This sketch of the iconography of the dance does not
pretend to be a history of the subject, except in the most elementary
way. It may be taken as a summary of the history of posture; a complete
dance cannot be easily rendered in illustration.
The text is of the most elementary description; to go
into the subject thoroughly would involve years and volumes. The
descriptions of the various historic dances or music are enormous
subjects; two authors alone have given 800 dances in four volumes.[1]
It would have been interesting if some idea of the
orchesography of the Egyptians and Greeks could have been given; this
art of describing dances much in the manner that music is written is
lost, and the attempts to revive it have been ineffective. The
increasing speed of the action since the days of Lulli would now render
it almost impossible.
It is hoped that this work may be of some use as
illustrating the costume, position and accessories of the dance in
various periods to those producing entertainments.
To the reader desirous of thoroughly studying the
subject a bibliography is given at the end.
FOOTNOTES
Footnote 1:
Thompson's complete collection of 200 country dances performed at
Court, Bath, Tunbridge, and all public assemblies, with proper figures
and directions to each set for the violin, German flute, and hautboy,
8s. 6d. Printed for Charles and Samuel Thompson, St. Paul's
Churchyard, London, where may be had the yearly dances and minuets.
Four volumes, each 200 dances. 1770-1773.
Historic Illustrations of Dancing.
Fig. 1: Dancing to the clapping of bands. Egyptian,
from the tomb of Ur-ari-en-Ptah, 6th Dynasty, about 3300 B.C.
(British Museum.)
CHAPTER I.
Egyptian, Assyrian, Hebrew, and Phoenician Dancing. The Ritual Dance of
Egypt. Dancing Examples from Tomb of Ur-ari-en-Ptah, 6th Dynasty,
British Museum. Description of Dancing from Sir G. Wilkinson; of the
Egyptian Pipes and Hieroglyphics of Dancing, &c. Phoenician Round
Dances, from a Limestone Group found at Cyprus, and Bronze Patera from
Idalium, Cyprus.
In this work it is not necessary to worry the reader with speculations
as to the origin of dancing. There are other authorities easily accessible
who have written upon this theme.
Dancing is probably one of the oldest arts. As soon as man was man he
without doubt began to gesticulate with face, body, and limbs. How long it
took to develop bodily gesticulation into an art no one can
guess—perhaps a millennium.
In writing of dancing, one will therefore include those gesticulations
or movements of the body suggesting an idea, whether it be the slow
movement of marching, or the rapid gallop, even some of the movements that
we commonly call acrobatic. It is not intended here to include the more
sensual movements of the East and the debased antique.
Generally the antique dances were connected with a religious ritual
conceived to be acceptable to the Gods. This connection between dancing
and religious rites was common up to the 16th century. It still continues
in some countries.
In some of the earliest designs which have come down to us the dancers
moved, as stars, hand in hand round an altar, or person, representing the
sun; either in a slow or stately method, or with rapid trained gestures,
according to the ritual performed.
Dancing, music and poetry were inseparable. Dancing is the poetry of
motion, and its connection with music, as the poetry of sound, occurs at
all times. In our own day musical themes are marked by forms originally
dance times, as waltz time, gavotte time, minuet time, etc.
Fig. 2: Greek figures in a solemn dance. From a vase at Berlin.
Amongst the earliest representations that are comprehensible, we have
certain Egyptian paintings, and some of these exhibit postures that
evidently had even then a settled meaning, and were a phrase in the
sentences of the art. Not only were they settled at such an early period
(B.C. 3000, fig. 1) but they appear to have been accepted and handed down
to succeeding generations (fig. 2), and what is remarkable in some
countries, even to our own times. The accompanying illustrations from
Egypt and Greece exhibit what was evidently a traditional attitude. The
hand-in-hand dance is another of these.
The earliest accompaniments to dancing appear to have been the clapping
of hands, the pipes,[1] the guitar,
the tambourine, the castanets, the cymbals, the tambour, and sometimes in
the street, the drum.
The following account of Egyptian dancing is from Sir Gardiner
Wilkinson's "Ancient Egypt"[2]:—
"The dance consisted mostly of a
succession of figures, in which the performers endeavoured to exhibit a
great variety of gesture. Men and women danced at the same time, or in
separate parties, but the latter were generally preferred for their
superior grace and elegance. Some danced to slow airs, adapted to the
style of their movement; the attitudes they assumed frequently partook
of a grace not unworthy of the Greeks; and some credit is due to the
skill of the artist who represented the subject, which excites
additional interest from its being in one of the oldest tombs of Thebes
(B.C. 1450, Amenophis II.). Others preferred a lively step, regulated by
an appropriate tune; and men sometimes danced with great spirit,
bounding from the ground, more in the manner of Europeans than of
Eastern people. On these occasions the music was not always composed of
many instruments, and here we find only the cylindrical maces and a
woman snapping her fingers in the time, in lieu of cymbals or castanets.
"Graceful attitudes and gesticulations were the general style of
their dance, but, as in all other countries, the taste of the
performance varied according to the rank of the person by whom they were
employed, or their own skill, and the dance at the house of a priest
differed from that among the uncouth peasantry, etc.
Fig. 3: The hieroglyphics describe the dance.
"It was not customary for the upper
orders of Egyptians to indulge in this amusement, either in public or
private assemblies, and none appear to have practised it but the lower
ranks of society, and those who gained their livelihood by attending
festive meetings.
"Fearing lest it should corrupt the manners of a people
naturally lively and fond of gaiety, and deeming it neither a necessary
part of education nor becoming a person of sober habits, the Egyptians
forbade those of the higher classes to learn it as an amusement.
"Many of these postures resembled those of the modern ballet,
and the pirouette delighted an Egyptian party 3,500 years ago.
Fig. 4: Egyptian hieroglyphic for "dance."
"The dresses of the females were light and of the finest
texture, a loose flowing robe reaching to the ankles, sometimes with a
girdle.
"In later times, it appears more transparent and folded in
narrow pleats.[3] Some danced in
pairs, holding each other's hand; others went through a succession of
steps alone, both men and women; sometimes a man performed a solo to
the sound of music or the clapping of hands.
"A favourite figure dance was universally adopted throughout
the country, in which two partners, who were usually men, advanced
toward each other, or stood face to face upon one leg, and having
performed a series of movements, retired again in opposite directions,
continuing to hold by one hand and concluding by turning each other
round (see fig. 3). That the attitude was very common is proved by its
having been adopted by the hieroglyphic (fig. 4) as the mode of
describing 'dance.'"
Many of the positions of the dance illustrated in Gardner Wilkinson
are used at the present day.
The ASSYRIANS probably danced as much as the
other nations, but amongst the many monuments that have been discovered
there is little dancing shown, and they were evidently more proud of
their campaigns and their hunting than of their dancing. A stern and
strong people, although they undoubtedly had this amusement, we know
little about it. Of the Phoenicians, their neighbours, we have some
illustrations of their dance, which was apparently of a serious nature,
judging by the examples which we possess, such as that (fig. 5) from
Cyprus representing three figures in hooded cowls dancing around a
piper. It is a dance around a centre, as is also (fig. 6) that from
Idalium in Cyprus. The latter is engraved around a bronze bowl and is
evidently a planet and sun dance before a goddess, in a temple; the sun
being the central object around which they dance, accompanied by the
double pipes, the harp, and tabour. The Egyptian origin of the devotion
is apparent in the details, especially in the lotus-smelling goddess
(marked A on fig. 6) who holds the flower in the manner shown in an
Egyptian painting in the British Museum (fig. 7).
Fig. 5: Cyprian limestone group of Phoenician
dancers, about 6½ in. high. There is a somewhat similar group, also
from Cyprus, in the British Museum. The dress, a hooded cowl, appears
to be of great antiquity.
Fig. 6: Phoenician patera, from Idalium, showing a religious
ritual dance before a goddess in a temple round a sun emblem.
From the Phoenicians we have illustrated
examples, but no record, whereas from their neighbours the Hebrews we
have ample records in the Scriptures, but no illustrations. It is,
however, most probable that the dance with them had the traditional
character of the nations around them or who had held them captive, and
the Philistine dance (fig. 6) may have been of the same kind as that
around the golden calf (Apis) of the desert (Exodus xxxii. v. 19).
When they passed the Red Sea, Miriam and the maidens danced in chorus
with singing and the beating of the timbrel (tambour). (Exodus xv. v.
1.)
King David not only danced before the ark (2 Samuel vi. v. 16), but
mentions dancing in the 149th and 150th Psalm. Certain historians also
tell us that they had dancing in their ritual of the seasons. Their
dancing seems to have been associated with joy, as we read of "a
time to mourn and a time to dance";
we find (Eccles. iii. v. 4) they had also the pipes: "We have piped
to you and you have not danced" (Matthew xi. v. 17). These dances
were evidently executed by the peoples themselves, and not by public
performers.
Fig. 7: Female figure smelling a lotus. From a painting in the
British Museum.
Fig. 8: Dance of Bacchantes, painted by the ceramic painter,
Hieron. (British Museum.)
FOOTNOTES
Footnote 1: Egyptian music
appears to have been of a complicated character and the double pipe or
flutes were probably reeded, as with our clarionet. The left pipe had
few stops and served as a sort of hautboy; the right had many stops and
was higher. The single pipe, (a) "The recorder" in the British
Museum, is a treble of 10-1/2 in. and is pentaphonic, like the Scotch
scale; the tenor (b) is 8-3/4 in. long and its present pitch—
Footnote 3: There is a
picture of an Egyptian gauffering machine in Wilkinson, vol. i., p.
185.
CHAPTER II.
Greek Dancing. Bacchanalian Dance, by the Ceramic Painter Hieron.
Description of some Greek Dances, the Gěrănŏs, the
Corybantium, the Hormos, &c. Dancing Bacchante from a Vase and
from Terra Cotta. The Hand-in-hand, and Panathenaeac Dance from
Ceramic Ware. Military Dance from Sculpture in Vatican, Greek Dancer
with Castanets. Illustration of Cymbals and Pipes from the British
Museum. The Chorus. Greek Dancers and Tumblers.
Fig. 9: Dancing Bacchante. From a vase in the British Museum.
With the Greeks, dancing certainly was
primarily part of a religious rite; with music it formed the lyric art.
The term, however, with them included all those actions of the body and
limbs, and all expressions and actions of the features and head which
suggest ideas; marching, acrobatic performances, and mimetic action all
came into the term.
According to the historians, the Greeks attributed dancing to their
deities: Homer makes Apollo orchestes, or the dancer; and amongst
the early dances is that in his honour called the Hyporchema.
Their dances may be divided into sections somewhat thus: (1) those of a
religious species, (2) those of a gymnastic nature, (3) those of a
mimetic character, (4) those of the theatre, such as the chorus, (5)
those partly social, partly religious dances, such as the hymeneal, and
(6) chamber dances.
Grown up men and women did not dance together, but the youth of both
sexes joined in the Hormŏs or chain dance and the Gěrănŏs,
or
Fig. 10: Greek terra cotta dancing girl, about 350 B.C.
(British Museum.)
Fig. 11: The Gěrănŏs from a vase in the
Museo Borbonico, Naples.
According to some authorities, one of the most
primitive of the first class, attributed to Phrygian origin, was the Aloenes,
danced to the Phrygian flute by the priests of Cybele in honour of her
daughter Ceres. The dances ultimately celebrated in her cult were
numerous: such as the Anthema, the Bookolos, the Epicredros,
and many others, some rustic for labourers, others of shepherds, etc.
Every locality seems to have had a dance of its own. Dances in honour of
Venus were common, she was the patroness of proper and decent dancing;
on the contrary, those in honour of Dionysius or Bacchus degenerated
into revelry and obscenity. The Epilenios danced when the grapes
were pressed, and imitated the gathering and pressing. The Anteisterios
danced when the wine was vatted (figs. 8, 9, 10), and the Bahilicos,
danced to the sistrus, cymbals, and tambour, often degenerated into
orgies.
Fig. 12: Panathenaeac dance, about the 4th century B.C.
The Gěrănŏs, originally
from Delos, is said to have been originated by Theseus in memory of his
escape from the labyrinth of Crete (fig. 12). It was a hand-in-hand
dance alternately of males and females. The dance was led by the
representative of Theseus playing the lyre.
Fig. 13: A military dance, supposed to be the Corybantum.
From a Greek bas-relief in the Vatican Museum.
Of the second class, the gymnastic, the most important were military
dances, the invention of which was attributed to Minerva; of these the Corybantum
was the most remarkable. It was of Phrygian origin and of a mixed
religious, military, and mimetic character; the performers were armed,
and bounded about, springing and clashing their arms and shields to
imitate the Corybantes endeavouring to stifle the cries of the infant
Zeus, in Crete. The Pyrrhic (fig. 13), a war dance of Doric origin, was
a rapid dance to the double flute, and made to resemble an action in
battle; the Hoplites of Homer is thought to have been of this
kind. The Dorians were very partial to this dance and considered their
success in battle due to the celerity and training of the dance. In
subsequent periods it was imitated by female dancers and as a pas
seul. It was also performed in the Panathenaea by Ephebi at the
expense of the Choragus, but this was probably only a mimetic
performance and not warlike.
Fig. 14: Greek dancer with castanets. (British Museum.) See
also Castanet dance by Myron, fig. 63a.
There were many other heroic military dances
in honour of Hercules, Theseus, etc.
The chorus, composed of singers and dancers, formed part of the
drama, which included the recitation of some poetic composition, and
included gesticulative and mimetic action as well as dancing and
singing. The Dorians were especially fond of this; their poetry was
generally choral, and the Doric forms were preserved by the Athenians in
the choral compositions of their drama.
The tragic dance, Emmelia, was solemn; whilst that in comedy, Cordax,
was frivolous, and the siccinis, or dance of Satyrs, was often
obscene. They danced to the music of the pipes, the tambour, the harp,
castanets, cymbals, etc. (figs. 14, 15, 16).
Fig. 16: Greek dancers. From a vase in the Hamilton Collection.
In the rites of Dionysius the chorus was fifty
and the cithara was used instead of the flute. From the time of
Sophocles it was fifteen, and always had a professed trainer. The choric
question is, however, a subject in itself, and cannot be fairly dealt
with here.
Fig. 17: Bacchanalian dancer. Vase from Nocera, Museum, Naples.
Fig. 18: Greek dancers and tumblers.
The social dances, and those in honour of the
seasons, fire and water, were numerous and generally local; whilst the
chamber dances, professional dancing, the throwing of the Kotabos,
and such-like, must be left to the reader's further study of the authors
mentioned in the bibliography at the end of the work.
It may astonish the reader to know that the funambulist or
rope-dancer was very expert with the Greeks, as also was the acrobat
between knives and swords. Animals were also taught to dance on ropes,
even elephants.
The important religious and other dances were not generally composed
of professionals. The greatest men were not above showing their
sentiments by dancing. Sophocles danced after Salamis, and Epaminondas
was an expert dancer. There were dancers of all grades, from the
distinguished to the moderate. Distinguished persons even married into
excellent positions, if they did not already occupy them by birth.
Philip of Macedon married Larissa, a dancer, and the dancer Aristodemus
was ambassador to his Court. These dancers must not be confounded with
those hired to dance at feasts, etc. (figs. 9, 14 and 18).
CHAPTER III.
Etruscan, South Italian and Roman Dancing. Illustrations from the
Grotta dei Vasi, the Grotta della Scimia, and the Grotta del Triclinio,
Corneto. Funeral Dances from Albanella, Capua, &c. Pompeii and the
Baths of Constantino. The Dances of the Etruscans and South Italians.
The Roman, Dance of the Salii. The Bellicrepa. The social position of
Dancing. The Chorus.
One of the most important nations of antiquity was the Etruscan,
inhabiting, according to some authorities, a dominion from Lombardy to
the Alps, and from the Mediterranean to the Adriatic.
Etruria gave a dynasty to Rome in Servius Tullius, who originally was
Masterna, an Etruscan.
Fig. 19: Etruscan bronze dancer with eyes of diamonds, found at
Verona. Now in the British Museum.
Fig. 20: Etruscan dancer. From a painting in the Grotta dei
Vasi dipinti—Corneto.
It is, however, with the dancing that we are
dealing. There is little doubt that they were dancers in every sense;
there are many ancient sepulchres in Etruria, with dancing painted on
their walls. Other description than that of the pictures we do not
possess, for as yet the language is a dead letter. There is no doubt, as
Gerhardt [1] suggests, that they
considered dancing as one of the emblems of joy in a future state, and
that the dead were received with dancing and music in their new home.
They danced to the music of the pipes, the lyre, the castanets of wood,
steel, or brass, as is shown in the illustrations taken from the
monuments.
That the Phoenicians and Greeks had at certain times immense influence
on the Etruscans is evident from their relics which we possess (fig.
20).
Fig. 21: Etruscan dancing and performances. From paintings in the
Grotta della Scimia Corneto, about 500 B.C.
Fig. 22: Etruscan Dancing. From the Grotta del Triclinio.—Corneto.
A characteristic illustration of the dancer is
from a painting in the tomb of the Vasi dipinti, Corneto, which,
according to Mr. Dennis, [2] belongs
to the archaic period, and is perhaps as early as 600 B.C. It exhibits a
stronger Greek influence than some of the paintings. Fig. 21, showing a
military dance to pipes, with other sports, comes from the Grotta
della Scimia, also at Corneto; these show a more purely Etruscan
character.
The pretty dancing scene from the Grotta del Triclinio at Corneto
is taken from a full-sized copy in the British Museum, and is of the
greatest interest. It is considered to be of the Greco-Etruscan period,
and later than the previous examples (fig. 22).
There is a peculiarity in the attitude of the hands, and of the
fingers being kept flat and close together; it is not a little curious
that the modern Japanese dance, as exhibited by Mme. Sadi Yacca, has
this peculiarity, whether the result of ancient tradition or of modern
revival, the writer cannot say.
Almost as interesting as the Etruscan are the
illustrations of dancing found in the painted tombs of the Campagna and
Southern Italy, once part of "Magna Grecia"; the figure of a
funeral dance, with the double pipe accompaniments, from a painted tomb
near Albanella (fig. 23) may be as late as 300 B.C., and those in figs.
24, 25 from a tomb near Capua are probably of about the same period.
These Samnite dances appear essentially different from the Etruscan;
although both Greek and Etruscan influence are very evident, they are
more solemn and stately. This may, however, arise from a different
national custom.
That the Etruscan, Sabellian, Oscan, Samnite, and other national
dances of the country had some influence on the art in Rome is highly
probable, but the paucity of early Roman examples renders the evidence
difficult.
Fig. 23: Funeral dance in the obsequies of a
female. From a painted tomb near Albanella.
Rome as a conquering imperial power
represented nearly the whole world of its day, and its dances
accordingly were most numerous. Amongst the illustrations already given
we have many that were preserved in Rome. In the beginning of its
existence as a power only religious dances were practised, and many of
these were of Etruscan origin, such as the Lupercalia, the Ambarvalia,
&c. In the former the dancers were demi-nude, and probably
originally shepherds; the latter was a serious dancing procession
through fields and villages.
Fig. 24: Funeral dance. From Capua.
A great dance of a severe kind was executed by the Salii, priests of
Mars, an ecclesiastical corporation of twelve chosen patricians. In
their procession and dance, on March 1, and succeeding days, carrying
the Ancilia, they sang songs and hymns, and afterwards retired to a
great banquet in the Temple of Mars. That the practice was originally
Etruscan may be gathered from the circumstance that on a gem showing the
armed priests carrying the shields there are Etruscan letters. There
were also an order of female Salii. Another military dance was the Saltatio
bellicrepa, said to have been instituted by Romulus in commemoration
of the Rape of the Sabines.
The Pyrrhic dance (fig. 13) was also introduced into Rome by Julius
Caesar, and was danced by the children of the leading men of Asia and
Bithynia.
As, however, the State increased in power by conquest, it absorbed
with other countries other habits, and the art degenerated often, like
that of Greece and Etruria, into a vehicle for orgies, when they brought
to Rome with their Asiatic captives even more licentious practices and
dances.
Fig. 25: Funeral dance from the same tomb.
As Rome, which never rose to the intellectual and
imaginative state of Greece in her best period, represented wealth,
commerce, and conquest, in a greater degree, so were her arts, and with
these the lyric. In her best state her nobles danced, Appius Claudius
excelled, and Sallust tells us that Sempronia "psaltere saltare
elegantius"; so that in those days ladies played and danced, but no
Roman citizen danced except in the religious dances. They carried
mimetic dances to a very perfect character in the time of Augustus under
the term of Musica muta. After the second Punic war, as Greek
habits made their way into Italy, it became a fashion for the young to
learn to dance. The education in dancing and gesture were important in
the actor, as masks prevented any display of feature. The position of
the actor was never recognized professionally, and was considered infamia.
But the change came, which caused Cicero to say "no one danced when
sober." Eventually the performers of lower class occupied the
dancing platform, and Herculaneum and Pompeii have shown us the results.
Fig. 26: Bacchante leading the Dionysian bull to the altar.
Bas-relief in the Vatican.
Fig. 27: Bacchante. From a fresco, Pompeii, 1st century B.C.
Fig. 28: Dancer. From a fresco in the Baths of Constantine, 4th
century A.D.
CHAPTER IV.
Early English and Mediaeval Dancing to the 14th Century. Dancing in
Churches and Religious Dancing. The Gleemen's Dance. Military Dances.
The Hornpipe. Tumbling and Jest Dances. Illustrations of Gleemen's
Dance, Hornpipe, Sword Dances, Tumbling and Various Comic Dances.
The last illustration from the Baths of Constantine brought us into
the Christian era, although that example was not of Christian sentiment
or art. It is possible that the dance of Salome with its diabolical
reward may have prejudiced the Apostolic era, for we find no example of
dancing, as exhibiting joy, in Christian Art of that period. The dance
before Herod is historical proof that the higher classes of Hebrews
danced for amusement.
As soon, however, as Christianity became enthroned, and a settled
society, we read of religious dances as exhibiting joy, even in the
churches. Tertullian tells us that they danced to the singing of hymns
and canticles. These dances were solemn and graceful to the old tones;
and continued, notwithstanding many prohibitions such as those of Pope
Zacharias (a Syrian) in A.D. 744. The dancing at Easter in the Cathedral
at Paris was prohibited by Archbishop Odo in the 12th century, but
notwithstanding the antagonism of the Fathers, the dances were only
partially suppressed.
They were common on religious festivals in Spain and Portugal up to
the seventeenth century and in some localities continue even to our own
time. When S. Charles Borromeo was canonized in 1610, the Portuguese,
who had him as patron, made a procession of four chariots of dancers;
one to Renown, another to the City of Milan, one to represent Portugal
and a fourth to represent the Church. In Seville at certain periods, and
in the Balearic Isles, they still dance in religious ceremonies.
We know that religious dancing has continually been performed as an
accessory to prayer, and is still so used by the Mahommedans, the
American Indians and the Bedos of India, who dance into an ecstasy.
Fig. 29: Gleemen's dance, 9th century. From Cleopatra, Cotton
MS. C. viii., British Museum.
It is probable that this sort of mania marked
the dancing in Europe which was suppressed by Pope and Bishop. This choreomania
marked a Flemish sect in 1374 who danced in honour of St. John, and it
was so furious that the disease called St. Vitus' dance takes its name
from this performance.
Christmas carols were originally choric. The performers danced and
sang in a circle.
The illustration (fig. 43) of a dance of angels and religious shows
us that Fra Angelico thought the practice joyful; this dance is almost a
counterpart of that amongst the Greeks (fig. 11). The other dance, by
Sandro Botticelli (fig. 44), is taken from his celebrated
"Nativity" in the National Gallery. Although we have records
of performances in churches, no illustrations of an early date have come
to the knowledge of the writer.
That the original inhabitants of Britain danced—that the
Picts, Danes, Saxons and Romans danced may be taken for granted, but
there seems little doubt that our earliest illustrations of dancing were
of the Roman tradition. We find the attitude, the instruments and the
clapping of hands, all of the same undoubted classic character. Tacitus
informs us that the Teutonic youths danced, with swords and spears, and
Olaus Magnus that the Goths, &c., had military dances: still the
military dances in English MSS. (figs. 31, 32) seem more like those of a
Pyrrhic character, which Julius Caesar, the conqueror of England,
introduced into Rome. The illustration (fig. 29) of what is probably a
Saxon gleemen's dance shows us the kind of amusement they afforded and
how they followed classic usages.
Fig. 30: Dancing to horn and pipe. From an Anglo-Saxon MS.
Fig. 31: Anglo-Saxon sword dance. From the MS. Cleopatra, C.
viii., British Museum.
Fig. 32: Sword dance to bagpipes, 14th century. From 2 B vii.,
Royal MS., British Museum.
The gleemen were reciters, singers and
dancers; and the lower orders were tumblers, sleight-of-hand men and
general entertainers. What may have been the origin of our hornpipe is
illustrated in fig. 30, where the figures dance to the sound of the horn
in much the same attitudes as in the modern hornpipe, with a curious
resemblance to the position in some Muscovite dances.
The Norman minstrel, successor of the gleeman, used the double-pipe,
the harp, the viol, trumpets, the horn and a small flat drum, and it is
not unlikely that from Sicily and their South Italian possessions the
Normans introduced classic ideas.
Piers the Plowman used words of Norman extraction for them, as he
speaks of their "Saylen and Sauté."
The minstrel and harpist does not appear to have danced very much,
but to have left this to the joculator, and dancing and tumbling and
even acrobatic women and dancers appear to have become common before the
time of Chaucer's "Tomblesteres."
Fig. 33: Herodias tumbling. From a MS. end of 13th century
(Addl. 18,719, f. 253b), British Museum.
That this tumbling and dancing was common in the
thirteenth century is shown by the illustration from the sculpture at
Rouen Cathedral (fig. 34), the illustrations from a MS. in the British
Museum (fig. 33) of Herodias tumbling and of a design in glass in
Lincoln, and other instances at Ely; Idsworth Church, Hants; Poncé,
France, and elsewhere. It is suggested that the camp followers of the
Crusaders brought back certain dances and amongst these some of an
acrobatic nature, and many that were reprehensible, which brought down
the anger of the Clergy.
In the fourteenth century, from a celebrated MS. (2 B. vii.) in the
British Museum and other cognate sources we get a fair insight of the
amusement afforded by these dancers and joculators. In the illustration
(fig. 35) we get A and C tumblers, male and female; D, a woman and bear
dance; and E, a dance of fools to the organ and bagpipe. It will be
observed that they have bells on their caps, and it must have required
much skill and practice to sound their various toned bells to the music
as they danced. This dance of fools may have suggested or became
eventually merged into the "Morris Dance" (fig. 50) of which
some account with other illustrations of "Comic Dances" will
be given hereafter. The man dancing and playing the pipes with a woman
on his shoulder (fig. 36), the stilt dancer with a curious instrument
(C), and the woman jumping through a hoop, give us other illustrations
of fourteenth century amusements.
Fig. 34: A tumbler, as caryatid. Rouen Cathedral, 13th century.
Fig. 35: 14th century dancers. A and C are tumblers; B, tumbling
and balancing to the tambour; D, a woman dancing around a whipped bear;
E, jesters dancing
Fig. 36: A, man dancing and playing pipes, carrying a woman; B,
jumping through a hoop; C, a stilt dance. 14th century.
CHAPTER V.
Society Dancing, the 15th to 18th Centuries. Out-of-door Dances.
Chamber Dancing. Comic Dances. The Ball. Illustrations from Italian
15th Century, German 15th and 16th Centuries, French 15th, 16th, 17th,
English 15th, 16th and 18th Centuries Dancing.
Fig. 37: Italian dance. From an engraving, end of 15th century,
attributed to Baccio Baldini.
Concerning the dance as a means of social intercourse, it
does not appear to have been formulated as an accomplishment until late
in the thirteenth century, and at a later date was cultivated as a means
of teaching what we call deportment, until it became almost a necessity
with the classes, as is shown by the literature of that period. The
various social dances, such as the Volte, the Jig and the Galliard,
although in early periods, not so numerous, required a certain training
and agility. These, however, soon became complicated with many social
and local variations, the characteristics of which are a study in
themselves. The dances (figs. 37 and 38) in a field of sports, from an
Italian engraving of the fifteenth century, show us nothing new; indeed,
with different costumes it is very like what we have from Egypt (fig.
3), only a different phase of the action, and the attitude of this old
dance is repeated even to our own time.
Fig. 38: Italian dancing, the end of the 15th century.
Fig. 39: Chamber dance, 15th century. From a drawing by Martin
Zasinger.
Fig. 40: Dancing in a "pleasure garden," end of the
15th century. French, from the "Roman de la Rose," in the
British Museum.
In the Chamber dance by Martin Zasinger (fig. 39), of the
fifteenth century, no figures are in action, but we see an arrangement
of the guests and musicians, from which it is evident that the Chamber
dance as a social function had progressed and that the "Bal paré,"
etc., was here in embryo.
The flute and viol are evidently opening the function and the
trumpets and other portions of the orchestra on the other side waiting
to come in.
The stately out-door function, in a pleasure garden, from the
"Roman de la Rose" (fig. 40) illustrates but one portion of
the feature of a dance, another of which is described in Chaucer's
translation:
"They threw y fere
Ther mouthes so that through their play
It seemed as they kyste alway."
Fig. 41: Fancy dress dance of Wildemen of the 15th century.
From MS. 4379 Harl, British Museum.
Fig. 42: Comic dance to pipe and tabor, end of 15th century.
From pen drawing in the Mediaeval House Book in the Castle of Wolfegg,
by the Master of the Amsterdam Cabinet.
Fancy dress and comic dances have handed down the same
characteristics almost to our own time. The Wildeman costume dance (fig.
41) is interesting in many respects, it not only shows us the dance, but
the costume and general method of the Chamber.
The fifteenth century comic dancers in a fête champétre
(fig. 42) and those of the seventeenth century by Callot (fig. 52) are
good examples of this entertainment—in the background of the latter a
minuet seems to be in progress. The Morris dance (fig. 50) shows us the
development that had taken place since the fourteenth century.
Fig. 43: A dance of Angels and Saints at the entrance to
Heaven. Fra Angelico.
Fig. 44: Dancing angels. From a "Nativity" by Sandro
Botticelli circa 1500 A.D.
Fig. 45: Albert Dürer, 1514 A.D.
Fig. 46: Albert Dürer.
Allusion has already been made to the
beautiful paintings of Botticelli and Fra Angelico, which tell us of
Italian choral dances of their period; these do not belong to social
functions, but are certainly illustrative of the custom of their day.
Albert Dürer (figs. 45, 46) has given us illustrations of the field
dances of his period, but both these dances and those drawn by Sebald
Beham (fig. 47) are coarse, and contrast unfavourably with the Italian,
although the action is vigorous and robust.
Fig. 47: Scenes from dances. German, dated
1546, by Hans Sebald Beham.
The military dance of Dames and Knights
of Armour, by Hans Burgkmair, on the other hand, appears stately and
dignified (fig. 48). This may illustrate the difference between chamber
and garden or field dancing.
Fig. 48: A torchlight military dance of the
early 16th century. From a picture by Hans Burgkmair.
At the end of the sixteenth century we get a work on
dancing which shows us completely its position as a social art in that
day. It is the "Orchésographie" of Thoinot Arbeau (Jean
Tabouret, Canon of Langres, in 1588), from which comes the illustration of
the "Galliarde" (fig. 49) and to which I would refer the reader
for all the information he desires concerning this period. In this work
much stress is laid on the value of learning to dance from many points of
view—development of strength, manner, habits and courtesy, etc. Alas! we
know now that all these external habits can be acquired and leave the
"natural man" beneath.
Fig. 49: La Galliarde. From the "Orchésographie"
of Thoinot Arbeau (Jean Tabourot), Langres, 1588.
Desirable, therefore, as good manners and such like are,
they do not fulfil all the requirements that the worthy Canon wished to be
involved by them.[1]
We have have seen from the fourteenth century (figs. 35 C,
36 A, 46) how common the bagpipe was in out-of-door dances; in the
illustrations from Dürer (fig. 46) and in fig. 53 from Holtzer it has
developed, and has two accessory pipes, besides that played by the mouth,
and the player is accompanied by a sort of clarionet. This also appears to
be the only accompaniment of the Trio (fig. 58).
Fig. 50: Morris dancers. From a window that was in the possession
of George Tollett, Esq., Birtley, Staffordshire, 16th century.
Fig. 51: Court dance. From a drawing by Callot, 1635 A.D.
In the sixteenth century certain
Spanish dances were introduced into France, such as la Pavane, which was
accompanied by hautboys and sackbuts.
Fig. 52: Comic dancers. By Callot, from the act entitled "Balli
di Sfessama," 1609 A.D.
Fig. 53: Country dance. From a drawing by John Evangelist Holtzer,
17th century.
Fig. 54: A ball-room dance, Le Bal Paré, of the 18th
century. From August de l'Aubin.
Fig. 55: A dance in the 18th century. From a painting by Hogarth.
There were, however, various other
dances of a number too considerable to describe here, also introduced. The
dance of the eighteenth century from Derby ware (fig. 59) seems to be but
a continuation in action of those of the sixteenth century, as out-of-door
performances.
Fig. 56: Caricature of a dancing master. Hogarth.
We have now arrived at the modern style of
ball, so beloved by many of the French Monarchs. Henry IV. and Napoleon
were fond of giving these in grand style, and in some sort of grand
style they persist even as a great social function to our own time. The
Court balls of Louis XIII. and XIV. at Versailles were really gorgeous
ballets, and their grandeur was astonishing; this custom was continued
under the succeeding monarchs. An illustration of one in the eighteenth
century by August de l'Aubin (fig. 54) sufficiently shows their
character. There is nothing new in the postures illustrated, which may
have originated thousands of years ago. As illustrating the popular ball
of the period, the design by Hogarth (fig. 55) is an excellent contrast.
The contredanse represented was originally the old country dance
exported to France and returned with certain arrangements added. This is
a topic we need not pursue farther, as almost every reader knows what
social dancing now is.
Fig. 57: Spring dancing away from winter. From a drawing by
Watteau.
Fig. 58: The Misses Gunning dancing. End of the 18th century,
from a print by Bunbury, engraved by Bartolozzi.
Fig. 59: Dancing. Close of the 18th century. From Derby ware.
Fig. 60: Spanish dance in the Hall of Saragoza, 19th century.
FOOTNOTES
Footnote 1: The advice
which he gives is valuable from its bearing on the customs of the 16th
century. It even has great historical value, indicating the influence
dancing has had on good manners. That the history of dancing is the
history of manners may be too much insisted upon. For these reasons we
insert these little known passages. The first has reference to the
right way of proceeding at a ball.
"Having entered the place where the company is gathered for
the dance, choose a good young lady (honneste damoiselle) and raising
your hat or bonnet with your right hand you will conduct her to the
ball with your left. She, wise and well trained, will tender her left
and rise to follow you. Then in the sight of all you conduct her to
the end of the room, and you will request the players of instruments
to strike up a 'basse danse'; because otherwise through inadvertance
they might strike up some other kind of dance. And when they commence
to play you must commence to dance. And be careful, that they
understand, in your asking for a 'basse danse,' you desire a regular
and usual one. Nevertheless, if the air of one song on which* the 'basse
danse' is formed pleases you more than another you can give the
beginning of the strain to them."
"Capriol:—If the lady refuses, I shall feel very
ashamed.
"Arbeau:—A well-trained lady never refuses him who so
honours her as to lead her to the dance.
"Capriol:—I think so too, but in the meantime the
shame of the refusal remains with me.
"Arbeau:—If you feel sure of another lady's
graciousness, take her and leave aside this graceless one, asking her
to excuse you for having been importunate; nevertheless, there are
those who would not bear it so patiently. But it is better to speak
thus than with bitterness, because in so doing you acquire a
reputation for being gentle and humane, and to her will fall the
character of a 'glorieuse' unworthy of the attention paid her."
"When the instrument player has ceased" continues our
good Canon "make a deep bow by way of taking leave of the young
lady and conduct her gently to the place whence you took her, whilst
thanking her for the honour she has done you." Another extract is
not wanting in flavour: "Hold the head and body straight, have a
countenance of assurance, spit and cough little, and if necessity
compels you, turn your face the other side and use a beautiful white
handkerchief. Talk graciously, in gentle and honest speech, neither
letting your hands hang as if dead or too full of gesticulation. Be
dressed cleanly and neatly 'avec la chausse bien tirée et Pescarpin
propre.'
"And bear in mind these particulars."
CHAPTER VI.
The Modern Theatre Dance: its Origin. Introduced into France from
Italy. Under Henry III., IV., Louis XIII., XIV. Influence of Cardinals
Richelieu and Mazarin. Foundation of the Academic de Danse et de
Musique. The Court Ballet. Molière. Corneille. Lalli, &c. The
Theatre Ballet. The Influence of Noverre. Its introduction into and
its Present Condition in England, &c. Illustrations of Mlles. de
Camargo, Duvernay, Taglioni. Fanny Ellsler. Ferraris, Carlotta Grisi.
Adeline Genée. Anna Pavlova. Fédorova, &c. Various Eastern
Examples.
Although the theatrical ballet dance is comparatively
modern, the elements of its formation are of the greatest antiquity; the
chorus of dancers and the performances of the men in the Egyptian
chapters represent without much doubt public dancing performances. We
get singing, dancing, mimicry and pantomime in the early stages of Greek
art, and the development of the dance rhythm in music is equally
ancient.
The Alexandrine Pantomime, introduced into Rome about 30 B.C. by
Bathillus and Pylades, appears to have been an entertainment approaching
the ballet.
In the middle ages there were the mysteries and "masks";
the latter were frequent in England, and are introduced by Shakespere in
"Henry VIII."
In Italy there appears to have been a kind of ballet in the 14th
century, and from Italy, under the influence of Catharine de' Medici,
came the ballet. Balthasar di Beaujoyeulx produced the first recorded
ballet in France, in the Italian style, in 1582. This was, however,
essentially a Court ballet.
The theatre ballet apparently arose out of these Court ballets. Henry
III. and Henry IV., the latter especially, were very fond of these
entertainments, and many Italians were brought to France to assist in
them. Pompeo Diabono, a Savoyard, was brought to Paris in 1554 to
regulate the Court ballets. At a later date came Rinuccini, the poet, a
Florentine, as was probably Caccini, the musician. They had composed and
produced the little operetta of "Daphne," which had been
performed in Florence in 1597. Under these last-mentioned masters the
ballet in France took somewhat of its present form. This passion for
Court ballets continued under Louis XIII. and Louis XIV.
Louis XIII. as a youth danced in one of the ballets at St. Germain,
it is said at the desire of Richelieu, who was an expert in spectacle.
It appears that he was encouraged in these amusements to remedy fits of
melancholy.
Louis XIV., at seven, danced in a masquerade, and afterwards not only
danced in the ballet of "Cassandra," in 1651, but did all he
could to raise the condition of the dance and encourage dancing and
music. His influence, combined with that of Cardinal Richelieu, raised
the ballet from gross and trivial styles to a dignity worthy of music,
poetry and dancing. His uncle, Gaston of Orleans, still patronized the
grosser style, but it became eclipsed by the better. Lulli composed
music to the words of Molière and other celebrities; amongst notable
works then produced was the "Andromeda" of Corneille, a
tragedy, with hymns and dances, executed in 1650, at the Petit Bourbon.
The foundation of the theatrical ballet was, however, at the
instigation of Mazarin, to prevent a lowering of tone in the
establishment of the Académie de Danse under thirteen
Academicians in 1661. This appears to have been merged into the Académie
Royale de Musique et de Danse in 1669, which provided a proper
training for débutants, under MM. Perrin and Cambert, whilst Beauchamp,
the master of the Court ballets, had charge of the dancing. The first
opera-ballet, the "Pomona" of Perrin and Cambert, was produced
in 1671. To this succeeded many works of Lulli, to whom is attributed
the increased speed in dance music and dancing, that of the Court
ballets having been slow and stately.
The great production of the period appears to have been the
"Triumph of Love" in 1681, with twenty scenes and seven
hundred performers; amongst these were many of the nobility, and some
excellent ballerine, such as Pesaut, Carré, Leclerc, and
Lafontaine.
A detailed history of the ballet is, however, impossible here, and we
must proceed to touch only on salient points. It passed from the Court
to the theatre about 1680 and had two characteristics, one with feminine
dancers, the other without.
Fig. 61: Mlle. de Camargo. After a painting
by Lancret, about 1740 A.D.
It is not a little curious that wearing the mask, a revival of the
antique, was practised in some of these ballets. The history of the
opera-ballet of those days gives to us many celebrated names of
musicians, such as Destouches, who gave new "verve" to ballet
music, and Rameau. Jean Georges Noverre abolished the singing and
established the five-act ballet on its own footing in 1776. In this it
appears he had partly the advice of Garrick, whom he met in London. The
names of the celebrated dancers are numerous, such as Pécourt, Blaudy
(who taught Mlle. Camargo), Laval, Vestris, Germain, Prevost, Lafontaine,
and Camargo (fig. 61), of the 18th century; Taglioni, Grisi, Duvernay,
Cerito, Ellsler, etc., of the 19th century, to those of our own day. A
fair notice of all of these would be a work in itself.
Fig. 62: Pauline Duvernay at Covent Garden, 1833-1838.
Fig. 63: Mlle. Fanny Ellsler. From a lithograph by A. Lacaucbie.
Fig. 63a: Dancing satyr playing castanets, by Myron, in the
Vatican Museum. The action is entirely suggestive of that of Fanny
Ellsler, and might be evidence of the antiquity of the Spanish
tradition.
The introduction of the ballet into England was as late as
1734, when the French dancers, Mlle. Sallé, the rival of Mlle. Camargo,
and Mlle. de Subligny made a great success at Covent Garden in "Ariadne
and Galatea," and Mlle. Salle danced in her own choregraphic
invention of "Pygmalion," since which time it has been popular
in England, when those of the first class can be obtained. There are,
however, some interesting and romantic circumstances connected with the
ballet in London in the last century, which it will not be out of place
to record here. Amongst the dancers of the last century of considerable
celebrity were two already mentioned, Mlles. Duvernay (fig. 62) and
Taglioni (fig. 64), whose names are recorded in the classic verse of
"Ingoldsby."
Fig. 64: Mlle. Taglioni. From a lithograph of the period.
Fig. 65: Pas de Trois by Mlles. Ferraris, Taglioni, and
Carlotta Grisi
"Malibran's dead, Duvernay's fled;
Taglioni has not yet arrived in her stead."
Mlle. Duvernay was a Parisian, and commenced her study under Barrez,
but subsequently was under Vestris and Taglioni, the father of the
celebrity mentioned in the verse.
Duran hangs over the mantelpiece of the refectory of the presbytery.
Having made a great Parisian reputation, she came to London in 1833,
and from that date until 1837 held the town, when she married Mr.
Stephens Lyne Stephens, M.P., a gentleman of considerable wealth, but
was left a childless widow in 1861, and retired to her estate at
Lyneford Hall, Norfolk, living in retirement and spending her time in
good works. She is said to have spent £100,000 in charities and
churches, and that at Cambridge, dedicated to the English martyrs, was
founded, completed, and endowed by her. She led a blameless and worthy
life, and died in 1894. Her portrait by Mlle. Taglioni (fig. 64), her
co-celebrity, married Count Gilbert de Voisins, a French nobleman, in
1847, and with her marriage came an ample fortune; unfortunately the
bulk of this fortune was lost in the Franco-German war. With the courage
of her character the Countess returned to London and gave lessons in
dancing, etc., in which she was sufficiently successful to obtain a fair
living. She died in 1884 at 80 years of age. Of the other celebrities of
the period—Carlotta Grisi, Ferraris (fig. 65), and Fanny Ellsler (fig.
63)—some illustrations are given; besides these were Fanny Cerito,
Lucile Grahn, a Dane, and some others of lesser notoriety performing in
London at this great period of the ballet.
Fig. 66: Mlle. Adeline Genée, 1906. Photo, Ellis and Walery.
Fig. 67: Mlle. Anna Pavlova, 1910. From a photo by Foulsham and
Banfield.
Fig. 68: Mlle. Sophie Fédorova.
The recent encouragement of the classic ballet has introduced us to
some exquisite dancers: amongst these are Mlle. Adeline Genée (fig. 66)
and Mlle. Anna Pavlova (fig. 67); the latter, with M. Mordkin and a
corps of splendid dancers, are from Russia, from whence also comes the
important troupe now at the Alhambra with Mlle. Geltzer and other
excellent dancers. The celebrated company at Covent Garden, and Lydia
Kyasht at the Empire, are also Russian. It is not surprising that we get
excellent dancing from Russia; the school The recent encouragement of
the classic ballet has introduced us to some exquisite dancers: amongst
these are Mlle. Adeline Genée (fig. 66) and Mlle. Anna Pavlova (fig.
67); the latter, with M. Mordkin and a corps of splendid dancers, are
from Russia, from whence also comes the important troupe now at the
Alhambra with Mlle. Geltzer and other excellent dancers. The celebrated
company at Covent Garden, and Lydia Kyasht at the Empire, are also
Russian. It is not surprising that we get excellent dancing from Russia;
the school formed by Peter the Great about 1698 has been under State
patronage ever since.
Notices of all the important dancers from Italy, Spain, Paris, or
elsewhere, performing in England in recent years, would occupy
considerable space, and the reader can easily obtain information
concerning them elsewhere.
That the technique and speed of the classic dance has considerably
increased is historically certain, and we must hope that this speed will
not sacrifice graceful movement. Moreover, technique alone will not make
the complete fine-artist: some invention is involved. Unfortunately,
some modern attempts at invention seem crude and sensational, whilst
lacking the exquisite technique desirable in all exhibitions of finished
art.
Before concluding it is almost imperative to say something about the
naked foot dancers, followers of Isidora Duncan. Some critics and a
certain public have welcomed them; but is it not "sham
antique"? It does not remind one of the really classic. Moreover,
the naked foot should be of antique beauty, which in most of these cases
it is not. Advertisements tell us that these dance are interpretations
of classic music—Chopin, Weber, Brahms, etc.; they are not really
interpretations, but distractions! We can hardly imagine that these
composers intended their work for actual dancing. One can listen and be
entranced; one sees the dancer's "interpretations" or
"translations" and the music is degraded to a series of sham
classic postures.
The idea that running about the stage in diaphanous costumes, with
conventional mimicry and arm action, is classic or beautiful is a
mistake; the term aesthetic may cover, but not redeem it. There is not
even the art of the ordinary ballet-dancer discernible in these
proceedings.
On another plane are such as the ballets in "Don Giovanni"
and "Faust." Mozart and Gounod wrote these with a full
knowledge of the method of interpretation and the persons who had been
trained for that purpose—the performers fit the music and it fits
them. This opera-ballet is also more in accordance with tradition before
the time of Noverre.
Neither do the "popular" and curious exhibitions of Loie
Fuller strike one as having a classic character, or future, of any
consideration, pretty as they may be.
The operetta or musical comedy has given us some excellent art,
especially at the end of the 19th century, when Sylvia Gray, Kate
Vaughan, Letty Lind, Topsy Sinden, and others of like métier
gave us skirt and drapery dancing.
This introduces us to the question of costume. That commonly used by
the prima ballerina is certainly not graceful; it was apparently
introduced about 1830, presumably to show the action and finished method
of the lower extremities. If Fanny Ellsler and Duvernay could excel
without this ugly contrivance, why is it necessary for others?
At the same time it is better than indifferent imitations of the
Greek, or a return to the debased characteristics of Pompeiian art, in
which the effect of the classic and fine character of the material are
rendered in a sort of transparent muslin.
With these notices the author's object in this sketch is completed.
Of the bal-masqué garden dances, public balls and such-like, he
has no intention to treat; they are not classic dancing nor
"art," with the exception perhaps of the Scottish reels. Nor
is he interested in the dancing of savage tribes, nor in that of the
East, although some few illustrations are given to illustrate
traditions: for example, the use of the pipe and tabor in Patagonia, the
dancer from Japan, winged, like that in the "Roman de la Rose"
(fig. 40), and the religious dance of Tibet, showing the survival of the
religious dance in some countries. In Mrs. Groves' book on dancing there
is an excellent chapter on the Ritual dance as now practised, to which
the reader can refer.
Fig. 69: Japanese Court Dance.
Fig. 70: Indian dancing-girl.
Fig. 71: Patagonian dancers to fife and tabor.
Fig. 72: Tibetan religious dancing procession, 1908 a.d.
Fig. 5: Cyprian limestone group of
Phoenician dancers, about 6½ in. high. There is a somewhat similar
group, also from Cyprus, in the British Museum. The dress, a hooded
cowl, appears to be of great antiquity.
Fig. 6: Phoenician patera, from Idalium,
showing a religious ritual dance before a goddess in a temple round a
sun emblem.
Fig. 7: Female Figure smelling a lotus.
From a painting in the British Museum.
Fig. 8: Dance of Bacchantes, painted by
the ceramic painter, Hieron. (British Museum.)
Fig. 9: Dancing Bacchante. From a vase
in the British Museum.
Fig. 10: Greek terra cotta dancing
girl, about 350 B.C. (British Museum.)
Fig. 11: The
Gěrănŏs from a vase in the Museo Borbonico,
Naples.
Fig. 12: Panathenaeac dance, about the
4th century B.C.
Fig. 13: A military dance, supposed to
be the Corybantum. From a Greek bas-relief in the Vatican
Museum.
Fig. 14: Greek dancer with castanets.
(British Museum.) See also Castanet dance by Myron, Fig. 63a.
Fig. 26: Bacchante leading the
Dionysian bull to the altar. Bas-relief in the Vatican.
Fig. 27: Bacchante. From a fresco,
Pompeii, 1st century B.C.
Fig. 28: Dancer. From a fresco in the
Baths of Constantine, 4th century A.D.
Fig. 29: Gleemen's dance, 9th century.
From Cleopatra, Cotton MS. C. viii., British Museum.
Fig. 30: Dancing to horn and pipe. From
an Anglo-Saxon MS.
Fig. 31: Anglo-Saxon sword dance. From
the MS. Cleopatra, C. viii., British Museum.
Fig. 32: Sword dance to bagpipes, 14th
century. From 2 B vii., Royal MS., British Museum.
Fig. 33: Herodias tumbling. From a MS.
end of 13th century (Addl. 18,719, f. 253b), British Museum.
Fig. 34: A tumbler, as caryatid. Rouen
Cathedral, 13th century.
Fig. 35: 14th century dancers. A and C
are tumblers; B, tumbling and balancing to the tambour; D, a woman
dancing around a whipped bear; E, jesters dancing.
Fig. 36: A, man dancing and playing
pipes, carrying a woman; B, jumping through a hoop; C, a stilt dance.
14th century.
Fig. 37: Italian dance. From an
engraving, end of 15th century, attributed to Baccio Baldini.
Fig. 38: Italian dancing, the end of
the 15th century.
Fig. 39: Chamber dance, 15th century.
From a drawing by Martin Zasinger.
Fig. 40: Dancing in a "pleasure
garden," end of the 15th century. French, from the "Roman de
la Rose," in the British Museum.
Fig. 41: Fancy dress dance of Wildemen
of the 15th century. From MS. 4379 Harl, British Museum.
Fig. 42: Comic dance to pipe and tabor,
end of 15th century. From pen drawing in the Mediaeval House Book in
the Castle of Wolfegg, by the Master of the Amsterdam Cabinet.
Fig. 57: Spring dancing away from
winter. From a drawing by Watteau.
Fig. 58: The Misses Gunning dancing.
End of the 18th century, from a print by Bunbury, engraved by
Bartolozzi.
Fig. 59: Dancing. Close of the 18th
century. From Derby ware.
Fig. 60: Spanish dance in the Hall of
Saragoza, 19th century.
Fig. 61: Mlle. de Camargo. After a
painting by Lancret, about 1740 A.D.
Fig. 62: Pauline Duvernay at Covent
Garden, 1833-1838.
Fig. 63: Mlle. Fanny Ellsler. From a
lithograph by A. Lacaucbie.
Fig. 63a: Dancing satyr playing
castanets, by Myron, in the Vatican Museum. The action is entirely
suggestive of that of Fanny Ellsler, and might be evidence of the
antiquity of the Spanish tradition.
Fig. 64: Mlle. Taglioni. From a
lithograph of the period.
Fig. 65: Pas de Trois by Mlles.
Ferraris, Taglioni, and Carlotta Grisi.
Fig. 66: Mlle. Adeline Genée, 1906.
Photo, Ellis and Walery.
Fig. 67: Mlle. Anna Pavlova, 1910. From
a photo by Foulsham and Banfield.
Etchings
Dance is everything dance! Hip hop, jazz dance, pop-n-lock, tap,
ballet, modern, lyrical, tango, ballroom dancing, flamenco dance &
break dancing. So you think you can dance, dance, dancing, dancer, dancers, auditions, casting, casting calls, studio, choreograph, routines, theatre, aerobics, fitness, funk, classes, instruction, hip hop, ballet, jazz, modern, tap, disco,
african, belly, lyrical, irish, highland, breaking, popping, locking,
macarena, electric slide, ballroom, salsa, waltz, tango, flamenco, cha cha, moon walk,
acro, tumbling, figure skating, rhythmic gymnastics, twirling, cheerleading, color guard, competitions, drill teams,
poms, liturgical, health, injuries, recipes,
manhattan So
you think you can dance, season 4, season 3, dancing with the stars, BALLET
JAZZ TAP MODERN HIP HOP LYRICAL
POP-N-LOCK TANGO BALLROOM FLAMENCO
BREAK DANCING You can purchase dance books and videos, dance
clothes, dance shoes, dance accessories and just about everything dance.
We will list links to dance auditions, casting calls, dance magazines,
dance competitions, dance festivals, dance schools, colleges that offer
dance programs and dance companies. Soon we will have the schedule
for Etchings Dance Company and Etchings Dance Studio, known simply as
"etchings". Search terms: hamster dance, break dance,
musical dance, dance music, dance club, dance dance revolution, belly
dance, dance lesson, so you think you can dance, i hope you dance, save
the last dance, dance costume, hip hop dance, shall we dance, dance
team, dance apparel, dance studio, dance move, dance school, dance
instruction, evolution of dance, dance class, dance video, the dance,
dance competition, dance with me, chicken dance, dance floor, hip hop
dance move, ballroom dance, belly dance costume, line dance, dance
recital, salsa dance, lord of the dance, dance steps, modern dance, tap
dance, dance picture, square dance, dance company, Mexican hat dance,
swing dance, Irish dance, dance clothes, dance clip art, jazz dance,
dance skirt, learn to dance, dance song, dance party, hip hop dance
class, dance
