How to dance the Saltarello with Princess Guinevere and King Arthur from the Sword in the Stone, a historically 
accurate Princess dance
Don’t you love come from behind stories? The Sword in the stone is one of those Cinder-fella stories where Arthur is the unexpected king. The Disney cartoon had lots of dancing dishes and delightful squirrels. With all the Arthur legends and movies, I began to wonder what dances Princess Guinevere and King Arthur may have done in the medieval court.
The middle ages were full of Knights (that is why it was called the dark ages) but short on records. The majority of our historical information from this time were kept through oral traditions. Many songs and dances recorded at the end of the middle ages into the Renaissance period had been kept by oral tradition until preserved in print. Such is the case with most medieval music and dance.
I did some digging, and came across a popular court dance the Saltarello, a leaping and jumping dance. In Italian Saltare means to dance 
energetically. The Saltarello originated in Italy, then moved to France, Spain, Germany, and Europe. The first sheet music for the Saltarello was penned in 1365, but I suspect it had an oral tradition pre-dating this, as with most medieval dances. The Saltarello was later absorbed into the Galliard in the Renaissance period. It is danced by gentlemen and ladies together or individually.
Saltarello
- Begin ladies on gentleman’s right side, curtsey and bow
- Commence inside foot step forward, hop kick opposite foot forward.
( man’s right foot, Ladies left foot), repeat with the outside foot forward, - Skip forward chasse with inside foot (forward close) Inside foot step kick, outside foot step kick across to outside, inside foot step kick across to inside. Back skip chasse (back close commence outside foot) outside foot step kick forward.
- Lady pause, man step hop 2x one full revolution to right,
- Man pause, Lady step hop 2x one full revolution to Left,
- Skip forward chasse with inside foot (forward close) Inside foot step kick, outside foot step kick across to outside, inside foot step kick across to inside. Back skip chasse (back close commence outside foot) outside foot
step kick forward. - Man pause, Lady step hop 2x one full revolution to Left,
- Lady pause, man step hop 2x one full revolution to right,
- Skip forward chasse with inside foot (forward close) Inside foot step kick, outside foot step kick across to outside, inside foot step kick across to inside. Back skip chasse (back close commence outside foot) outside foot step kick forward.
- Lady pause, man step hop 4x crossing in front of lady and passing behind to end side by side
- Skip forward chasse with inside foot (forward close) Inside foot step kick, outside foot step kick across to outside, inside foot step kick
across to inside. Back skip chasse (back close commence outside foot) outside foot step kick forward. - Man pause Lady step hop 4x crossing in front of lady and passing behind to end side by side
- Skip forward chasse with inside foot (forward close) Inside foot step kick, outside foot step kick across to outside, inside foot step kick across to inside. Back skip chasse (back close commence outside foot) outside foot step kick forward.
- Hold two hands turn counter clockwise around each other for 6 step hops
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