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

Old Occitan Old Occitan (, ), also called Old Provençal, was the earliest form of the Occitano-Romance languages, as attested in writings dating from the 8th to the 14th centuries. Old Occitan generally includes Early and Old Occitan. Middle Occitan is some ...

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. The term for both modern lyric poetry and modern song lyrics derives from a form of Ancient Greek literature, t ...

developed in the late thirteenth century among the

troubadour A troubadour (, ; ) 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 equivalent is usually called a ''trobairitz''. The tr ...

s. It is related to the English term "

dance Dance is an The arts, art form, consisting of sequences of body movements with aesthetic and often Symbol, symbolic value, either improvised or purposefully selected. 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 A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and song of Great Britain and Ireland from the Late Middle Ages until the 19th century. They were widely used across Eur ...

. 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 rh ...

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 (poetry)">line or lines that are repeated in poetry or in music">poetry.html" ;"title="Line (poetry)">line or lines that are repeat ...

. 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 ...

''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 (from Latin ''chorus'', meaning 'a dance in a circle') is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform or in other words ...

. 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 (, ), 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 poetry competition whic ...

List

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