pennsicdance: Hole in the wall and sharking dances

[L.J. Sparvero]

><sunshinegirl at s...> wrote:
>I know Hole in the Wall is not pre 1600 - when does it actually date
>to?

Playford (1695). As the dance is described, there's no mention of partner 
stealing.

>And are things like "sharking" a period practice?

Arbeau (1596) describes Almans done where the gentlemen take steal else's 
partner. He mentions that he doesn't condone that kind of behavior, since 
it leads to quarrels. But he's also documenting it as an existing practice.

I believe La Caccia d'Amore (sometimes part 4 is done as the "Pinwheel 
game" in the SCA) has men stealing in also (Negri, 1602).

Also the Corranto that Arbeau describes involves women leaving their 
partners, and the men chasing after them.

The reason I'm posting the reply to the list too is that I'd like to know 
if there are there other dances done at Pennsic that have "sharking" (even 
if it's just a local convention, and not documented). Actually, 
*especially* if it's a local convention that others haven't heard of. This 
way I might be able to defuse some disagreements before they happen on the 
dance floor. Pennsic pulls in alot of dancers from a wide area. I've been 
trying to document the various reconstructions/conventions for doing 
dances. This way, if two instructors teach the same dance differently, I'd 
at least be able to be aware of the versions out there. As in, "You might 
have learned this next figure in Barony X, where they do Y, but I'm going 
to teach it to you as Z. Be aware of the differences if you travel."

Happy dancing! ;-) Don Lyev Davidovitch, Pennsic 33 European Dance Coordinator

References:
Arbeau's _Orchesographie_, trans Evans, ed. Sutton, ISBN#0486217450
http://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/negri/
http://www.izaak.unh.edu/nhltmd/indexes/dancingmaster/