Katherina Weyssin's blog

On Thursday the 26th of May was held a small formal ball in honour of the birthdays of Master William de Cameron and Mistress Katherina Weyssin. The dancers were the aforementioned Mistress Katherina and Master William, and Lady Caterine de Vantier, Lord Ludwig von Regensburg, Lady Anna de Wilde, and Lady Eleanor Hall.*

Lord Ludwig was our herald for the evening, and Mistress Katherina was maestra da ballo.

All the dancers were beautifully attired, in silks and velvets,** with jewels of inestimable worth,*** as befit their station and the joyful occasion.

Open Dance (Anna teaching)

• Lorrayne Almain
• Earl of Essex Measure
• Amoroso
• Branles: Double, Simple, Gai, Burgundian

Advanced Dance (Katherina teaching)

• Bassa Colonna (new)
• Pavaniglia (revised 4th and 5th mutanze)
• Alba Novella (new, just Katherina and William)

A quiet and slightly truncated dance practice this week. No begginers, so we went over Il Conto del Orco and (?) Chiara Stella. Much discussion of whether the trangi in Il Conto are better done forwards or backwards - we settled on forwards.

That done, we quickly revised all the mutanze from Pavaniglia (no surprise that the 4th and 5th consistently give us the most trouble), then danced it a few times all the way through. It's still pretty good, given that we've not danced it since Faire in February.

Mistress Katherina Weyssin made this:

for her Pelican ceremony, at the Royal Visit on the 30th of April, 2011.

We only had time for a little dancing at the Royal Visit (30th April, 2011), but we made the most of what we had.

After the Royal Court in the afternoon, while our new Baron and Baroness accustomed themselves to their role and regalia, and before the feast, we took the opportunity to use the space in the feasting hall for the purpose for which it was surely created!

First, Mistress Katherina Weyssin and Master William de Cameron danced Pungente Dardo, a delightful balletto recorded by Maestro Caroso in Il Ballarino (published in Venice in 1580).

A somewhat constrained session, because Katherina forgot a piece of equipment, so we had only the music William had on him.

As only the advanced dance group was present, we didn't distinguish the sessions especially.

We warmed up with Amoroso, and lacking any newer dances, La Figlia de Guglielmino. Then worked through mk.II of Anna's class on Cesarina, as practice for Festival.

We practiced galliards a little more, to the Volta music on Celeste Giglio - fun, pretty, but not the easiest.

Open dance, taught by Anna:

We started with Amoroso, then the Branles of Champagne - Cassandra, Pinagay, Charlotte, La Guerre, Aridan.

Then Anna worked the class through the first few verses of Cesarina, giving the instructions in the original Italian. We came up with some interesting and varied floor-patterns.

Advanced Dance, taught by Katherina:

More work on basic galliard technique. Then Trihory and some Almains, for a simple finish.

Present - Katherina, Eleanor, Caterine, William

OPEN DANCE:

• Amoroso
• Branles of Champagne: Cassandra, Pinagay, Charlotte, La Guerre, Aridan
• New Almain
• Trihory

ADVANCED DANCE : Galliards

An extended session working on basic galliard technique, until we were tired and sweaty. We looked  at the basic cinquepasso, both Arbeau's version and Caroso's versions, and kept at it. Talked about small changes in weight and balance, etc, to improve landings.

Just a small group of us tonight, and no-one was feeling very athletic, so Caterine and William worked their way through the CF ball list while Anna and Katherina talked (and sniffled - it's the season for colds).

Fencing is picking up steam for the year, with Ludwig and Eleanor taking over more of the teaching, Caterine returning to practices, and a couple of very talented new fencers on the scene.

Unfortunately, Eleanor is too busy sorting event photos, and Ludwig is too entranced with his new fencing-manual, by Manciolino (16th C Italian, Bolognese school) to have time to update the website regularly.