A ''dansa'' (), also spelt ''dança'', was an

Old Occitan Old Occitan ( oc, occitan ancian, label= 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 fourteenth centuries. Ol ...

form of

lyric poetry Modern lyric poetry is a formal type of poetry which expresses personal emotions or feelings, typically spoken in the first person. It is not equivalent to song lyrics, though song lyrics are often in the lyric mode, and it is also ''not'' equi ...

developed in the late thirteenth century among the

troubadour A troubadour (, ; oc, trobador ) was a composer and performer of Old Occitan lyric poetry during the High Middle Ages (1100–1350). Since the word ''troubadour'' is etymologically masculine, a female troubadour is usually called a '' trobair ...

s. 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 repertoire ...

" 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 Ballad is a form of narrative poetry, often put to music, or a type of sentimental love song in modern popular music. Ballad or Ballade may also refer to: Music Genres and forms * Ballade (classical music), a musical setting of a literary ballad ...

but unrelated to the

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or '' ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...

. 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 A rhyme scheme is the pattern of rhymes at the end of each line of a poem or song. It is usually referred to by using letters to indicate which lines rhyme; lines designated with the same letter all rhyme with each other. An example of the ABAB r ...

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 v ...

. 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 th ...

s. The verses of the ''dansa'' were sung by a soloist while the refrain was sung by a

choir A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which sp ...

. 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 A genre of the troubadours, the or (; "lament") is a funeral lament for "a great personage, a protector, a friend or relative, or a lady."Elisabeth Schulze-Busacker, "Topoi", in F. R. P. Akehurst and Judith M. Davis, eds., ''A Handbook of the T ...

'' designed for dance. The ''desdansa'' is defined, and exemplified, in the

Cançoneret de Ripoll The Cançoneret de Ripoll (, la, Carmina Riulpullensa), now manuscript 129 of Ripoll in the Arxiu de la Corona d'Aragó, is a short Catalan- Occitan chansonnier produced in the mid-fourteenth century but after 1346, when Peter IV of Aragon held a p ...

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