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Pavana Matthei
PAVANA:
This is a slow, stately pavane. You begin with the man standing to the left of the woman, and holding her left hand in his right (ordinary hands). You will honour your partner with the usual opening sequence (riverenza and continenze), walk slowly about the room with a passeggio (walking passage), which is performed three times, then finish pavane with another pair of continenze.
Notation:
In the notes for the pavane the numbers refer to bars of music (i.e. "1-8 Riverenza" means that the riverenza takes one complete 8-bar strain).
The music comes in eight-bar strains, and it is played so that there are nine eight-bar strains in total.
- ordinary hands, side by side, turned a little toward your partner - (2 strains)
1-8 Riverenza
1-8 2 continenze
- passeggio - (2 strains)
1-8 2 puntate LR
1-2 1 seguito L (note the short seguito: much faster than the puntate)
3-6 2 passi gravi backwards RL
7-8 2 riprese RR
- same passeggio another two times (6 strains total) -
1-8 2 continenze (one strain)
At the end of the Pavane keep holding your partner's hand ready to dance the sciolta, or make your riverenza and leave the floor if you prefer not to galliard. There is no need for a riverenza if you plan to continue dancing.
SCIOLTA / GAGLIARDA
The sciolta, or galliard, should begin immediately after the pavane. There may be a brief pause for musicians to find new music and define the new tempo, but not more than a few seconds, so dancers wil still be holding ordinary hands, and facing forwards.
Details of the mutanze and passeggio are given at the end of the reconstruction.
Notation:
In the notes for the sciolta the numbers refer to bars of music, where each bar takes one tempo of the cinquepasso, or as long as one normal galliard sequence (kick kick kick kick jump land) (i.e. "1-2 Riverenza" means that the riverenza takes two bars of galliard music, as arranged in this article, or twice as long as a normal galliard sequence).
The music is eight bars long, and it is played eight times.
A. Opening:(holding ordinary hands, facing forwards) (strains 1-2)
Begin with honours, walk round the room, then face each other and dance in a wheel, before separating. End facing each other along the room, a few metres apart, ready to exchange mutanze. Try not to move forward much on the final two seguiti ordinarii, performed facing each other, and flankingly, as you will need space to advance in your mutanze.
1-2 Riverenza
3-4 2 Continenze
5-8 8 Seguiti spezzati, passegiando
1-4 (2 riprese LL, 2 trabuchetti LR) x4 - in ruota, without dropping hands
5-6 2 seguiti ordinarii, releasing hands, turning left and separating
7-8 2 seguiti ordinarii, flankingly, facing each other a few metres apart
B. Man performs his First Mutanza, while the Woman does the Passeggio (strain 3 - first half)
C. Woman performs her First Mutanza, while the Man does the Passeggio (strain 3 - second half)
D. Change ends (strain 4)
Having each danced one passeggio and one mutanza, you should each have advanced somewhat, so that you are now close enough to take hands to circle each other and change ends. It doesn't matter exactly how far around the circle you get in the spezzati, as you can adjust how you turn in the following seguiti so that you end up where you need to be: facing again, a few metres apart, as you were for the first set of mutanze, but having swapped ends.
1-4 8 spezzati, circling, changing places (holding right hands)
5-6 2 seguiti ordinarii turning L, dropping hands and moving into each other's places
7-8 2 seguiti ordinarii facing, flankingly LR
E. Man performs his second mutanza, while the Woman does the passeggio (strain 5 - first half)
F. Woman performs her second Mutanza, while the Man does the Passeggio (strain 5 - second half)
G. Change ends (strain 6)
Repeat the procedure for changing ends, as after the first pair of mutanze. This time the pattern will be a little different: you will take left hands, and circle to the left (the opposite of above), but you will then turn to the left with the two seguiti (the same as above). Thus means you will continue to turn in a gentle curve in the same direction, rather than "countercurling". You should end up facing each other, near where you were when you started the first pair of mutanze, but not quite so far apart. This is convenient because you won't travel very far with the final pair of mutanze, yet you still need to be close enough to take hands at the end of them.
1-4 8 spezzati, circling, and changing places (holding left hands)
5-6 2 seguiti ordinarii turning L, dropping hands and moving into original places
7-8 2 seguiti ordinarii facing, flankingly LR
H. Third Mutanza, together: Man dances his third Mutanza while Woman dances hers (strain 7 - first half)
I. Finale (strain 7 - second half; strain 8)
You should now be facing your partner, close enough to touch. Take ordinary hands, but keep facing each other. Dance in ruota, as before, then 'open out' to face forwards, and dance together along around the hall again for the final section. Adjust the length of the pair of seguiti ordinarii done in ruota so that you end up facing in the desired direction (probably the same way you were facing at the beginning of the dance).
- take ordinary hands -
5-6 (2 riprese LL, 2 trabuchetti LR) x4 in ruota (don't release hands at end)
1-2 2 seguiti ordinarii (also in ruota, opening out to face forwards at the end)
3-4 2 seguiti ordinarii, passegiando (walking around the room)
5-6 2 seguiti scorsi, passegiando
7-8 riverenza to end (facing mostly forwards, but with your attention on your partner)
The extra bits of the sciolta - mutanze and passeggio:
Passeggio (performed while your partner is doing a mutanza):
1-4 4 seguiti ordinarii, flankingly, LRLR
You will need to make these very sharply zig-zagging: if you advance much at all toward your partner there will not be room for you both to dance your mutanze. Your attention should be on your partner while you dance the passeggio: he or she is dancing a difficult mutanza entirely for your benefit.
Mutanze:
In this dance each mutanze takes the same amount of time - four tempi of the cinquepasso, or the time of four normal galliard-sequences - so you can interchange them at will, without upsetting the rest of the choreography. The woman's mutanze are two tempi long and repeated on the left and right; the man's mutanze are four tempi long, and not repeated.
Notation:
In the notes for the mutanze the "1T" refers to one tempo of the cinquepasso (the time it takes to do one normal galliard sequence, or one bar of the music, as I have arranged it in this article). The numbers refer to the individual beats in each bar (there are six). Thus "1T: 1-3 spezzato L, 4-6 spezzato R" means that in the first tempo, or first bar of the galliard, you do two spezzati, one taking the first three beats, and the other taking the second three beats.
A "normal" galliard sequence notated like this would be:
1T: 1 kick left
2 kick right
3 kick left
4 kick right
5 jump
6 land on both feet, right foot behind
Woman's First Mutanza
1T: 1-3 seguito spezzato L flankingly forwards
4-6 seguito spezzato R flankingly forwards
2T: 1 passo L
3 passo R
4 or 5 cadenza (left in front)
3-4T: repeat 1-2T on the other side
Woman's Second Mutanza
5T:1-4 2 riprese LL
5-6 2 trabuchetti LR
6T: 1 passo L
3 passo R
4 or 5 cadenza (left in front)
7-8T: repeat 1-2T on the other side
Woman's Third Mutanza
1T: 1-4 4 Trabuchetti, LRLR
5-6 pause
2T: 1-3 seguito spezzato L, to left flank
4-6 meza riverenza R
3-4T: repeat 1-2T on the other side
Man's First Mutanza
1T: 1-2 2 passi in gagliarda (step onto L kicking R; step R kicking L)
3 cadenza (L foot behind)
4-5 2 passi in gagliarda (step R first)
6 cadenza (R behind)
2T: as 1T - 2 passi, cadenza; 2 passi, cadenza, end R foot behind
3T: 1-2 campanella, swinging L backwards then forwards
3-6 2 fioretti, LR (end with L in air)
4T: 1-4 2 ricacciate, LR (end with L in air)
5-6 cadenza, ending with L behind
Man's second mutanza
1T: 1-2 2 passi in gagliarda (step left, kick right foot up first)
3 cadenza (left behind)
4-5 sottopiede left (draw right back, kick left forwards)
6 1st beat of campanella - draw left back in manner of mexa riv.
2T: 1-2 2 more beats of campanella - left forward, then back again
3 trabuchetto L
4-5 sottopiede to right (step right, kick it out with left)
6 cadenza (left in front)
3T: 1-2 2 beats of campanella, backwards and forwards, L
3-4 fioretto (R up)
5-6 fioretto (L up)
4T: 1-2 2 riccacciate LR (double speed)
3-4 2 fioretti a pie pari LR (fast)
5-6 cadenza, ending with left behind
Man's third mutanza
1T: 1 2 beats of campanella,
2-5 2 fioretti,
6 cadenza
2T: 2 beats of campanella, 2 fioretti, cadenza, as in T1, on right
3T: 1-2 2 beats of campanella, backwards and forwards, L
3-4 fioretto (R up)
5-6 fioretto (L up)
4T: 1-2 2 riccacciate LR (double speed)
3-4 2 fioretti a pie pari LR (fast)
5-6 cadenza, ending with left behind
Reconstructed 05/2010
Reconstruction notes
Pavana
Timing during the passeggio:
The passeggio, as written, using the usual length for these steps, does not fit neatly into an eight-bar strain. The most plausible solutions I found were that given, where the seguito ordinario is twice as fast as usual with respect to the puntate, or a slower seguito with faster steps backwards.
That is:
1-8 2 puntate LR
1-2 1 seguito L
3-6 2 passi gravi backwards RL
7-8 2 riprese RR
Or:
1-8 2 puntate LR
1-4 1 seguito L
5-6 2 passi gravi backwards RL
7-8 2 riprese RR
I chose the first because I find it more aesthetically pleasing, more comfortable to perform, and because I think it better justifies the description of the backwards steps as being "slow" ('passi gravi indietro').
I considered various interpretations of the passeggii that were not exactly eight bars long, but none made for a plausible, satisfying dance.
Continenze:
Il medesimo Passeggio faranno altre due volte, con due Continenze nel fine di essi.
One could interpret this to mean that the continenze should be performed at the end of every passeggio . . .
Structure of music
CC at end, or after each passeggio?
Total of 9 strains (x8 bars) - Music is written as A:B:, but strains A=aab and B=a so try (aaba aaba a) or ABABB
Sciolta
Timing of RRTT sections
Turn left vs countercurl after second mutanze
Shape of finale - more seguiti in wheel after RRTT section?
Timing of passi & cadenza in woman's mutanze
Timing in man's mutanze
Finale of man's mutanze - missing fioretti a piedi pari in first?
Campanella always with bend, or only when a modo di meza riverenza, or never?
Teaching Notes
There are several ways in which you might use this dance:
- Learn and teach it, in its entirety, as a fixed choreography.
- Use one section or the other as a stand-alone choreography. The pavana is quite easy - an attainable 16th-century Italian dance for beginners - but the sciolta is rather trickier, and probably best kept for somewhat experienced dancers (and those with good knees).
- Use the passeggio from the pavana to give your own improvised pavanes an Italian flavour.
- Use the mutanze from the sciolta in your own improvised galliards.
I find that the Pavane is quite easy - suitable for beginners. The woman's mutanze are easy galliard variations - good for an introductory galliard class. The sciolta, performed using only the woman's mutanze, is moderately difficult - suitable for intermediate dancers, with some experience of 16th-century Italian steps. The men's mutanze are rather difficult - suitable for energetic, experienced dancers.
When teaching the sciolta, even to experienced dancers, it's a good idea to teach the mutanze separately, and to start everyone on the woman's mutanze.
Here is my class outline for teaching the sciolta:
(steps 1-3 are quite easy; 4-5 are moderately difficult; 6 is quite hard)
1. Everyone learns and practices the three mutanza for the woman, one mutanza at a time, to whatever galliard music is convenient. Take some time here so that the mutanze come easily.
2. Everyone learns the passeggio (the four seguiti, zig-zagging to the left and right).
3. Combine 1 and 2, and practice alternating mutanze and passeggio:
- passeggio
- first mutanza for a woman
- passeggio
- second mutanza for a woman
- passeggio
- third mutanza for a woman
- passeggio
4. Have people pair up, and dance opposite one another, taking turns at dancing passeggio and mutanze. This is good practice in dancing one thing (in one rhythm) while watching your partner dance something quite different (in another rhythm). I find it useful to have everyone dance the passeggio together at the beginning and end (see table below).
|
DANCER A |
DANCER B |
|---|---|
|
passeggio |
|
|
passeggio |
first mutanza |
|
first mutanza |
passeggio |
|
passeggio |
second mutanza |
|
second mutanza |
passeggio |
|
passeggio |
third mutanza |
|
third mutanza |
passeggio |
|
passeggio |
|
5. Teach the whole sciolta, including the shared sections, but not yet including the mutanza for the man (though by now you will probably have mentioned that they exist).
Have couples dance the entire sciolta, alternating mutanze as in the choreography, but with both partners using the steps specified for the woman (i.e. the man will do the "woman's first mutanza" while the woman does the passeggio, then the woman will do the "woman's first mutanza", while the man does the passeggio, and so on).
6. If you have sufficiently experienced dancers, offer to teach them the man's mutanze once they are comfortable with the choreography. Teach and practice them separately, one mutanza at a time, then substitute each into the choreography only when dancers are quite comfortable with it.
It may take several sessions to learn these mutanze thoroughly enough to perform them accurately and without hesitation.
Once the entire choreography is quite familiar, and all of the mutanze are thoroughly learned, it's time to try dancing the whole thing, exactly as Caroso wrote it.
Pavana:
The choreography needs nine eight-bar strains in total. For the arrangement included here, that means playing the main section (4 strains long) twice, and then playing the coda (1 strain long) once (i.e. play AAB).
As there are only two distinct phrases used (with minor variations), you could choose to treat this as "aaba aaba a" with "aaba" being the main tune, and "a" alone the coda.
Play the arrangement here at about 160 minims a minute.
Sciolta:
The sciolta is the same basic tune as the pavana, converted to compound duble (as usual). In this case it's significantly longer than the pavana.
Play the entire arrangement, as written, 8 times.
The sciolta is a galliard, so the music needs to be lively but not too fast (or there will be no time to dance complicated steps). Perform this arrangement at about 160 crotchets a minute.
Translated 2007, revised 2010.
translated by Katherine Davies 2007, updated 2010
Pavane of the Matthei,
A Balletto by M. [Messer, or perhaps Maestro] Battistino,
in honour of the most Illustrious Lady,
Signora Giulia Bandina Matthei,
a Roman Gentlewoman.
The man will take the woman by the customary hand, and together they will do the Riverenza facing a little, with two Continenze. Then, progressing, they will do two Puntate forwards, and a Seguito ordinario, beginning each thing with the left foot. Then they will do two Passi gravi backwards, beginning with the right, with two Riprese to the right. They will do the same passage another two times, with two Continenze at the end of this.
The sciolta:
They will do a Riverenza grave, with two Continenze. Then, progressing through the room, they will do eight Seguiti Spezzati, and without releasing hands, they will do two Riprese and two Trabuchetti in a wheel. And they will do these same Riprese and Trabuchetti four times, always to the left, and beginning with the left foot. Then, releasing hands, they will turn around with two Seguiti ordinarii, separating themselves, one going to one end of the room and the other to the other end. Then, facing, they will do two Seguiti flankingly.
Man's first Mutanza and the Lady's Passeggio:
The man will do two Passi in Gagliarda, and the Cadenza, and this he will do four times, beginning with the left foot. Then, with the same foot, he will do two beats of the Campanella, one backwards, and the other forwards. Then he will do two Fioretti forwards, and two Ricacciate, and a Cadenza with the left foot behind.
At the same time the lady, promenading, will do four Seguiti flankingly.
Lady's first Mutanza, and the Man's Passeggio:
The lady will do two Seguiti spezzati flankingly forwards, with two Passi presti and a Cadenza, beginning with the left. She will do the same beginning with the right.
At the same time the man, promenading, will do the that same four Seguiti flankingly that the lady did above. Then, taking right hands, they will together do eight Seguiti spezzati, exchanging places. After that, releasing hands, they will do four Seguiti ordinarii, two turning to the left, and two flankingly, facing.
Man's second Mutanza, and the Lady's Passeggio:
He will do two Passi in Gagliarda, with the Cadenza, as above; one Sottopiede to the left, and three beats of the Campanella in the manner of two quick Riverenze, beginning each thing with the left foot. Then, with the same foot, he will do a Trabuchetto, and a Sottopiede to the right, with a Cadenza. Then he will return to do two beats of the Campanella, one backwards, and the other forwards, with the left foot, with two Fioretti forwards, and two Ricacciate, and two Fioretti á pié pari, with a Cadenza, as above. At the same time the lady, promenading, will do the four Seguiti ordinarii described above.
Lady's second Mutanza, and the Man's Passeggio:
The lady alone will do two Riprese to the left, and two Trabuchetti, two Passi presti forwards, and the Cadenza, beginning with the left foot. She will do the same to the right, beginning with the right. At the same time the man, promenading, will do the four Seguiti ordinarii flankingly.
Then, together, they will take left hands, and return to do the same things that they did above when they took right hands, each one returning to his own place. Then, releasing hands, they will do four Seguiti ordinarii, two turning to the left, and two flankingly, facing.
Third Mutanza, done together.
The man will do two beats of the Campanella, one backwards, and the other forwards, with two Fioretti, and the Cadenza, beginning with the left, and going to the left flank. He will do the same to the right, beginning with the right. Then, facing [the lady], he will do another two beats of the Campanella, with two Fioretti forwards, two Ricacciate, and two Fioretti á piedi pari with even feet, with the Cadenza. At the same time the lady will do four Trabuchetti, a Seguito spezzato to the left flank, and a Riverenza minima with the right. She will do the same with the right foot to the right flank, and the Riverenza minima with the left.
They will then return to take customary hands, and will do anew the two Riprese and two Trabuchetti in a wheel, four times, as was described at the beginning of the Sciolta. Then they will do two Seguiti ordinarii, and another two progressing. Lastly, they will finish the dance by doing two Seguiti scorsi, and the Riverenza.
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