A ''dansa'' (), also spelt ''dança'', was an
Old Occitan
Old Occitan ( oc, occitan ancian, label=Occitan language, Modern Occitan, ca, occità antic), also called Old Provençal, was the earliest form of the Occitano-Romance languages, as attested in writings dating from the eighth through the fourteen ...
form of
lyric poetry developed in the late thirteenth century among the
troubadours. It is related to the English term "
dance
Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...
" and was often accompanied by dancing. A closely related form, the ''balada'' or ''balaresc'', had a more complex structure, and is related to the
ballade but unrelated to the
ballad. Both terms derive from Occitan words for "to dance": ''dansar'' and ''balar/ballar''.
A ''dansa'' begins with a ''respos'' of one or two lines, whose
rhyme scheme matches that of the first line or two of each subsequent stanza. The actual ''respos'' may have been repeated between stanzas, of which there were usually three, as a
refrain
A refrain (from Vulgar Latin ''refringere'', "to repeat", and later from Old French ''refraindre'') is the line or lines that are repeated in music or in poetry — the "chorus" of a song. Poetic fixed forms that feature refrains include the vi ...
. The few surviving melodies of ''dansas'' seem like incipient
virelai
A ''virelai'' is a form of medieval French verse used often in poetry and music. It is one of the three ''formes fixes'' (the others were the ballade and the rondeau) and was one of the most common verse forms set to music in Europe from the lat ...
s. The verses of the ''dansa'' were sung by a
soloist while the refrain was sung by a
choir. A ''dansa'' lacking a
vuelta is called a ''danseta''.
In a ''balada'' each stanza is divided into three parts. The first part and second part are identical, each ending with the same rhyme as the first line of the poem. The third part of the stanza is identical to the refrain (''refranh'') in form. The refrain, which begins the song, is repeated after each stanza. In a ''balada'' the lines of the choir and the soloist could mix.
A ''desdansa'' (or ''desdança'') was the opposite of a ''dansa'', not in form but in content. Whereas a ''dansa'' had joyful lyrics and lively music, a ''desdansa'' was sad and lamenting, much like a ''
planh'' designed for dance. The ''desdansa'' is defined, and exemplified, in the
Cançoneret de Ripoll.
List of ''dansas'' and ''baladas''
Notes
References
*Aubrey, Elizabeth (1996). ''The Music of the Troubadours''. Indianapolis: Indiana University Press.
.
*
Riquer, Martí de (1964). ''Història de la Literatura Catalana'', vol. 1. Barcelona: Edicions Ariel.
{{Western medieval lyric forms
Western medieval lyric forms
Occitan literary genres