Dansa


A dansa, also spelt dança, was an Old Occitan form of lyric poetry developed in the late thirteenth century among the troubadours. It is related to the English term "dance" 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. 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 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. The few surviving melodies of dansas seem like incipient virelais. The verses of the dansa were sung by a soloist while the refrain was sung by a choir. 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 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 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 designed for dance. The desdansa is defined, and exemplified, in the Cançoneret de Ripoll.

List of ''dansas'' and ''baladas''

ComposerIncipit DateNotes
Guiraut d'EspaignaBe volgra, s'esser pogues
Guiraut d'EspaignaDomna, si tot no.us es preza
Guiraut d'EspaignaGen m'auci
Guiraut d'EspaignaGes ancara
Guiraut d'EspaignaLo fi cor qu'ie.us aiSometimes called a balada or dansa
Guiraut d'EspaignaNo posc plus sofrir
Guiraut d'EspaignaNa Ses Merce
Guiraut d'EspaignaPer amor soi gaiA pastorela in the form of a dansa
Guiraut d'EspaignaPos ses par
Guiraut d'EspaignaSa gaja semblansa
Guiraut d'EspaignaSi la bela que.m plai no.m plai
Guiraut d'EspaignaSi.l dous jois d'amor
Guiraut d'EspaignaSi no.m secor domna gaja
Paulet de Marseilla'
Cerveri de GironaA la pluga a.l vent iranA balada that Serveri labels an espingadura
Cerveri de GironaCom es ta mal ensenyadaA dansa that Serveri labels a peguesca
Cerveri de GironaNo.l prenatz los fals marit iana delgadaA balada that Serveri labels a viadeyra
Cerveri de GironaPus on vey leys
Cerveri de GironaSi voletz que.m laix d'amar
Cerveri de GironaTant ay el cor d'alegrança'A sirventes–dansa
Cerveri de GironaTot can cors dezira
Uc de Saint Circ'
Amors m'art con fuoc ab flamaPerhaps a fragmentary canso
Ara l'ausetzPerhaps a parody of a dansa
Coindeta sui, si cum n'ai greu cossire
D'amor m'estera ben e gent
Mort m'an li semblan que ma dona.m fai
Plazens plasers, tant vos am e.us dezirConsists of a single cobla
Pos la dousor del temps gay
Pos qu'ieu vey la fuellaTwo coblas, perhaps a single canso
Pres soi ses faillenchaTwo coblas, perhaps a single canso
Quant lo gilos er fora
S'anc vos
Se nus hom per ben servir
Si tot chantar non m'enansa
Tant es gay'es avinentzA fragment: two coblas, probably of a dansa, perhaps a canso''