Il Papa who teaches how to dance the Balletti to his students

As I was thinking, most virtuous and noble young people, by means of what honor, what token, or what effort I could make known to you the great affection of my soul for you, it occurred to me to make you a beautiful and honourable gift, since you are worthy of the most beautiful and the most honourable things: to offer you the steps of the balletti, together with the words adding the order and method |I have of teaching them.

I present to you this [treatise] about these things so that by yourselves you may be able to begin that which would be impossible [without it], believe me, but because this helps you while you begin them with me, and also, if by not dancing often, you should forget something, with a single glance at this, my treasury of steps, suddenly it will return to your memory, nor will it be necessary to you to ask me about them, and thus you will preserve this noble and gentle ability.

But because I, both in teaching and in genius, feel myself inferior to my so great desire, so I follow it with a halting eloquence of saying and elegance of speaking.

I do not have within my power of invention a single thing that I might give you – unless it be a glaring ignorance. And it is with my invention so oppressed in this way, by the scorn of my ill-fortune, that because of this, almost a thousand times, I have been tempted to turn from the undertaking thus begun; but when I consider your gentility and humanity, I have found such confidence in your courtesies that I decided to carry on, trusting that in everything, that courtesy would plead and excuse me for everything I might lack.

There is no doubt at all that you will not appreciate what I am teaching you, nor seek to memorize the craft of dance, except inasmuch as it pleases the damsels and the lovers.

But don’t esteem them too little; they were appreciated by the wisest of the ancients.

Socrates, even he who was judged by the Oracle to be the wisest of all men, although he was already old, did not feel ashamed to begin them. Thus with great praises, I elevate this beautiful craft, numbering it among the serious disciplines, this small thing, rather more serious than that which can be reasoned, just as she who was born wholly divine in light at the same time as the world, came in the light with the most ancient god of love.

This art of dance was praised by very many Greek writers, and they said that the principles of these dances derived divinely from the movements of the stars and the planets, from their goings and their returnings, conjunction and order, as if in a certain harmonic dance of the celestial objects, together with the generation of the world.

Some say that it was the invention of satyrs, and also affirm that the god Bacchus came with this art and [touched] the warlike Indian and Hindu peoples with it. From [these] this dancing was at last reduced to a religion, and in Delos, no sacrifices were carried out where there was not dancing, nor were feasts ever celebrated without dancing, and thus they honoured them with dancing. Orpheus and Museus, the best dancers, ordered the Egyptians to do so, and for a long time, they would honor them.

And the Romans also had their priestly dancers, who danced in honor of Mars, and the Lacedemonians, who had learned the dances from Castor and Pollux, were in the habit of doing everything with dancing.

The Greeks wrote very many books of dances, in which were contained all the kinds, qualities and numbers, and all their names were set down and what they were like, and by whom they were discovered. For which reason I will speak no more of them, in order that by Pythagorizing too much at this time, I may not end up changing myself into a philosophizing ass, in the manner of Lucian and Apuleius. It seems good to me, and perhaps it will to you as well, that in order that I might be similar to that ass of which the sacred story in the Bible speaks, that already had the spirit of prophecy, when Balaam, that wise and prophetic man, went out to curse the people of Israel, he did not see the angel of the Lord, but the ass did see him, and with a human voice, he spoke to Balaam, who was riding him, and thus truly, very frequently an ignorant man sees and speaks of things that he cannot see, nor does a scholastic doctor, corrupted by human knowledge, fail to speak, so that you should take it as no miracle if I have written in this way in praise of my art.

Nor do I doubt that I will have to be corrected by many, although a wise man has already read me, so that you [set aside] the divine letters. There is nothing in this world that is written so accurately that there will be no need for censure and refinements by wise and learned men.

I have also heard it said that it was the ancient practice, because they say that Socrates was revised by Plato, Plato by Aristotle, Aristotle by Averroes, and so on in turn. Now if in such men, so heroic in their aspirations, men who were the light of the world, I find corrections, it is certainly no serious thing if I receive the same, knowing that it means nothing. I readily anticipate that the present work will appear and be examined by those knowedgeable and skilled in this art, and the others who are not so sought after to content themselves with reading and not judging it. It is not patience that I allow it to be read, that I permit that any intelligent man with all his diligence and perspicacity may write its shortcomings, so that an idiot should read it only once. And many times the writers are corrected, not by those who are fit to understand, but by those who are not able to understand, nor perhaps even to read it.

So take now, my dear pupils, the fruits of my labors, and it will be seen that you do not accept them less gratefully than they are liberally bestowed on you by me. In the future, I promise you to give something that is really not a great marvel from me, and you will be satisfied. And in the meantime, love me, as is your habit, and attempt to make merry as usual. Il Papa