Arbeau's Galliard Sequences, Part 1: Basic Cinq Pas Rhythm

This is the first in a series of five posts covering the different galliard sequences given in the 1589 work  Orchésographie (available in English translation as Orchesography).  The pseudonymous Thoinot Arbeau's book gives seventeen different galliard sequences, with some of them having subvariations as well.  I've broken them down into rhythm groups for the sake of simplicity and post-length, so this post includes only six sequences, with the others to follow later.

Galliard rhythm
The basic cinq pas (five step) rhythm takes six beats of music, but it is not simply six even counts.  The cinq pas consists of four motions on the first four beats followed by a leap into the air just after the fifth beat and a landing on the sixth beat.  Arbeau calls this combination of jump-and-land a cadence (Fr. cadance).  He suggests staggering the landing slightly so that the back foot lands first, rather than thumping down squarely on both feet at once.  The music supports this; the rhythm tends to be "DAH dah dah DAAAH...di-dah" and could be counted "ONE-two-three-FOOOUR (jump) and SIX."  It's hard to tabulate the precise timing of the jump; in the variations below it will simply be given on the fifth count.

Arbeau gives six sequences (one with two variations) for this basic rhythm.  He does not lean towards colorful names, unfortunately; they are labeled things like "another cinq pas."  Each is led once with the left foot and once with the right foot for a total of two bars of 6/4 time (or four bars of 3/4 time, depending on how your galliard is barred). 

Starting foot
Arbeau's book is inconsistent about which foot to lead with first, but it doesn't actually matter much, since the second half is simply the reverse of the first half.  For simplicity's sake, each has been reordered if necessary to end in the same position: right foot forward and left back.  This enables them to be fitted together sequentially by following a beginner-friendly policy of always leading off with the foot which is behind; in this case, the left foot.

If you're starting your dance with your left foot in front, you can slide it back slightly before beginning the first cinq pas, or simply do the second halves first and lead off with the right foot.

Step terminology (French original)
Kick (grève or pied en l'air): hop on one foot and kick the given foot forward (kick left = hop on right and kick left forward).  According to the text, the grève is a higher kick than the pied en l'air (illustration, which does not distinguish the two).  All of the kicks in the sequences below are the higher grèves.

Back (ruade): hop on one foot and kick backward (illustration).

Cross (pied croisé): hop on one foot and kick the given foot gently across the other leg (illustration).

Cut (entretaille): a switch of foot; use the free foot to displace the other into a kick

Jump (sault): jump into the air (land in either a posture or with feet together)

Posture (posture): land with weight on both feet, one forward of the other.  A posture left means the left foot is in front (illustration).  Occasionally this is done without a jump, simply setting the free foot down (see variation #3 below).

Feet together (pieds joincts): land with weight on both feet, with the feet even, very slightly turned out (illustration).

Jump + posture/feet together = a cadence (cadance)

Basic cinq pas sequences
(to be read vertically, left column then right column)

1. Arbeau's basic cinq pas.  This is a simple series of kicks.  It is much easier to travel forward than backward with this step; when moving forward, be careful that it does not turn into a series of bouncy running steps.
1    kick L                                kick R
2    kick R                                kick L
3    kick L                                kick R
4    kick R                                kick L   
5    jump                                  jump
6    posture L                           posture R

2. A cinq pas featuring the pied croisé (cross) step.  Hop on each cross, pulling the leg slightly back and crossing the foot again on the second of each pair of crosses for a "shaking" effect.
1    cross L                               cross R
2    cross L                               cross R
3    cross R                               cross L
4    cross R                               cross L
5    jump                                   jump
6    posture L                            posture R

3. A cinq pas which matches the basic galliard step given by contemporary Italian dancing masters. 
1    kick L                                kick R
2    posture L (no jump)            posture R (no jump)
3    cut R to kick L                   cut L to kick R
4    kick R                                kick L
5    jump                                  jump
6    posture L                           posture R

I think of this one as "kick-step-cut-kick...and jump."  After the first kick, the dancer simply puts that foot down in front without any sort of jump.  This step is significantly easier to travel forward with.

4a. Yet another cinq pas; this one has two variant forms.
1    back L                               back R
2    cross R                              cross L
3    back L                               back R
4    cut L into kick R                cut R to kick L
5    jump                                  jump
6    posture L                           posture R

4b. A minor variation on the previous
1    back L                               back R
2    kick R                                kick L
3    back L                               back R
4    cut L into kick R                cut R to kick L
5    jump                                  jump
6    posture L                           posture R

The only difference between the 4a and 4b comes on the second beat.  The first's mnemonic is "back-cross-back-cut...and jump" while the second is effectively "back-cut-back-cut...and jump."  Technically there is a difference between going from a ruade to a kick with an entretaille or without one (whether one sets one foot down in its normal position or moves it slightly to the side (thus moving the dancers slightly to the side) to take the place of the other foot), but in practice this distinction tends to disappear.

5. Yet another cinq pas, this one interesting because it starts by jumping into a feet-together position. 
1    feet together                       feet together
2    kick L                                 kick R
3    back L                                back R
4    cut L to kick R                   cut R to kick L
5    jump                                   jump
6    posture L                            posture R

Think "together-forward-back-cut...and jump."  Yes, there is a jump from a posture (weight on both feet, one foot in front) into a pied joinct (weight on both feet, feet even) in the transition between the two halves.

6. And a final cinq pas, this one with an interesting turning of the body back and forth.
1    posture R                            posture L
2    kick R                                kick L
3    turn body R and kick L       turn body L and kick R
4    kick R                                kick L
5    jump                                  jump
6    posture L                           posture R

Two notes for this one:

(1) After the turn on the third beat, one must then turn back either on the fourth beat or possibly on the final jump and posture.

(2) It begins with leaping into a posture, which is generally the same posture you were already in; this could be a jump into the same position, or (for a different effect), a simple hold in place on the first count.  Alternatively, one could reverse the two halves and jump from one posture to the other.  That leaves one in a posture left at the end, however, which creates the same problem when making the transition to another step and leading with the left foot.

Next in the series: eleven-steps and other extended galliard sequences!

(Series continues here.)