Mutanza scempio 3

Style in the Zoppetti

Zoppetti can be done with the foot raised to the front, back, or side. I've assumed it's raised in front, as nothing else is specified: however, other options (or a variety in one tempo) are also pleasing.

I tend to leave the foot hanging in front, with relatively little motion through the four hops; it can also be pleasing to kick out with each zoppetto.

This step might be a good subject for ornamentation with, say, a tremolante (shaking the foot). 

I considered whether all four Zoppetti should be on the one side, or whether they should alternate feet within the one tempo. The latter case (hop on the right foot kicking the left, then on the left kicking the right, etc) seems to me indistinguishable from the plain cinquepasso, which Compasso refers to elsewhere (number 6 is li cinque passo caminati intorno la sala  - the cinquepasso going around the room).

Alternating feet

This mutanze, like many from Compasso, doesn't seem to allow for the usual 'rule' that the foot that is in front on the fourth beat lands behind in the cadenza, and then goes to the front for the first movement of the next mutanze.

The underlying rule, however, is symmetry: what's done on the left should be repeated on the right. That's not hard to manage with Compasso, but it sometimes requires a little re-training of the feet, if one's practiced much with variations from Arbeau.