> Re: Canaries:		approx. how fast?  I have been aiming for
> 			blitzkrieg speed on my poor little harp.

If you can figure out where the footsteps go, you can figure out how
fast you have to play. Generally that translates to "blindingly fast"
for the musician.

> 			Are they rather rare, or a common dance form?

They were popular in period, but I've never seen one danced in the
SCA. Hopefully I can convince a few people who know them to demo
one for me this Pennsic.

> 			Is it just a coincidence that the only two
> 			I am aware of are Scottish in origin?

The dance was developed in Spain, but was danced all over. The Scottish,
as far as everyone knows, dance the same dances as other folks.

> 			Were they popular for an extended period of time,
> 			or were they a brief dance craze...the
> 			Elizabethan Macarena, as it were?

They lasted at least 60 years, by the timeline in Del's Dance Book. Is
that brief? ;-) If I recally correctly, there are no Spanish
descriptions of the choreography. Arbeau has something simple, Caroso
has a little bit about them. The folks on the sca-dance or rendance
lists would know more.

--  gb

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