la volta

la volta, 16th-century leaping and turning dance for couples, originating in Italy and popular at French and German court balls until about 1750. Performed with a notoriously intimate embrace, it became respectable, but never completely dignified, after Queen Elizabeth I of England danced it with the earl of Leicester.

The dance, to music in 3/4 time, was composed of a series of complex hops, steps, leaps, and turns. In order to assist his partner with her high jumps, the man held her close with his left hand above her right hip, his left thigh against her right thigh, and his right hand firm against the stiff busk below her bosom. She in turn held her partner’s back or shoulder with her right hand and kept her dress from flying with her left hand. The volta survives as a folk dance in Provence, France.