Branle de Charlotte

• Era: mid-1500s

"Nous dancions lors entre aultres branles couppez, le branle de la Guerre, le branle d'Aridan, le branle de Charlotte, & une infinité d'aultres."
          -- Arbeau to Capriol in a dialogue from Orchésographie

The branle de Charlotte, or branle couppé Charlotte is one of the three "other" branles couppez described by Thoinot Arbeau (pseudonym of Jehan Taburot) in his 1589 dance manual, Orchésographie (available in English translation as Orchesography) after the suite of branles de Champagne couppez previously discussed.  Branles couppez are characterized by a mix of steps, kicks, and jumps derived from the opening set of branles, with the occasional insertion of "mesures diverses" which do not follow the regular rhythms of the opening set.

While the branles Guerre, Aridan, and Charlotte are often added to the Champagne suite in the order in which they appear in Orchésographie (Charlotte-Guerre-Aridan), Arbeau does not actually describe them as part of that suite, merely as some of the "infinity of others" in the subtype of branles couppez.

Performance
Formation: a line or circle of people holding hands.  Couples (men to the left of their partners) were the standard, though there are no gender-specific moves in Charlotte.  New couples joining in should attach themselves to the trailing lady rather than usurping the place of the leading gentleman.  All steps are taken sideways, rather than forward and back.  Steps should be small (about shoulder-width); hops and kicks should be restrained and fairly gentle.  Arbeau notes that branle Charlotte may (optionally) be danced with "petits saults" (small jumps), in the style of hault-barrois, which is explained here.

Steps to the left are made slightly larger than steps to the right when dancing a branle, so the line or circle of dancers moves slowly to the left.

Translation of terms from French into English
Double: double (sideways step-together-step-close)
Simple: single (sideways step-close)
Pied en l'air: kick

When performing a kick, the dancer should hop on one foot and kick the given foot gently forward.  So for a "kick left," one hops on the right foot and kicks the left foot forward.

(left, illustration of "pied en l'air gauche," or "kick left")

Dance Sequence
Double-L, Kick-L-R, Double-R (repeat)
Double-L, Kick-L-R, Single-R, Kick-L-R-L, Single-L, Kick-R-L-R, Double-R

Counts/Steps
1-4     Step left, close right, step left, close right  (double left)
5-6     Kick left, kick right
1-4     Step right, close left, step right, close left (double right) 
(Repeat all of the above)
1-4     Step left, close right, step left, close right  (double left)
5-6     Kick left, kick right
1-2     Step right, close left.  (single right)
3-5     Kick left, kick right, kick left
1-2     Step left, close right.  (single left)
3-5     Kick right, kick left, kick right
1-4     Step right, close left, step right, close left (double right)

Like Cassandre and Pinagay, Charlotte has two distinct parts which are repeated separately and the irregular-length "mesures diverses" that characterize the branles couppez, with the step perfectly matched to the tune.  The three-kick sequence is done in an even rhythm rather than the "quick-quick-slow" rhythm of a decoupement.  The only trick to dancing Charlotte is that the single steps in the second part must be closed without weight, since the following step in each case is a kick of that closing foot.

I've included a brief snippet of the tune for reference; click to play:

Recordings for Dancing
There is quite a selection of recordings for Charlotte.  The New York Renaissance Band's Thoinot Arbeau: The Music of Arbeau's Orchesographie is the source of the snippet above.  It is now out of print, but individual MP3 files from the album may be purchased. The Broadside Band's Danses Populaires Francaises includes Charlotte in a suite with Cassandre and Pinagay in a single track, though with inconveniently-timed pauses between them.  Wolgemut's delightful Tempus Saltandi and Jouissance's Courtly Dances of Western Europe also include very danceable versions of Charlotte.