Gaillard(e)
(from Fr. gai, merry; It. gagliarda; Ger. Gagliarde). A vivacious court couple dance popular in France, Spain, and England during the late 16th and early 17th centuries.
At court occasions, the gaillarde usually followed the stately pavane. The two dances are in fact related melodically, but the gaillarde transforms the symmetric BINARY (two-part) meter of the pavane into a lively TERNARY (three-part) beat. In England the gaillarde was also known under the French name cinq pas (five-step), named for its pattern of four strong beats ending with an extra rhythmic step.
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