Esther M. Zimmer Lederberg
Antonio Cornazzano's Ladder

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Antonio Cornazzano Ladder
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Antonio Cornazzano used the image of a "ladder" to show the proportions or ratios in dance steps. These "step ratios" or "misura" are to be matched (or harmonize) with the accompanying music, based upon "mensuration".

Misura Mensuration

("The Platonic Theory of Ethos in Fifteenth-Century Italian Court Dance", Jennifer Nevile, Literature and Aesthetics, vol. 3, 1993, pp. 45-47.) It has been pointed out that Domenico da Piacenza wanted a simple method for dancers to know how fast they should dance for each type of misura. His pedagogical rule was quaternaria misura is one-sixth faster than bassadanza, saltarello misura is two-sixths faster than bassadanza, and piva misura is three-sixths faster than bassadanza. This is an easy rule for dancers to remember. However, this rule is in slight error. Quarternaria misura is actually 3:4 ratio (0.75) but the music requires 5:6 (0.83). It has been pointed out that "misura" is "without strict time". (See "Harvard Dictionary of Music", Willi Apel, Harvard Univ. Press, 1962, p. 451).
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It should be noted that these "misura" are an attempt to use the Pythagorean harmonic ratios in dance, but also in harmony with music. Art is not science: the music and dance must be slightly modified to produce an overall effect that is aesthetically beautiful.

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