Pizochara

 



Pizochara (by Domenico) resembles any of the 17th century English Country Dances as much as it resembles any other Italian dance. I chose it because it shows the best overall resemblance between some of the Italian dances and country dances. This style of dance has been called "Italian country dance" by some writers because of the similarity.

Start the dance with 4 couples longways, facing the front. Allow approximately 3 steps between each couple.

 


Part 1 (Piva)

1 - 12

PvL PvR x 6

12 Piva steps -- first couple lead the dancers anywhere they will, and the rest follow.


13 – 16









17 – 20

PvL PvR PvL PvR









PvL PvR PvL PvR

4 Piva steps -- each man passes in front of his own lady, around her, and then returns to place, as in the diagram.



Ladies do the same.

 






 


Part 2 (Bassadanza)

21

RvR

All Riverenza on the right foot.


22 - 33

SS D x 11

The men do a hey consisting of 2 singles and 11 doubles, returning to finish on the opposite side of their partner, as in the diagram.


34

RpL

Riprese Left

 


Part 3 (Saltarello)

35 - 43

Sl x 9

The ladies do a hey consisting of 9 saltarello steps, in the same way as the men in Part II.

 


Part 4 (Piva)

44 - 45

Men: RpL RpL

The front man does a reprise to the left



Ladies: RpR RpR

The front lady does a reprise to the right


46 - 49

PvL PvR PvL PvR

The other couples then do 4 piva steps forwards, so that the second couple is now the front couple.

 



50 – 61

Repeat

Repeat this part 3 more times, so that the last couple ends up as the first couple.

 



The dance then repeats. The new front couple will still be holding hands, and lead off Part A, while the other couples Piva forwards and together so that they regain their partner's hand during Part A.