The Theatrical Dance
As The eighteenth century was in one sense an age of music and
!٥ng١ in another it might be described as tlie age oftlie hornpipe, minuet, alle-
٥٠٥٠٥٠. and comic dance. On 80 per cent of the evenings wlren plays were
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dances filled out
entertainment. Eacli patent tlieatre during
٠ Garrick period employed a ballet master, a premiere
danseuse,
and, a
of from te
to twen
dancers. The dance season got underway
-!،heearly weeks in
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carried through till tlie season’s end.
:
repertory consisted of from four to six familiar dances, that is, those
St* the season before, plus from tliree to tilirteen new ones. The index
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alone a
Drury
andc.vent Garden contains o^er six. liundred
k
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ail but one of which (the German Jew, Drury Lane, 9 December 1749)
ere performed many times.
sho
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lias been published to date abotit tlie details of these dances, tliat
,
their nightly occurrence, l ean0
^
more than refine
٠ already made by Dr Avery for tliose wliicli appeared in tlie
er period. Thcfive typesprominentintheGarrickperiod bear re-statement.
loUyT' Dances of figures and steps alone (liornpipe, minuet,
allemande,
cotillion, reel, country dance, anti quadrille),
and Narrative dances of six kinds, wliicli tlirougli bodily motion, costume
prop, relate a story and point a moral.
Macl' Atmosphere pieces, enforcing tlie tone of a play (Dance of Furies in
ethj or Fantastic Spirits in tlie Tempest■, Crutcli Dance ,in the Jovial Crew).
4' Rational Types (Spanish, Dutch, Swiss, Irish),
the c p:،i':r of the domestic scene (the Marriage Feast, the JVake,
Ccasionally a dance was advertised as a "serious dance,"75 botli witli
understanding of the term “serious dance” stemmed ftom Jo
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dancing, I would be
“By seri
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and Pantomimes (London
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haye
excëed,
whether
the
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،
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Or T
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where an air, firmness, and a graceful and regulated motion of all parts
.
cliarlcterthat is either
na
r
wheresuch dancing s
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ا ;
where nice addrCsy and. management 'of thC
٥n،f to oucient Fable, or othe
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take up the thought of the performer, and in which he 'is to shew his
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