Commonly referred to as the folia, the folie predates its earliest surviving musical sources, although it was known to be a particularly popular folk dance in 15th century Portugal, with sources suggesting the dance was performed at festival and court events. Two types of folie are known, one which Sebastian de Covarrubias described in 1611 as ‘a Portuguese dance, very noisy, performed with tambourines and other instruments by disguised street-porters carrying young men in women’s clothing on their shoulders,’[1] and one which evolved through the compositions of Lully, reminiscent of the sarabande and chaconne. The most famous folie is known in France as the Folies d’Espagne, in Italy as La Folia, and in England as Farinell’s Ground.

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The term ‘folia’ gives connotations of madness and empty headedness, which is appropriate considering both the dance and musical line features many fast embellishments to portray this characteristic. Folies are a triple metre dance, containing a 3-beat pulse. They are formed upon a repeated bass progression, similar to a chaconne or passacaille, which consists of two sections, each containing 4 bars of 6 crotchets of 8 bars of 3 crotchets. Upon this, the melody is built upon variations of the opening theme, which may change in tempo according to the style and character of the variation written by the composer and whether the dancers are performing choreography featuring virtuosic fast steps or slower elongated gestures.

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A characteristic rhythm of the folie is the 2 bar ‘short-long, long-short’ antipast, which in triple metre consists of ‘crotchet-minim, minim-crotchet.’ The most important beat of this sequence is the ‘long’ note in bar 1, which may be substituted for a dotted note, and should be emphasised by the musician with a stronger articulation to create a rebound on the 2nd beat which leads towards the following bar, a device also used in the sarabande.[2]

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The folia requires a close relationship between the musician and the dancer, as there is a correlation between the musical ornamentation used and choreographic embellishments featured in each variation. The choreographies by Feuillet and Pecour make use of jumps and springs, with lots of circular leg motions with the free leg, whilst the arms resemble Spanish gestures with rotations at the wrist and elbows. Where the variation is played slower, the dancer may choose a choreographic variation that is grand and stately, making use of formations, bends and rises. When the music becomes brisker and livelier, so does the choreography, with dancers performing jumps, pirouettes, and fast footwork. Castanets are sometimes played by the dancer, which reaffirms the Spanish influence and adds a percussive element to the music for dramatic affect.[3]