The lavolta (plural: lavoltas) is an anglicized name for a Renaissance dance for couples from the later Renaissance. This dance was associated with the galliard and done to the same kind of music. Its main figure consisted of a turn and lift in a sort of closed position, which could be done either to the right or to the left. It is also called La volta, Volta, Volte. Spelling variants include la volta and levolto; its name is la volte in French and la volta in Italian. To anglicise (or in North American English anglicize) is to adapt a foreign word into the English language, often modifying its form to correspond to standard English French demoiselle, meaning little lady. Another common type of anglicisation is the inclusion of a foreign article as part of a noun (eg. ... By Region: Italian Renaissance Northern Renaissance -French Renaissance -German Renaissance -English Renaissance Renaissance dances belong to the broad group of historical dances. ... Two people doing the Salsa. ... By region Italian Renaissance Spanish Renaissance Northern Renaissance French Renaissance German Renaissance English Renaissance The Renaissance, also known as Il Rinascimento (in Italian), was an influential cultural movement which brought about a period of scientific revolution and artistic transformation, at the dawn of modern European history. ... The galliard (gaillarde, in French) was a form of Renaissance dance and music popular all over Europe in the 16th century. ... In couple dancing, closed position is a category of positions in which partners hold each other while facing at least approximately toward each other. ...

Detailed instructions for lavoltas were written by Thoinot Arbeau; some brief notes appear in MS Douce 280. These instructions are open to some interpretation, but seem to indicate something like the following. Thoinot Arbeau is the anagrammatic pen name of Jehan Tabourot, who was born in Dijon in 1519. ...

The dance begins with a galliard. Then the couple takes two bars of music to make a transition to closed position. The leader (the man, according to period custom) lets go of his partner's hand and takes hold of the lower edge of her busk with one hand, and places the other hand on her back above the far hip. The follower places her near hand on top of her partner's near shoulder. Now the leader is facing his partner while she faces to one side; both will do the turn with forward steps, and both step with the same foot at the same time. The galliard (gaillarde, in French) was a form of Renaissance dance and music popular all over Europe in the 16th century. ... A busk (also spelled busque) is the rigid element of a corset placed at the centre front. ...

The turn begins with a small step, springing onto the outside foot and lifting the inside foot forward. On the second beat there is a longer step, stepping smoothly onto the inside foot and staying close to the ground. During this step the follower poises herself for a spring, and just after it she springs up into the air. The leader lifts her with his hands, then holds her up with his hands and with the thigh of his free leg under her thighs. He lets her down to land on both feet on the last beat of the measure. The couple makes an approximate 3/4 turn during each measure. The turn is repeated ad lib for several measures, and then the galliard is resumed in an open position. See AdLib for the computer sound card manufacturer. ...

It is sometimes hypothesized that the lavolta was the direct ancestor of the waltz. Anyone who knows how to do a waltz turn may see from the above instructions (or from Thoinot Arbeau's instructions) that the dances are fundamentally different. The lavolta is more similar to the polska, though there again the differences remain large. The most that might reasonably be assumed is that the development of either the waltz or the polska might have been influenced in some way by the lavolta. For a musical genre, see Waltz (music). ... Thoinot Arbeau is the anagrammatic pen name of Jehan Tabourot, who was born in Dijon in 1519. ...

One can find a not very accurate example of this dance in the movie Elizabeth (1998), where Cate Blanchett (Queen Elizabeth) and Joseph Fiennes (Lord Robert Dudley) dance it on two ocassions, and a somewhat more accurate version in the movie Shakespeare in Love (1998), this time with Joseph Fiennes playing William Shakespeare and Gwyneth Paltrow as Viola De Lesseps. Elizabeth is a 1998 movie about the early reign of Queen Elizabeth I of England, written by Michael Hirst and directed by Shekhar Kapur. ... Shakespeare in Love is a 1998 motion picture. ...