentlemen, all three turned to face. At the same time the gentlemen do two Seguiti turning around to the left. Then together they do two Riprese and two Seguiti turning to that (left) hand. Together they do two Seguiti: one going forwards, meeting, and turning to the left side; the other Seguito returning each to their own place. They do another two Seguiti turning around to that (left) hand. Then taking both hands they two two quick Trabuchetti, to the left and to the right, and one Ripresa: this is done twice going around to the left in a circle, and returning into place. They release, and they do two Seguiti turning around to that (left) hand, all going into their own places. Then is the galliard. The lady, who leads, does her own mutanza, that is three steps with the left foot, one forwards, the other high behind, placing the foot on the ground, and the other step high forwards, and the cadenza with that foot. Then two Riprese minute, to the right and to the left. Then the five-step scurrying around to that (left) hand, and the cadenza with that left. This mutanza has 17 motions and takes four tempi of the galliard. At the same time the gentlemen do a saltino [little jump] on the right foot, and three steps backwards, and the cadenza with the left high, and two zoppette with that foot high, and two botte backwards and forwards, and the cadenza with the right foot, and then three steps backwards with the left raising the right foot, and one fioretto with that foot, and two botte forwards and backwards, and one sottopiede with the left, and one botta forwards with the right foot, and one step and the cadenza with the left. This mutanza has 20 motions and takes four tempi of the galliard. Then they all stop, each in their own place, turned face to face.
FIFTH PART
Together they do two Spezzati and one Seguito, and she who leads turns herself to the left, and the gentlemen go forwards joining themselves all three equally (or evenly). Then they do another two Spezzati and the Seguito returning to the head of the room, and all three in a line turn around to the left. They will do two Riprese, one to that hand, and the other to the right; and two Seguiti turning around to the left. She who leads will turn to the right and take the hand of the gentleman and they will do four Seguiti scurrying in a braid, always taking hands, each returning to their own place, as they were when the dance started. Then they will do the Riverenza together finishing the dance with beauty and grace, and standing again with the lady in the middle.
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