,transcriber's ,note3   ,spelling and   
punctuation are unchanged4 ,exceptions  
are noted   at the end of the text4     
,illustration                           
,a                      ,,treatise      
on the                        ,,art     
of                      ,,dancing4      
,by ,giovanni-,andrea ,gallini4         
,,london3              ,printed for the 
,,author2     ,and ,sold by ,r4         
,,dodsley1 in ,pall-,mall2  ,t4 ,,becket
 and ,p4 ,a4 ,,de ,,hondt1 in the       
,strand2       ,j4 ,,dixwell1 in ,st4   
,martin's-,lane1              near      
,charing-,cross2                        
and      ,at ,mr4 ,,bremner's ,music    
,shop1 opposite        ,somerset-,house1
 in the ,strand4                        
,,mdcclxxii4       ,the ,,table    of   
,,contents4     ,of the ,antient ,dance 
p4 #ag    ,of ,dancing in ,general      
#di    ,of sundry ,requisites for the   
,perfection     of the ,art of ,dancing 
#hi    ,some ,thoughts on the ,utility  
of ,learning to ,dance1     and         

especially upon the ,minuet             
#aci    ,summary ,account of various    
,kinds of ,dances     in different      
,parts of the ,world                    
#aha    ,of ,pantomimes                 
#bbg     ,,advertisement4   ,what ,i    
have here to say is rather in the nature
 of an apology than of a preface or     
advertisement4 ,the very title of a     
,treatise upon the art of dancing by a  
dancing-master1 implicitly threatens so 
much either of the exageration of the   
profession1 or of the recommendation of 
himself1 and most probably of both1 that
 it cannot be improper for me to bespeak
 the reader's favorable precaution      
against so natural a prejudice4 ,my     
principal motive for hazarding this     
production is1 indisputably1 gratitude4 
,the approbation with which my          
endeavours to please in the dances of my
 composition have been honored1 inspired
 me with no sentiment so strongly as    
that of desiring to prove to the public1
 that sensibility of its favor2 which1  

in an artist1 is more than a duty4 ,it  
is even one of the means of obtaining   
its favor1 by its inspiring that aim at 
perfection1 in order to the deserving   
it1 which is unknown to a merely        
mercenary spirit4 ,under the influence  
of that sentiment1 it occurred to me1   
that it might not be unpleasing to the  
public to have a fair state of the      
pretentions of this art to its          
encouragement1 and even to its esteem1  
laid before it1 by a practitioner of    
this art4 ,in stating these pretentions1
 there is nothing ,i shall more avoid   
than the enthusiasm arising from that   
vanity or self-conceit1 which leads     
people into the ridicule of over-rating 
the merit or importance of their        
profession4 ,i shall not1 for example1  
presume to recommend dancing as a       
virtue2 but ,i may1 without presumption1
 represent it as one of the principal   
graces1 and1 in the just light1 of being
 employed in adorning and making ,virtue
 amiable1 who is far from rejecting such

 assistence4 ,in the view of a genteel  
exercise1 it strengthens the body2 in   
the view of a liberal accomplishment1 it
 visibly diffuses a graceful agility    
through it2 in the view of a private or 
public entertainment1 it is not only a  
general instinct of nature1 expressing  
health and joy by nothing so strongly as
 by dancing2 but is susceptible withall 
of the most elegant collateral          
embellishments of taste1 from poetry1   
music1 painting1 and machinery4  ,one of
 the greatest and most admired          
institutors of youth1 whose fine taste  
has been allowed clear from the least   
tincture of pedantry1 ,quintilian       
recommends especially the talent of     
dancing1 as conducive to the formation  
of orators2 not1 as he very justly      
observes1 that an orator should retain  
any thing of the air of a               
dancing-master1 in his motion or        
gesture2 but that the impression from   
the graces of that art should have      
insensibly stoln into his manner1 and   

fashioned it to please4  ,even that     
austere critic1 ,scaliger1 made the     
principles of it so far his concern1    
that he was able personally to satisfy  
an ,emperor's curiosity1 as to the      
nature and meaning of the ,pirrhic      
dance1 by executing it before him4  ,all
 this ,i mention purely to obviate the  
prepossession of the art being so       
frivolous1 so unworthy of the attention 
of the manly and grave1 as it is        
vulgarly1 or on a superficial view1     
imagined4 ,it is not high notions of it 
that ,i am so weak as to aim at         
impressing2 all that ,i wish is to give 
just ones3 it being perhaps as little   
eligible1 for want of consideration1 to 
see less in this art than it really     
deserves1 than1 from a fond partiality  
for it1 to see more than there is in it4
                            ,a          
,,treatise                       on the 
,,art of ,,dancing4       ,of the       
,,antient ,dance4   ,in most of the     
nations among the antients1 dancing was 

not only much practised1 but constituted
 not even an inconsiderable part of     
their religious rites and ceremonies4   
,the accounts we have of the sacred     
dances1 of the ,jews especially1 as well
 as of other nations1 evidently attest  
it4  ,the ,greeks1 who probably took    
their first ideas of this art1 as they  
did of most others1 from ,egypt1 where  
it was in great esteem and practice1    
carried it up to a very high pitch4     
,they were in general1 in their bodies1 
extremely well conformed1 and disposed  
for this exercise4 ,many of them piqued 
themselves on rivalling1 in excellence  
of execution1 the most celebrated       
masters of the art4 ,that majestic air1 
so natural to them1 while they preserved
 their liberty1 the delicacy of their   
taste1 and the cultivated agility of    
their limbs1 all qualified them for     
making an agreeable figure in this kind 
of entertainment4 ,nothing could be more
 graceful than the motion of their arms4
 ,they did not so much regard the       

nimbleness and capering with the legs   
and feet1 on which we lay so great a    
stress4 ,attitude1 grace1 expression1   
were their principal object4 ,they      
executed scarce any thing in dancing1   
without special regard to that          
expression which may be termed the life 
and soul of it4  ,their steps and       
motions were all distinct1 clear1 and   
neat2 proceeding from a strength so     
suppled1 as to give their joints all the
 requisite flexibility and obedience to 
command4  ,they did not so much affect  
the moderately comic1 or half serious1  
as they did the great1 the pompous1 or  
heroic stile of dance4 ,they spared for 
no pains nor cost1 towards the          
perfection of their dances4 ,the figures
 were exquisite4 ,the least number of   
the figurers were forty or fifty4 ,their
 dresses were magnificent and in taste4 
,their decorations were sublime4 ,a     
competent skill in the theatrical1 or   
actor's art1 and a great one in that of 
dancing1 was necessary for being        

admitted into the number of figurers4   
,in short1 every thing was in the       
highest order1 and very fit to prove the
 mistake of those who imagine that the  
dances are1 in operas for example1 no   
more than a kind of necessary expletive 
of the intervals of the acts1 for the   
repose of the singers4  ,the ,greeks    
considered dancing in another point of  
light2 all their festivals and games1   
which were in greater number than in    
other countries1 were intermixed and    
heightened with dances peculiarly       
composed in honor of their deities4     
,from before their altars1 and from     
their places of worship1 they were soon 
introduced upon their theatres1 to which
 they were undoubtedly a prior          
invention4 ,the strophe1 antistrophe1   
and epode1 were nothing but certain     
measures performed by a chorus of       
dancers1 in harmony with the voice2     
certain movements in dancing            
correspondent to the subject1 which were
 all along considered as a constitutive 

part of the performance4 ,the dancing   
even governed the measure of the        
stanzas2 as the signification of the    
words strophe and antistrophe1 plainly  
imports1 they might be properly called  
danced himns4 ,the truth is1 that       
tragedy and comedy1 made also originally
 to be sung1 but which1 in process of   
time1 upon truer principles of nature1  
came to be acted and declaimed1 were but
 super-inductions to the choruses1 of   
which1 in tragedy especially1 the       
tragic-writers1 could not well get rid1 
as being part of the religious ceremony4
  ,this solves1 in a great measure1 the 
seeming absurdity of their interference 
with the subject of the drama3 being    
deemed so indispensable a part of the   
performance1 that the scene itself was  
hardly more so3 consequently1 there was 
no secret supposed to be more violated  
by speaking before them1 than before the
 inanimate scene itself4 ,but what was  
at least excusable1 on this footing1 in 
the antients1 would be an unpardonable  

absurdity in the moderns4  ,athenus1 who
 has left us an account of many of the  
antient dances1 as the ,mactrismus1 a   
dance entirely for the female sex1 the  
,molossic1 the ,persian ,sicinnis1 c4   
observes1 that in the earliest ages of  
antiquity1 dancing was esteemed an      
exercise1 not only not inconsistent with
 decency and gravity1 but practised by  
persons of the greatest worth and honor4
 ,socrates himself1 learnt the art1 when
 he was already advanced in years4      
,cautious as ,i am of using a false     
argument1 ,i should say1 that the making
 dances a part of their religious       
ceremonies1 was a mark of their         
attributing even a degree of sanctity to
 them2 but that ,i am aware there were  
many things that found a place in their 
festivals and games1 which1 among those 
heathens1 were so far from having any   
thing of sacred in them1 that they did  
not even show a respect for common      
decency or morality4  ,but as to        
dancing1 it may be presumed1 that that  

exercise was considered as having       
nothing intrinsically in it1 contrary to
 purity of manners or chastity1 since it
 made a considerable part of the worship
 paid to the presiding goddess of that  
virtue1 ,diana1 in the festivals        
consecrated to her4 ,her altar was held 
in the highest veneration by the        
antients4 ,temples of the greatest      
magnificence were erected in honor of   
this goddess4 ,who does not know the    
great ,diana of ,ephesus8 ,the          
assemblies in her temples were solemn1  
and at stated periods4 ,none were       
admitted but virgins of the most        
spotless character4 ,they executed      
dances before the altar1 in honor of the
 deity1 with a most graceful decency2   
invoking her continual inspiration of   
pure thoughts1 and her protection of    
their chastity4 ,those of them1 who     
distinguished themselves above the rest1
 by superior graces of performance1     
received rewards not only from the      
priestess of ,diana1 but from their own 

parents4 ,nor were the young men but    
curiously inquisitive1 as to who        
particularly excelled on these          
occasions4 ,distinction in these dances 
was a great incentive to love1 and      
produced many happy unions4  ,such of   
these virgins as married1 retained1 in  
quality of wives1 such a veneration for 
this sort of worship1 that they formed  
an assembly of matrons1 who on set days1
 performed much the same devotion1      
imploring1 in concert1 of the goddess1 a
 continuance of her gifts1 and of that  
spirit of purity1 the fittest to make   
them edifying examples of conjugal love 
and maternal tenderness4  ,innocent     
amusements having been ever reputed     
allowable1 and even necessary expedients
 for relaxing both mind and body from   
the fatigue of serious or robust        
occupations1 ,diana had her temples1    
especially in countries proper for      
hunting1 where the parents used to      
resort with their children1 and         
encouraged them to partake of the       

diversions in which dancing had a       
principal share4  ,the antients have    
left us an unaccountable description of 
the ,bacchanalians1 whose deportment    
forms a striking contrast to the decent 
regularity observed in the worship of   
,diana4 ,the ,bacchanalians strolled the
 country1 and1 in the course of that    
vagabond scheme1 erected temporary huts1
 their residence being always short     
wherever they came4 ,in their           
intoxication they seemed to defy all    
decency and order2 affecting noise1 and 
a kind of tumultuous1 boisterous joy1 in
 which there could never be any true    
pleasure or harmony4 ,they were1 in the 
licentiousness of their manners1 a      
nuisance to society2 which they         
scandalized and disturbed by their      
riots1 their mad frolics1 and even by   
their quarrels4 ,their heads and waists 
were bound with ivy1 and in their hands 
they brandished a thirsus1 or kind of   
lance1 garnished with vine-leaves4 ,when
 by any foulness of weather they were   

driven into their huts1 they passed     
their time in a kind of noisy merriment1
 of shoutings and dithirambic catches1  
accompanied by timpanums1 by cymbals1 by
 sistrums1 and other instruments1 in    
which noise was more consulted than     
music1 and corresponded to the sort of  
time they kept to them1 in the frantic  
agitations of their ,bacchic enthusiasm4
 ,the ,corybantes were called so from   
their disorderly dancing as they went   
along4  ,the ,pirrhic dance differs not 
much from ,plato's military dance4 ,the 
invention of it is most generally       
attributed to ,pirrhus1 son of          
,achilles2 at least this opinion is     
countenanced by ,lucian1 in his treatise
 upon dancing2 though it is most        
probably derived from the ,memphitic    
dance of ,egypt4 ,the manner of it was  
to dance armed to the sound of          
instruments4 ,xenophon takes notice of  
these dances in armour1 especially among
 the ,thracians1 who were so warlike a  
people4 ,in their dance to music1 they  

exhibited the imitation of a battle4    
,they executed various evolutions2 they 
seemed to wound each other mortally1    
some falling down as if they had        
received their death-wound2 while those 
who had given the blow sung to the song 
of triumph1 called ,sitalia1 and then   
withdrew1 leaving the rest to take up   
their seeming dead comrade1 and to make 
preparations for his mock-funeral1 in   
the pantomime stile of dance4 ,he has   
also described the dance of the         
,magnesians1 in which they represented  
their tilling the ground1 in an         
attitude1 and in readiness for defence1 
against expected moroders4 ,they put    
themselves in a posture of protecting   
their plough1 with other motions        
expressive of their resolution and      
courage1 all adapted to the sound of the
 flute4 ,the moroders arrive1 prevail1  
and bind the husbandmen to their plough1
 and this terminates the dance4         
,sometimes the dance varies1 and the    
husbandmen prevailing1 bind the         

moroders4  ,the same author mentions    
also the ,mysians who danced in armour1 
and used a particular sort of pelt or   
targets1 on which they received the     
blows4 ,in short1 these armed dances had
 different names bestowed upon them1    
according to the countries in which they
 were used4  ,the ,egyptians and ,greeks
 were extravagantly expensive in their  
public festivals1 of which1 dancing     
always constituted a considerable part4 
,the ,romans1 among whom the more coarse
 and licentious dances derived from the 
,hetruscans1 had at first prevailed1    
came at length to adopt the improvements
 of taste1 and consequently of decency  
and regularity2 the festivals1 of which 
dancing was to compose the principal    
entertainment1 were adapted to the      
season of the year4  ,every autumn1 for 
example1 it was a constant custom1 for  
those who could afford the expence1 to  
build a magnificent saloon in the midst 
of a delightful garden4 ,this ball-room 
was decorated in the most brilliant     

manner3 ,at one end of the ball-room    
stood a statue of ,pomona1 surrounded   
with a great number of baskets made in  
the neatest manner1 and full of all the 
finest fruits that the season produced4 
,these1 with the statue1 were placed    
under a canopy hung round with clusters 
of real grapes and vine-leaves1 so      
artfully disposed as to appear of the   
natural growth4 ,these served to refresh
 both the eye and mouth4 ,the performers
 of the ball went up to this part of the
 saloon1 in couples1 processionally1 to 
avoid confusion4 ,each youth took care  
to help his partner to what she liked   
best1 and then returned1 in the same    
regular manner1 to the other end of the 
room1 when they served what remained to 
the rest of the spectators4 ,after which
 the ball immediately began4  ,i was    
shown1 by an ,italian painter1 a curious
 picture in his possession1 of the      
antients celebrating one of this kind of
 festivals4 ,the attitudes into which   
the figures were put1 and which appeared

 to have been drawn for the conclusion  
of the ball1 were beautiful beyond      
imagination4  ,in winter there were     
balls in the city of ,rome2 for which   
the appropriated apartments were        
commodious2 and where the illuminations 
were so great1 that notwithstanding the 
usual rigor of that season1 the room was
 sufficiently warm4  ,round the room    
there were tables and stands1 on which  
was placed the desert2 and there were   
generally twelve persons chosen to      
distribute the refreshments1 and do the 
honors of the ball4 ,the whole was      
conducted with the utmost decency and   
regularity1 while ,rome preserved her   
respect for virtue and innocence of     
manners4  ,by the best accounts         
procurable1 their serious dances were   
properly interspersed and inlivened with
 comic movements4 ,their first steps    
were solemn and majestic1 and1 by       
couples they turned under each other's  
arms2 and when the whole thus turned    
together1 they could not but afford a   

pleasing sight4 ,after which they       
resumed the serious again1 and so       
proceeded alternately till they         
concluded the dance4  ,in the spring1   
the country became naturally the scene  
of their dances4 ,the best companies    
resorted1 especially to such villages as
 were noted for the most pure and       
salubrious springs of water4 ,if the    
weather was mild1 they danced upon an   
open green2 if not1 they formed a large 
covered pavilion1 in the middle of which
 they placed the statue of ,flora1      
ornamented with flowers1 round which    
they performed their dances4 ,first the 
youth1 then those of riper years2 and   
lastly1 those of a more advanced age4   
,after each of these divisions had      
danced separately1 they all joined and  
formed one great circle4 ,the most      
distinguished for excellence in the     
performing these dances1 had for reward 
the privilege of taking a flower1 with  
great solemnity1 from the statue of the 
goddess4 ,this was esteemed so high an  

honor1 that it is scarce imaginable how 
great an emulation this inspired2 as    
this privilege was to be obtained by the
 impartial determination of the best    
judges4  ,summer was however the season 
in which the pleasure of dancing was    
carried to the highest pitch4 ,for the  
scene of it1 they chose a shady and     
delightful part of a wood1 where the    
sunshine could not incommode them1 and  
where care was taken to clear the ground
 underfoot1 for their performance4 ,a   
young lady of the most eminence for rank
 and beauty was chosen to personate the 
goddess ,ceres4 ,her dress was of an    
exquisite taste1 ornamented with tufts  
of gold1 in imitation of wheat-sheaves3 
while her head was decked with a kind of
 crown composed of spangles1            
representing the ears of ripe corn1 and 
perhaps1 for the greater simplicity1 of 
the natural grain itself4 ,those who    
danced round her1 all wore wreaths of   
the choicest flowers1 and were dressed  
in white1 with their hair flowing loose1

 in the stile of wood-nimphs4 ,on this  
occasion1 there was always a great croud
 of spectators2 and the joy that        
appeared in each parent's eye1 when     
their daughters were applauded1 made no 
small part of the entertainment4 ,as    
garlands1 and wreaths of flowers        
composed the principal ornament of the  
persons who performed in this dance1    
such a respect was had for it by the    
people in general1 that they abstained  
from gathering any flowers1 till after  
this festival was over4  ,i have myself 
seen a drawing of this rural dance1 in  
which ,i counted no less than sixty     
performers4  ,the celebrated ,pilades is
 mentioned to have been the great       
improver of this dance4 ,he excluded    
from it all jumping or capering1 for    
fear of violating or of disfiguring the 
graceful regularity of the whole1 which 
he considered as the most essential     
towards preserving a pleasing effect4   
,not less than two months were the usual
 time of preparation for this dance1 to 

which there was always a confluence of  
persons from all the neighbouring parts4
 ,but none were allowed the liberty of  
dancing1 except persons of the first    
rank and distinction in the country2 the
 whole being regulated by some person   
acting in quality of choragus1 or       
director of the dance4  ,the reign of   
,augustus ,csar was undoubtedly the     
epoch1 of the establishment in ,rome1 of
 the art of dancing in its greatest     
splendor4 ,cahusac1 an ingenious ,french
 author1 in his historical treatise of  
this art1 assigns to that emperor a deep
 political design in giving it so great 
an encouragement as he undoubtedly did2 
that of diverting the ,romans from      
serious thoughts on the loss of their   
liberty2 especially in fomenting a      
dissention among them1 about so         
frivolous an object as the competition  
between those two celebrated dancers1   
,pilades and ,bathillus4 ,that something
 of this sort might be the design of    
that emperor1 is not to be doubted2 but 

,cahusac1 over-heated1 perhaps1 by his  
subject1 exagerates the importance of it
 beyond the bounds of cool reason4 ,so  
much however is true1 that those two    
dancers were extremely eminent in their 
art1 and may be esteemed the founders of
 that theatrical dancing1 or pantomime  
execution1 for which it is not          
sufficient to be only a good dancer1 but
 there is also required the being a good
 actor2 in both which lights1 these two 
artists were allowed to excel1 ,pilades 
in the serious or tragic dance1         
,bathillus in the comic4  ,these also   
founded a kind of academies of dancing1 
which produced several eminent artists1 
but none that ever equalled themselves  
in performance or reputation4 ,what     
history records of them1 and of their   
powers1 as well as of that theatrical   
pantomime dance1 of which they were the 
introductors1 in ,rome1 would exceed    
belief1 if it was not attested by such a
 number of authors as leave no room to  
think it an imposition4  ,but as to     

dancing itself1 either considered in a  
religious1 or in only an amusive light1 
it may be pronounced to have been among 
the ,romans1 as old as ,rome itself1 and
 like that rude in its beginnings1 but  
to have received gradual improvement1 as
 fast as the other arts and sciences    
gained ground4  ,processional dances    
were also much in vogue among that      
people4 ,they had especially an         
anniversary ceremony or procession1     
called1 from its pre-eminence1 singly1  
,,pompa1 or the ,pomp4  ,it was         
celebrated1 in commemoration of a       
victory obtained over the ,latians1 the 
news of which was said to have been     
brought by ,castor and ,pollux1 in      
person4 ,this festival1 was1 at first1  
consecrated to ,jupiter1 ,juno1 and     
,minerva4 ,but it was afterwards made   
more general1 and celebrated in honor of
 all the ,gods4 ,this procession was in 
the month of ,september4 ,it began at   
the temple of ,jupiter ,capitolinus1    
proceeded to the ,forum ,romanum1 from  

thence to the ,velabrum1 and afterwards 
to the ,grand ,circus4 ,you have in     
,onuphrius ,panvinius1 the order of this
 procession at large1 of which the      
directors were the chief magistrates of 
the city3 the sons of the nobility      
leading the van4 ,those of the          
,equestrian order1 whose fathers were   
worth a hundred and fifty thousand      
sesterces1 followed on horseback4 ,it   
would be here foreign from my purpose to
 give the whole description of this     
procession1 and of those who composed   
it4 ,it is sufficient to observe1 that  
processional dancing constituted a      
considerable part of it4 ,the ,pirrhic  
dance1 executed to a martial air1 called
 the ,proceleumaticus1 employed the men 
of arms4 ,these were followed by persons
 who danced and leaped1 in the manner of
 ,satirs1 some of them in the dress     
ascribed to ,silenus1 attended by       
performers on instruments adapted to    
that character of dance4 ,these made the
 comic part of the procession1 and the  

persons representing ,satirs1 took care 
to divert the people by leaps1 by a     
display of agility1 and by odd uncouth  
attitudes1 such as were in the character
 they had assumed4 ,there were also in  
another part of the procession twelve   
,salii1 or priests of ,mars1 so called  
from their making sacred dances in honor
 of that ,god1 the most considerable    
part of their worship2 these were headed
 by their master or ,prsul1 the leader  
of the dance1 a term afterwards assumed 
by the ,christian ,prelates4 ,there were
 also the ,salian virgins1 besides      
another division of the ,salii called   
,agonenses or ,collini4  ,nor is the    
processional dancing any thing          
surprizing2 concerning that among the   
heathens1 and even among the ,hebrews1  
they were greatly in use4 ,who does not 
know that ,david's dancing before the   
arch was but in consequence of its being
 one of the religious ceremonies on that
 occasion8  ,the heathens used          
especially to form dances before their  

altars1 and round the statues of their  
gods4 ,the ,salii1 or priests of ,mars1 
whose dances were so framed as to give  
an idea of military exercise and        
activity1 threw into their performance  
steps so expressive and majestic1 as not
 only to defend their motions and       
gestures from any idea of levity and    
burlesque1 which it is so natural for   
the moderns to associate with that of   
dancing1 but even to inspire the        
beholders with respect and a religious  
awe4 ,the priests chosen for this       
function1 were always persons of the    
noblest aspect1 suitable to the dignity 
of the sacerdotal ministry4 ,and so     
little needs that dignity of the heathen
 ministry be thought to be wounded or   
violated by the act of dancing1 in      
religious worship1 that dances were     
actually in use among the primitive     
,christians1 in their religious         
assemblies4 ,there was a place in their 
churches1 especially allotted for these 
consecrated dances1 upon solemn         

festivals1 which even gave the name of  
choir to those parts of the church now  
only appropriated to the reading of the 
divine service1 and to singing4 ,in     
,spain1 it long remained an established 
custom for ,christians to assemble in   
the church-porches1 where1 in honor of  
,god1 they sang sacred himns1 and to the
 tunes of them1 performed dances1 that  
were extremely pleasing1 for the decent 
and beautiful simplicity of the         
execution4 ,all which ,i mention purely 
to salve that inconsistence1 of the     
levity of dancing with the gravity of   
divine worship4 ,an inconsistence of    
which the antients had no idea2 since1  
on that occasion1 they almost constantly
 joined dancing to singing4  ,they are  
both natural expressions of joy and     
festivity2 and as such they thought     
neither of them improper in an address  
of gratulation to the deity1 whom they  
supposed rather pleased at such innocent
 oblations of the heart1 exulting in his
 manifold bounties and blessings4  ,from

 before the altar1 among the heathens1  
the admission of dances upon the        
theatre1 was rather an extension of     
their power to entertain1 than a total  
change of their destination2 since the  
theatres themselves were dedicated to   
the worship of the heathen deities1 of  
which their making a part was one of the
 principal objections of the primitive  
,christians to the theatres themselves4 
,however1 it was from the theatres that 
dancing received its great and capital  
improvement4  ,as an exercise1 the      
virtue of dancing was well known to the 
antients1 for its keeping up the        
strength and agility of the human body4 
,there is a remark which ,i submit to   
the consideration of the reader1 that it
 is not impossible but that the antient 
,romans1 who were1 generally speaking1  
low in stature1 and yet were eminently  
strong1 owed that advantage to their    
cultivation of bodily exercise4 ,this   
kept their limbs supple1 and rendered   
their constitution stout and hardy4     

,now1 very laborious exercises would    
rather wear out the machine than they   
would invigorate it1 if there was not a 
due relaxation1 which should not1       
however1 be too abrupt a transition from
 the most fatiguing exercises to a state
 of absolute rest4 ,whereas that        
dancing1 of which they were so fond1    
afforded them1 not only a pleasing      
employ of vacant hours1 but1 withall1 in
 its keeping up the pliability of their 
limbs1 made them find more ease in the  
application of themselves to more       
athletic1 or to more violent exercises1 
either of war or of the chace3 while all
 together bred that firmness of their   
muscles1 that robust compactness and    
vigor of body1 which enabled them to    
atchieve that military valor1 to which  
they owed all their conquests and their 
glory4  ,certain it is then1 that among 
the ,romans1 even in the most martial   
days of that republic1 the art of       
dancing was taught1 as one of the points
 of accomplishment necessary to the     

education of youth2 and was even        
practised among the exercises of the    
,circus4 ,i need not observe1 that there
 were also various abuses of dancing1   
which they very justly accounted        
dishonorable to those who practised     
them1 whether in public or private4     
,these1 in the degenerate days of ,rome1
 grew to an enormous excess4 ,but ,i    
presume no one will judge of an art by  
the abuse that may be made of it4       
,of                       ,,dancing     
,in ,general4   ,this is one of the     
arts1 in which1 as in all the rest1 the 
study of nature is especially to be     
recommended4 ,she is an unerring guide4 
,she gives that harmony1 that power of  
pleasing to the productions of those who
 consult her1 which such as neglect her 
must never expect4 ,they will furnish   
nothing but monsters and discordances2  
or1 at the best1 but sometimes lucky    
hits1 without meaning or connexion4     
,all the imitative arts acknowledge this
 principle4  ,in ,poetry1 a happy choice

 of the most proper words for expressing
 the sentiments and images drawn from   
the observation of nature1 constitutes  
the principal object of the poet4  ,in  
,painting1 the disposition of the       
subject1 the resemblance of the coloring
 to that of the original1 in short the  
greatest possible adherence to nature1  
is the merit of that art4  ,in ,music1  
that expression of the passions which   
should raise the same in the hearer1    
whether of joy1 affliction1 tenderness1 
or pity1 can never have its effect      
without marking and adopting the        
respective sounds of each passion as    
they are furnished by nature4  ,in      
,dancing1 the attitudes1 gestures1 and  
motions derive also their principle from
 nature1 whether they caracterise joy1  
rage1 or affection1 in the bodily       
expression respectively appropriated to 
the different affections of the soul4 ,a
 consideration this1 which clearly      
proves the mistake of those1 who imagine
 the art of dancing solely confined to  

the legs1 or even arms2 whereas the     
expression of it should be              
pantomimically diffused through the     
whole body1 the face especially         
included4  ,monsieur ,cahusac1 in his   
ingenious treatise on this art1 has very
 justly observed1 that both singing and 
dancing must have existed from the      
primeval times2 that is to say1 from the
 first of the existence of human-kind   
itself4    ,observe1 says he1 the tender
 children1 from their entry   into the  
world1 to the moment in which their     
reason unfolds   itself1 and you will   
see that it is primitive nature         
herself1 that manifests herself in the  
sound of their1   voice in the features 
of their face1 in their looks1 in   all 
their motions4 ,mark their sudden       
paleness1 their quick   contortions1    
their piercing cries1 when their soul is
   affected by a sensation of pain4     
,observe again1 their   engaging smile1 
their sparkling eyes1 their rapid       
motions1   when it is moved by a        

sentiment of pleasure4 ,you will then   
be clearly persuaded of the principles  
of music and dancing   proceeding from  
the beginning of the world down to us4  
,certain it is1 that even in children1  
the motions and gesture1 strongly paint 
nature2 and their infantine graces are  
not unworthy the remarks of an artist1  
who will be sure to find excellence in  
no way more obtainable than by a        
rational study of her1 where she is the 
purest4  ,the cultivation of the natural
 graces1 and a particular care to shun  
all affectation1 all caricature1 unless 
in comic or grotesque dances1 cannot be 
too much recommended to those who wish  
to make any figure in this art4 ,it is  
doing a great injustice to it1 to place 
its excellence in capers1 in brilliant  
motions of the legs1 or in the execution
 of difficult steps1 without meaning or 
significance1 which require little more 
than strength and agility4  ,i have     
already observed1 that the ,greeks1 who 
were so famous for this art1 as indeed  

for most others1 which is no wonder1    
since all the arts have so acknowledged 
an affinity with each other1 studied    
especially grace and dignity in the     
execution of their dances4 ,that levity 
of capering1 that nimbleness of the     
legs1 which we so much admire1 held no  
rank in their opinion4 ,they were       
inconsistent with that clearness of     
expression1 and neatness of motion1 of  
which they principally made a point4    
,the great beauty of movements1 or      
steps1 is1 for every one of them to be  
distinct2 not huddled and running into  
one another1 so as that one should begin
 before the precedent one is finished4  
,this so necessary avoidance of puzzled 
or ambiguous motion1 can only be        
compassed by an attention to            
significance and justness of action4    
,this simplicity will arise from        
sensibility1 from being actuated by     
feelings4 ,no one has more than one     
predominant actual feeling at a time2   
when that is expressed clearly1 the     

effect is as sure as it is              
instantaneous4 ,the movement it gives1  
neither interferes with the immediately 
precedent1 nor the immediately following
 one1 though it is prepared or          
introduced by the one1 and prepares or  
introduces the other4  ,this the ,greeks
 could the better effectuate1 from their
 preference of the sublime1 or serious  
stile2 which1 having so much less of    
quickness or rapidity of execution1 than
 the comic dance1 admits of more        
attention to the neat expressiveness of 
every motion1 gesture1 attitude1 or     
step4  ,as to the great nicety of the   
,greeks1 in the ordering and disposing  
their dances1 ,i refer to what ,i have  
before said1 for its being to be        
observed1 how much at present this art  
is fallen short of their perfection in  
it1 and how difficult it must be for a  
composer of dances to produce them in   
that masterly manner they were used to  
be performed among the antients4 ,let   
his talent for invention or composition 

be never so rich or fertile1 it will be 
impossible for him to do it justice in  
the display1 unless he is seconded by   
performers well versed in the art1 and  
especially expert in giving the         
expression of their part in the dance2  
not to mention the collateral aids of   
music1 machinery1 and decoration1 which 
it is so requisite to adapt to the      
subject4  ,but where all these points so
 necessary are duly supplied1 and       
dancing is executed in all its          
brilliancy1 it would be no longer looked
 upon1 especially at the ,opera1 as     
merely an expletive between the acts1   
just to afford the singers a little     
breathing time4 ,the dances might       
recover their former lustre1 and give   
the public the same pleasure as to the  
,greeks and ,romans1 who made of them   
one of their most favorite              
entertainments1 and carried them up to  
the highest pitch of taste and          
excellence4  ,the ,romans seem to have  
followed the ,greeks1 in this passion   

for dancing2 and the theatrical dances1 
upon the pantomime plan1 were in ,rome  
pushed to such a degree of perfection as
 is even hard to conceive4 ,whole       
tragedies plaid1 act by act1 scene by   
scene1 in pantomime expression1 give an 
idea of this art1 very different from   
that which is at present commonly       
received4  ,every step in dancing has   
its name and value4 ,but not one should 
be employed in a vague unmeaning manner4
 ,all the movements should be           
conformable to the expression required1 
and in harmony with one another4 ,the   
steps regular1 and properly varied1 with
 a graceful suppleness in the limbs1 a  
certain strength1 address1 and agility2 
just positions exhibited with ease1     
delicacy1 and above all1 with propriety1
 caracterise the masterly dancer1 and in
 their union1 give to his execution its 
due beauty4 ,the least negligence1 in   
any of these points1 is immediately     
felt1 and detracts from the merit of the
 performance4 ,every step or motion that

 is not natural1 or has any thing of    
stiffness1 constraint1 or affectation1  
is instinctively perceived by the       
spectator4 ,the body must constantly    
preserve its proper position1 without   
the least contortion1 well adjusted to  
the steps2 while the motion of the arms1
 must be agreeable to that of the legs1 
and the head to be in concert with the  
whole4  ,but in this observation ,i     
pretend to no more than just furnishing 
a general idea of the requisites towards
 the execution3 the particulars1 it is  
impossible1 to give in verbal           
description1 or even by choregraphy or  
dances in score4  ,many who pretend to  
understand the art of dancing1 confound 
motions of strength1 with those of      
agility1 mistaking strength for slight1 
or slight for strength2 tho' so         
different in their nature4 ,it is the   
spring of the body1 in harmony with     
sense1 that gives the great power to    
please and surprize4 ,the same it is    
with the management of the arms2 but all

 this requires both the theory of the   
art1 and the practice of it4 ,one will  
hardly suffice without the other2 which 
makes excellence in it so rare4  ,the   
motion of the arms is as essential1 at  
least1 as that of the legs1 for an      
expressive attitude3 and both receive   
their justness from the nature of the   
passions they are meant to express4 ,the
 passions are the springs which must    
actuate the machine1 while a close      
observation of nature furnishes the art 
of giving to those motions the grace of 
ease and expertness4 ,any thing that1 on
 the stage especially1 has the air of   
being forced1 or improper1 cannot fail  
of having a bad effect4 ,a frivolous1   
affected turn of the wrist1 is surely no
 grace4  ,one of the most nice and      
difficult points of the art of dancing  
is1 certainly1 the management and       
display of the arms2 the adapting their 
motion to the character of the dance4   
,in this many are too arbitrary in      
forming rules to themselves1 without    

consulting nature1 which would not fail 
of suggesting to them the justest       
movements4 ,for want of this            
appropriation of gesture and attitude1  
the movements fit for one character are 
indistinctly employed in the            
representation of another4 ,and into    
this error those will be sure to fall1  
who deviate from the unerring principles
 of nature2 which has for every         
character an appropriate strain of      
motion and gesture4  ,nothing then has a
 worse effect1 than any impropriety in  
the management of the arms3 it gives to 
the eye1 the same pain that discordance 
in music does to the ear4  ,there are   
some who move their arms with a         
tolerably natural grace1 without knowing
 the true rules rising out of nature    
into art3 but where the advantage of    
theory gives yet a greater security1    
consequently a greater ease and a nobler
 freedom to the motions of the          
performer2 the performance cannot but   
meet with fuller approbation4 ,and yet  

it may be as bad to show too much art1  
as to have too little4 ,the point is to 
employ no more of art than just what    
serves to grace nature1 but never to    
hide or obscure her4  ,great is the     
difference between the antient and the  
modern dances4 ,the antient ones were   
full of sublime simplicity4 ,but that   
simplicity was far from excluding the   
delicate1 the graceful1 and even the    
brilliant4 ,the moderns are so          
accustomed to those dances from which   
nature is banished1 and false           
refinements substituted in her room1    
that it is to be questioned whether they
 would relish the returning in practice 
to the purer principles of the art4     
,myself knowing better1 and sensible    
that the principles of nature are the   
only true ones1 have been sometimes     
forced to yield to the torrent of       
fashion1 and to adopt in practice those 
florishings of art1 which in theory ,i  
despised2 and justly1 for surely the    
plainest imitation of nature must be the

 grounds from which alone the           
performance can be carried up to any    
degree of excellence4 ,it is with our   
art1 as in architecture1 if the         
foundation is not right1 the            
superstructure will be wrong4  ,this    
primitive source then must be studied1  
known1 and well attended to2 or we only 
follow the art blindly1 and without     
certainty4 ,thence the common           
indifference of so many performers1 who 
mind nothing more than a rote of the    
art1 without tracing it to its origin1  
nature4  ,to succeed1 we must abandon   
the false taste1 and embrace the true2  
which is not only the best guide to     
perfection2 but when rendered familiar1 
by much the most easy and the most      
delightful4 ,it has all the advantages  
that truth has over falshood4  ,the     
greater the simplicity of steps in a    
dance1 the more beautiful it is2 and    
requires the more attention in the      
performer to exactness and delicacy2 for
 slowness and neatness being in the     

character of simplicity1 afford the     
spectator both leisure and distinctness 
for his examination3 whereas dances of  
intricate evolutions1 or quick motions1 
in their confusion and hurry1 allow no  
clearness1 or time for particular       
observation4  ,if the merit of a        
theatrical dancer were to consist1 as   
many imagine1 in nothing but in the     
motions of the legs1 in cutting lively  
or brilliant capers1 in surprizing      
steps1 in the agility of the body1 in   
vigorous springs1 in vaulting1 in a     
tolerable management of the arms1 and   
especially in being well acquainted with
 those parts of the stage where the     
perspective gives him the greatest      
advantage2 the art of dancing might be1 
as it is generally looked upon to be1 an
 art easily acquired4 ,whereas1 for the 
attaining to a just perfection in it1   
there are many other points required1   
but none so much as the close imitation 
of beautiful nature2 and that especially
 in its greatest simplicity4  ,nor      

should it be imagined that the          
simplicity ,i recommend1 tends to save  
the composer of dances any trouble of   
invention3 on the contrary1 that sort of
 simplicity of execution intended to    
produce1 by means of its adherence to   
nature1 the greatest effect1 will cost  
him more pains1 more exertion of genius1
 than those dances of which the false   
brilliants of extravagant decoration1   
and of mere agility without meaning or  
expression1 constitute the merit4 ,it is
 with the composition of dances1 as with
 that of music1 the plainest and the    
most striking1 are ever the most        
difficult to the composer4  ,the comic1 
or grottesque dancers1 indeed are in    
possession of a branch of this art1 in  
which they are dispensed from exhibiting
 the serious or pathetic2 however1 they 
may be otherwise as well acquainted with
 the fundamental principles of the art1 
as the best masters4 ,but as their      
success depends chiefly on awakening the
 risible faculty1 they commonly chuse to

 throw their whole powers of execution  
into those motions1 gestures1 grimaces1 
and contortions1 which are fittest to   
give pleasure by the raising a laugh4   
,and certainly this has its merit2 but  
in no other proportion to the truth of  
the art1 which consists in moving the   
nobler passions1 than as farce is to    
tragedy or to genteel comedy4 ,they are 
in this art of dancing1 what ,hemskirk  
and ,teniers are in that of painting4   
,the painter1 can only in his draught   
present one single unvaried attitude in 
each personage that he paints3 but it is
 the duty of the dancer1 to give1 in his
 own person1 a succession of attitudes1 
all like those of the painter1 taken    
from nature4  ,thus a painter who should
 paint ,orestes agitated by the furies1 
can only give him one single expression 
of his countenance and posture3 but a   
dancer1 charged with the representation 
of that character1 can1 seconded by a   
well-adapted music1 execute a succession
 of motions and attitudes1 that will    

more strongly and surely with more      
liveliness1 convey the idea of that     
character1 with all its transports of   
fury and disorder4  ,it was in this     
light1 that the antients required the   
union of the actor and of the dancer in 
the same person4 ,they expected1 on the 
theatre especially1 dances of character1
 that should express to the eye the     
sensations of the soul3 without which1  
they considered it as nothing but an art
 that had left nature behind it2 a mere 
corpse without the animating spirit2 or 
at the best1 carrying with it a         
character of falsity or tastelessness4  
,a thorough master of dancing1 should1  
in every motion of every limb1 convey   
some meaning2 or rather be all          
expression or pantomime1 to his very    
fingers ends4  ,how many requisites must
 concur to form an accomplished         
possession of this talent6 ,it is not   
enough that the head should play on the 
shoulders with all the grace of a fine  
connection2 nor that his countenance    

should be enlivened with significance   
and expression2 that his eyes should    
give forth the just language of the     
passions belonging to the character he  
represents2 that his shoulders have the 
easy fall they ought to have2 let even  
the motions of his arms be true2 let his
 elbows and wrists have that delicate   
turn of which the grace is so sensible2 
let the movement of the whole person be 
free1 genteel1 and easy2 let the        
attitudes of the bending turn be        
agreeable2 his chest be neither too full
 nor too narrow2 his sides clean made1  
strong1 and well turned2 his knees well 
articulated1 and supple2 his legs       
neither too large1 nor too small1 but   
finely formed2 his instep furnished with
 the strength necessary to execute and  
maintain the springs he makes2 his feet 
in just proportion to the support of the
 whole frame2 all these1 accompanied    
with a regularity of motion2 and yet all
 these1 however essential1 constitute   
but a small part of the talent4 ,towards

 the perfection of it1 there is yet     
more1 much more required1 in that       
sensibility of soul1 which has in it so 
much more of the gift of nature1 than of
 the acquisition of art2 and is perhaps 
in this1 what it is in most other arts  
and sciences1 if not genius itself1 an  
indispensable foundation of genius4     
,there is no executing well with the    
body1 what is not duly felt by the soul3
 sentiment gives life to the execution1 
and propriety to the looks1 motions and 
gestures4  ,those who would make any    
considerable progress in this art1      
should1 above all things1 study justness
 of action4 ,they cannot therefore too  
closely attend to the representation of 
nature1 either upon the stage1 or in    
life4 ,i cannot too often repeat it2    
those who keep most the great original1 
,nature1 in view1 will ever be the      
greatest masters of this art4  ,as to   
the different characters of dances1     
there are1 properly speaking1 four      
divisions of the characters of dances3  

the serious1 the half serious1 the      
comic1 and the grottesque2 but for      
executing any of them with grace1 the   
artist should be well grounded in the   
principles of the serious dance1 which  
will give him what may be called a      
delicacy of manner in all the rest4     
,but as one of these divisions may be   
more adapted to the humor1 genius1 or   
powers of an artist1 than another1 he   
should1 if he aims at excellence1       
examine carefully for which it is that  
he is the most fit4  ,after determining 
which1 whatever imperfections he may    
have from nature1 he must set about     
correcting1 as well as he can1 by art4  
,nothing will hardly be found impossible
 for him to subdue1 by an unshaken      
resolution1 and an intense application4 
,happy indeed is that artist1 in whom   
both the requisites of nature and art   
are united3 but where the first is not  
grossly deficient1 it may be            
supplemented by the second4 ,however    
well a beginner may be qualified for    

this profession by nature1 if he does   
not cultivate the talent duly1 he will  
be surpassed by another1 inferior to him
 in natural endowments1 but who shall   
have taken pains to acquire what was    
wanting to him1 or to improve where     
deficient4 ,the experience of all ages  
attests this4  ,the helps of a lively   
imagination1 joined to great and        
assiduous practice1 carry the art to the
 highest perfection4 ,but practice will 
give no eminent distinction without     
study4 ,whoever shall flatter himself   
with forming himself by practice alone1 
without the true principles and         
sufficient grounds of the art1 can only 
proceed upon a rote of tradition1 which 
may appear infallible to him4 ,but this 
adoption of unexamined rules1 and this  
plodding on in a beaten track1 will     
never lead to any thing great or        
eminent4 ,it carries with it always     
something of the stiffness of a copy1   
without any thing of the graceful       
boldness of originality1 or of the      

strokes of genius4  ,vanity should never
 mislead a man in the judgment he forms 
of his own talents3 much less should an 
artist resort to the meanness of        
depending in the support of cabals3 it  
must be the general approbation that    
must seal his patent of merit4  ,i have 
before observed that the grave or       
serious stile of dancing1 is the great  
ground-work of the art4 ,it is also the 
most difficult4 ,firmness of step1 a    
graceful and regular motion of all the  
parts1 suppleness1 easy bendings and    
risings1 the whole accompanied with a   
good air1 and managed with the greatest 
ease of expertness and dexterity1       
constitute the merit of this kind of    
dancing4 ,the soul itself should be seen
 in every motion of the body1 and       
express something naturally noble1 and  
even heroic4 ,every step should have its
 beauty4  ,the painter draws1 or ought  
to draw his copy1 the actor his action1 
and the statuary his model1 all from the
 truth of nature4 ,they are all         

respectively professors of imitative    
arts2 and the dancer may well presume to
 take rank among them1 since the        
imitation of nature is not less his duty
 than theirs2 with this difference1 that
 they have some advantages of which the 
dancer is destitute4 ,the ,painter has  
time to settle and correct his          
attitudes1 but the dancer must be       
exactly bound to the time of the music4 
,the actor has the assistance of speech1
 and the statuary has all the time      
requisite to model his work4 ,the       
dancer's effect is not only that of a   
moment1 but he must every moment        
represent a succession of motions and   
attitudes1 adapted to his character1    
whether his subject be heroic or        
pastoral1 or in whatever kind of dancing
 he exhibits himself4 ,he is by the     
expressiveness of his dumb show to      
supplement the want of speech1 and that 
with clearness2 that whatever he aims at
 representing may be instantaneously    
apprehended by the spectator1 who must  

not be perplexed with hammering out to  
himself the meaning of one step1 while  
the dancer shall have already begun     
another4  ,in the half-serious stile we 
observe vigor1 lightness1 agility1      
brilliant springs1 with a steadiness and
 command of the body4 ,it is the best   
kind of dancing for expressing the more 
general theatrical subjects4 ,it also   
pleases more generally4  ,the grand     
pathetic of the serious stile of dancing
 is not what every one enters into4 ,but
 all are pleased with a brilliant       
execution1 in the quick motion of the   
legs1 and the high springs of the body4 
,a pastoral dance1 represented in all   
the pantomime art1 will be commonly     
preferred to the more serious stile1    
though this last requires doubtless the 
greatest excellence3 but it is an       
excellence of which few but the         
connoisseurs are judges2 who are rarely 
numerous enough to encourage the        
composer of dances to form them entirely
 in that stile4 ,all that he can do is  

to take a great part of his attitudes   
from the serious stile1 but to give them
 another turn and air in the            
composition2 that he may avoid          
confounding the two different stiles of 
serious and half-serious4 ,for this     
last1 it is impossible to have too much 
agility and briskness4  ,the comic      
dancer is not tied up to the same rules 
or observations as are necessary to the 
serious and half serious stiles4 ,he is 
not so much obliged to study what may be
 called nature in high life4 ,the rural 
sports1 and exercises2 the gestures of  
various mechanics or artificers will    
supply him with ideas for the execution 
of charracters in this branch4 ,the more
 his motions1 steps1 and attitudes are  
taken from nature1 the more they will be
 sure to please4  ,the comic dance has  
for object the exciting mirth2 whereas1 
on the contrary1 the serious stile aims 
more at soothing and captivating by the 
harmony and justness of its movements2  
by the grace and dignity of its steps2  

by the pathos of the execution4  ,the   
comic stile1 however its aim may be     
laughter1 requires taste1 delicacy1 and 
invention2 and that the mirth it creates
 should not even be without wit4 ,this  
depends not only upon the execution1 but
 on the choice of the subject4 ,it is   
not enough to value oneself upon a close
 imitation of nature1 if the subject    
chosen for imitation is not worth       
imitating1 or improper to represent2    
that is to say1 either trivial1         
indifferent1 consequently uninteresting2
 or disgustful and unpleasing4 ,the one 
tires1 the other shocks4 ,even in the   
lowest classes of life1 the composer    
must seize only what is the fittest to  
give satisfaction2 and omit whatever can
 excite disagreeable ideas4 ,it is from 
the animal joy of mechanics or peasants 
in their cessations from labor1 or from 
their celebration of festivals1 that the
 artist will select his matter of       
composition2 not from any circumstances 
of unjoyous poverty or loathsome        

distress4 ,he must cull the flowers of  
life1 not present the roots with the    
soil and dirt sticking to them4  ,even  
contrasting characters1 which are so    
seldom attempted on the stage1 in       
theatrical dances1 might not have a bad 
effect2 whereas most of the figures in  
them are simmetrically coupled4 ,of the 
first ,i once saw in ,germany a striking
 instance2 an instance that served to   
confirm that affinity between the arts  
which renders them so serviceable to one
 another4  ,passing through the         
,electorate of ,cologne1 ,i observed a  
number of persons of all ages1 assembled
 on a convenient spot1 and disposed1 in 
couples1 in order for dancing2 but so   
odly paired that the most ugly old man1 
had for his partner the most beautiful  
and youngest girl in the company1 while1
 on the contrary1 the most decrepid1    
deformed old woman1 was led by the most 
handsome and vigorous youth4 ,inquiring 
the reason of so strange a groupe of    
figures1 ,i was told that it was the    

humor of an eminent painter1 who was    
preparing a picture for the gallery at  
,dusseldorp1 the subject of which was to
 be this contrast2 and that in order to 
take his draught from nature1 he had    
given a treat to this rustic company1 in
 the design of exhibiting at one view1  
the floridness of youth contrasted to   
the weakness and infirmities of old age1
 in a moral light1 of exposing the      
impropriety of those matches1 in which  
the objection of a disparity of years   
should not be duly respected4  ,i have  
mentioned this purely to point out a new
 resource of invention1 that may throw a
 pleasing variety into the composition  
of dances2 and save them from too       
constant a simmetry1 or uniformity1     
either of dress or figure1 in the       
pairing the dancers3 by which ,i am as  
far from meaning that that simmetry     
should be always neglected1 as that it  
should be always observed4  ,the comic  
dance1 having then the diversion of the 
spectator1 in the way of laughing1 for  

its object1 should preserve a moderately
 buffoon simplicity1 and the dancer1    
aided by a natural genius1 but          
especially by throwing as much nature as
 possible into his execution1 may       
promise himself to amuse and please the 
spectator2 even though he should not be 
very deep in the grounds of his art2    
provided he has a good ear1 and some    
pretty or brilliant steps to vary the   
dance4 ,the spectators require no more4 
,as to the grotesque stile of dance1 the
 effect of it chiefly depends on the    
leaps and height of the springs4 ,there 
is more of bodily strength required in  
it than even of agility and flight4 ,it 
is more calculated to surprize the eye1 
then to entertain it4 ,it has something 
of the tumbler's1 or wire-dancer's merit
 of difficulty and danger1 rather than  
of art4 ,but the worst of it is1 that   
this vigor and agility last no longer   
than the season of youth1 or rather     
decrease in proportion as age advances1 
and1 by this means1 leave those who have

 trusted solely to that vigor and       
agility deprived of their essential     
merit4 ,whereas such as shall have      
joined to that vigor and agility1 a     
proper study of the principles of their 
art2 that talent will still remain as a 
resource for them4 ,commonly those      
dancers who have from nature eminently  
those gifts which enable them to shine  
in the grottesque branch1 do not chuse  
to give themselves the trouble of going 
to the bottom of their art1 and         
acquiring its perfection4 ,content with 
their bodily powers1 and with the       
applause their performances actually do 
receive from the public1 they look no   
further1 and remain in ignorance of the 
rest of their duty4 ,against this       
dissipation then1 which keeps them      
always superficial1 they cannot be too  
much1 for their own advantage1          
admonished4  ,they will not otherwise   
get at the truth of their art1 like him 
who qualifies himself for making a      
figure in the serious1 and half-serious 

stiles1 which also contribute to diffuse
 a grace over every other kind of       
dancing1 however different from them4   
,but though the grotesque may be a      
caricature of nature1 it is never to    
lose sight of it4 ,it must ever bear a  
due relation to the objects of which it 
attempts to exhibit the imitation1      
however exagerated4 ,but in this it is  
for genius to direct the artist4 ,and it
 is very certain that this kind of      
dancing1 well executed1 affords to the  
public1 great entertainment in the way1 
if what may be called broad mirth2      
especially where the figure of the      
grotesque dancer1 his gestures1 dress1  
and the decorations1 all contribute to  
the creation of the laugh4 ,he must also
 avoid any thing studied or affected in 
his action4 ,every thing must appear as 
natural as possible1 even amidst the    
grimaces1 contortions1 and              
extravagancies of the character4        
,of                 ,,sundry            
,,requisites1                        for

                 ,,perfection ,,of ,,the
                        ,,art           
of                      ,,dancing4   ,i 
have already observed how necessary it  
is that all the steps1 in the theatrical
 dances1 which have imitation for their 
object1 should be intelligible at the   
first glance of the eye4 ,this cannot be
 too much inculcated4 ,the passions and 
manners of mankind1 have all a different
 expression1 which cannot be presented  
too plain1 and too obvious4 ,the        
adjustment of the motions to the        
character must be observed through every
 stile of dancing1 the serious1 the     
half-serious1 the comic1 and the        
grotesque4 ,the various beauties of     
these different kinds of dances1 all    
center in the propriety or truth of     
nature4 ,looks1 movements1 attitudes1   
gestures1 should in the dancer1 all have
 an appropriate meaning2 so plainly     
expressed as to be instantaneously      
understood by the spectator1 without    
giving him the trouble of unriddling    

them3 otherwise1 it is like talking to  
them in a foreign language for which an 
interpretor is needed4  ,but to give a  
sentiment1 a man must have it first3    
where a pathetic sentiment is well      
possessed of the mind1 the expression of
 it is diffused over the whole body4    
,the theatre shows to advantage a well  
proportioned dancer4 ,a tall person     
appears the more majestic on it2 but    
those of a middling stature are more    
generally fit for every character2 and  
may make up in gracefulness what they   
want in size4 ,the remarkably tall      
commonly want the graces to be seen in  
those of the more general standard4  ,a 
young dancer who displays a dawn of     
genius1 cannot be too much exhorted to  
deliver himself up to the power of      
nature2 so that acquiring a particular  
manner of his own1 he may himself       
proceed on original4 ,if he would hope  
to arrive at any eminence in the art1 he
 must break the shackles of a servile   
imitation1 and preserve nothing but the 

principles and grounds of his art1 which
 will be so far from fettering him1 that
 they will assist his soaring upon the  
wings of his own genius4  ,where a      
dancer undertakes to represent a subject
 on the theatre1 he must ground his plan
 of performance on the selecting all the
 most proper situations for furnishing  
the most strikingly pictures1 prospects1
 and consequently1 producing the        
greatest effect4  ,this was doubtless   
the great secret of ,pilades1 the       
founder1 at least in ,rome1 of the      
pantomime art4 ,it was on this choice of
 situations1 that the understanding     
whole pieces1 both tragic and comic1    
executed in dances1 entirely depends4   
,and here1 upon mentioning the pantomime
 art1 be it allowed me to defend it     
against the objections made to it1 by   
those who consider it only under a      
partial or vulgar point of view4  ,if   
any one should pretend that the         
pantomime art is superior to the actor's
 power of representation in tragedy or  

comedy1 or that such an entertainment of
 dumb show ought to exclude that of     
speaking characters2 nothing could be   
more ridiculous or absurd than such a   
proposition4  ,that indeed would be     
rejecting one of the most noble         
improvements of nature1 in favor of an  
art rather calculated for the relaxation
 of the mind than for the instruction of
 it2 in which it can only claim a       
subordinate share4  ,those subjects1    
whether serious or comic1 which are     
executed by dances1 or in the pantomime 
strain1 are chiefly intended for the    
throwing a variety into theatrical      
entertainments1 without disputing any   
honors of rank4  ,the very same person  
who shall have at one time1 taken       
pleasure in seeing and hearing the noble
 and pathetic sentiments of tragedy1 or 
the ridicule of human follies in a good 
comedy1 finely represented1 may1 without
 any sort of inconsistence1 not be      
displeased at seeing1 at another time1 a
 subject executed in dances1 while the  

music1 the decorations1 all contribute  
to the happy diversification of his     
entertainment4 ,ought he therefore      
either to call his own taste to an      
account for his being pleased1 or to    
grudge to others a pleasure1 which      
nature itself justifies1 in his having  
given to mankind a love of variety8     
,nor is there perhaps1 in the world1 an 
art more the genuine offspring of       
,nature1 more under her immediate       
command1 than the art of dancing4 ,for  
to say nothing of that dancing1 which   
has no relation to the theatre1 and     
which is her principal demonstrations of
 joy and festivity1 the theatrical      
branch acknowledges her for its great   
and capital guide4 ,all the motions1 all
 the gestures1 all the attitudes1 all   
the looks1 can have no merit1 but in    
their faithful imitation of ,nature3    
while man himself1 man1 the noblest of  
her productions1 is ever the subject    
which the dancer paints through all his 
passions and manners4  ,the painter     

presents man in one fixed attitude1 with
 no more of life than the draught and   
colors can give to his figure3 the      
dancer exhibits him in a succession of  
attitudes1 and1 instead of painting with
 the brush1 paints1 surely more to the  
life1 with his own person4 ,a dance in  
action1 is not only a moving picture1   
but an animated one3 while to the       
eloquence of the tongue1 it substitutes 
that of the whole body4  ,the art1      
viewed in this light1 shows how         
comparatively little the merely         
mechanical part of it1 the agility of   
the legs and body1 contributes to the   
accomplishment of the dancer2 however   
necessary that also is4 ,we might soon  
form a dancer1 if the art consisted only
 in his being taught to shake his legs  
in cadence1 to ballance his body1 or to 
move his arms unmeaningly4 ,but if he   
has not a genius1 susceptible of        
cultivation1 and which is itself far the
 most essential gift1 he will make no   
progress towards the desirable          

distinction3 he is a body without a     
soul3 his performance will have more of 
the poppet moved by wires1 than of the  
actor giving that life to the character1
 which himself receives from the        
sensibility of genius4  ,there are many 
young beginners1 who1 looking on this   
art as a good way of livelihood1 enter  
on the rudiments of it1 with great      
ardor4 ,but this ardor soon abates1 in  
proportion1 as they advance1 and find   
there is more study and pains required  
from them than they expected to find1   
towards their arrival at any tolerable  
degree of perfection4 ,having considered
 this art as purely a mechanical one1   
they are surprised at the discovery of  
its exacting thought and reflection1 for
 which their ideas of it had not        
prepared them4 ,a man who has not       
sufficient share of genius to attempt   
the vanquishing these difficulties1 of  
which1 in his false conception of       
things1 he has formed to himself no     
notion2 either treats these great       

essentials of the art1 as innovations1  
and such as he is not bound to admit1 or
 in the despair of acquiring them1 sits 
down contented with his mediocrity4 ,it 
is well if he does not rail at1 or      
attempt to turn into ridicule1          
perfections which are beyond his reach4 
,and to say the truth1 the art has not  
greater enemies than those professors of
 it1 who stick at the surface1 and want 
the spirit necessary to go to the bottom
 of it4 ,in vain does the public refuse 
its applause to their indifferent1      
ordinary1 uninteresting performance3    
rather than allow the fault to be in    
themselves1 their vanity will lay it on 
the public3 they never refuse themselves
 that approbation which others can see  
no reason for bestowing on them4 ,they  
are perfectly satisfied with having     
executed in their little manner1 the    
little they know or are capable of2 they
 have no idea of any thing beyond their 
short reach4  ,certainly the best season
 of life1 for the study of this art1 is1

 as for that of most others1 for obvious
 reasons1 the time of one's youth4 ,it  
is the best time of laying the          
foundation both of theory and practice4 
,but the theory should especially be    
attended to1 without however neglecting 
the practice4 ,for though a dancer1 by  
an assiduous practice1 may1 at the first
 unexamining glance1 appear as well in  
the eyes of the public1 as he who       
possesses the rules2 the illusion will  
not be lasting2 it will soon be         
dissipated1 especially where there is   
present an object of comparison4 ,he    
whose motions are dirrected only by rote
 and custom1 will soon be discovered    
essentially inferior to him whose       
practice is governed by a knowledge of  
the principles of his art4  ,a master   
does not do his duty by his pupil1 in   
this art1 if he fails of strongly       
inculcating to him the necessity of     
studying those principles2 and of       
kindling in him that ardor for attaining
 to excellence1 which if it is not      

itself genius1 it is certain that no    
genius will do much without it4         
,invention is also as much a requisite  
in our art as in any other4 ,but to save
 the pains of study1 we often borrow and
 copy from one another4 ,indolence is   
the bane of our art4 ,the trouble of    
thinking necessary to the invention and 
composition of dances1 appears to many  
too great a fatigue3 this engages them  
to appropriate to themselves the fruits 
of other peoples invention2 and they    
appear to themselves well provided at a 
small expence1 when they have made free 
with the productions of others4 ,some   
again1 instead of cultivating their     
talent1 chuse indolently to follow the  
great torrent of the fashion1 and stick 
to the old tracks1 without daring to    
strike out any thing new1 so that their 
prejudices are1 in fact1 the principles 
by which they are governed1 and which   
sometimes serves them for their excuse2 
since they know better1 but do not care 
to give themselves the trouble of acting

 up to their knowledge4 ,thus they plod 
in the safe1 and broad road of          
mediocrity1 but without any reputation  
or name4 ,they are neither envied nor   
applauded4  ,as for those who borrow    
from others1 content with being copies1 
when they ought to strive to be         
originals2 nothing can more obstruct    
their progress in the discoveries of the
 depths of their art1 than this scheme  
of subsisting on the merit of others4   
,many1 besides those who are incapable  
of invention1 are tempted at once by    
their indolence1 and by the hope of not 
being discovered or minded in their     
borrowing from others1 to give stale or 
hackneyed compositions1 which having    
seen in one country1 they flatter       
themselves they may palm for new and    
original upon the public in another4    
,thence it is that the audience is      
cloyed with repetitions of pantomime    
dances2 perhaps some of them very pretty
 at their first appearance1 but which   
cannot fail of tiring when too often    

repeated2 or when the same grounds or   
subject of action is only superficially 
or slightly diversified4  ,it is this   
barrenness of invention that the        
ingenious ,goldoni has so well exposed  
in one of his plays1 in the following   
speech1 addressed to a young man4    99 
,for example1 you1 as the female dancer 
will come upon   the stage1 with a      
distaff1 twirling it1 or with a pail to 
draw water2 or with a spade for digging4
 ,your companion will   come next       
perhaps driving a wheel-barrow1 or with 
a sickle   to mow corn1 or with a pipe  
a-smoaking2 and though the scene        
should be a saloon1 no matter1 it will  
come soon to be   filled with rustics or
 sailors4 ,your companion to be sure    
will not have seen you1 at first2 that  
is the rule2 upon   which you will make 
up to him1 and he will send you a       
packing4 ,you will tap him on the       
shoulder with one hand1   and he will   
give a spring from you to the other side
 of the   stage4 ,you will run after    

him2 he1 on his part will scamper   away
 from you1 and you will take pet at it4 
,when he sees you   angry1 he will take 
it into his head to make peace2 he will 
sue to you1 and you in your turn will   
send him about his   business4 ,you will
 run from him1 and he after you4 ,he    
will   be down on his knees to you2     
peace will be made2 then1   shaking your
 footsies1 you will invite him to dance4
 ,he also   will answer you with his    
feet1 as much as to say1 come1 let   us 
dance4    ,then handing you backwards to
 the top of the stage1 you   will begin 
gaily a ,pas-de-deux1 or ,duet dance4   
,the first   part will be lively1 the   
second grave2 the third a jig4 ,you     
will have taken care to procure six or  
seven of the best   airs for a dance1   
put together1 that can be imagined4 ,you
   will execute all the steps that you  
are mistress of2 and let   your         
character in the ,pas-de-deux1 be that  
of a country   wench1 a gardener's      
servant1 a granadier's trull1 or a      

statue2 the steps will be always the    
same2 and the same   actions for ever   
repeated2 such as running after one     
another1 dodging1 crying1 falling in a  
passion1 making peace   again1 bringing 
the arms over the head1 jumping in and  
out   of time1 shaking legs and arms1   
the head1 the body1 the   shoulders1 and
 especially smirking and ogling round   
you2 not   forgetting gentle inflexions 
of the neck1 as you pass close   under  
the lights1 nor to make pretty faces to 
the audience1   and then1 hey for a fine
 curtesy at the end of the dance6       
,footnote 993 ,per esempio vendra fora  
la ballerina1 colla     rocca1 filando1 
con un secchio  trar l'acqua1  con una  
zappa  zappar4 ,el vostro compagno      
vendra fora  colla     cariola  portar  
qualche cosa1  colla falce  tagliar il  
grano1  colla pipa a fumar1 e si ben1   
che la scena fosse     una sala1 tanto e
 tanto1 se vien a far da contadini  da  
marinari4 ,el vostro compagno non vi    
vedra3 voi andarete a     cercarlo1 e el

 vi scacciera via4 ,gli batterete una   
man su     la spalla1 ed el con un salto
 ander dall'altra banda4 ,voi     gli   
correrete dietro1 lui se scampera1 e voi
 anderete in     collera4 ,quando voi   
sarete in collera1 a lui le vendra la   
voglia di far pace1 e lui vi preghera1  
voi lo scacciarete4     ,scamparete via1
 e lui vi correra dietro4 ,el se        
inginocchiera1 farete pace1 voi1 menando
 ,i pedini1     l'invitarete a ballar3  
anche ello1 menando ,i piedi1     a     
segni dira1 balliamo1 e tirandovi       
indietro     allegramente cominciarete  
el ,pas-de-deux4 ,la prima parte        
allegra1 la segonda grave1 la terza una 
giga4 ,procurarete     di cacciargli    
dentro sei o sette delle migliori arie  
di     ballo che s'abbiano sentito2     
farete tutti i passi che     sapete     
fare1 e che sia il ,pas-de-deux o da    
paesana1 o da     giardinera1 o da      
,granatiera1 o da statue1 i passi       
saranno     sempre gli istessi1 correrse
 dietro1 scampar1 pianger1     andar in 

collera1 far pace1 tirar i bracci sopra 
la testa1     saltar in tempo e fora di 
tempo1 menar gli bracci1 e le     gambe1
 e la testa1 e la vita1 e le spalle1 e  
sopra tutto     rider sempre col popolo1
 e storcer un pochetto il collo         
quando si passa prossimo i lumi1 e fare 
delle belle     smorfie all udienza1 e  
una bella riverenza in ultima4  ,nothing
 however would more obstruct the        
progress of this art1 than thus         
contenting one self with adopting the   
productions of others4 ,it even would1  
in the disgust which repetition         
occasions1 bring on the decline of this 
entertainment1 in the opinion of a      
public which is always fond of novelty4 
,and of novelty1 the beauties of nature 
furnish an inexhaustible fund1 in their 
infinite variety4 ,among these it is the
 business of the artist to chuse such as
 can be brought upon the scene1 and     
theatrically adapted to the execution of
 his art4 ,but for this he must be      
possessed of taste1 which is a          

qualification as necessary to him1 as a 
composer1 as that of the graces are to  
him as a performer4 ,both are gifts4    
,but if a due exercise of the art can   
add to the natural graces1 taste does   
not stand less in need of cultivation3  
it refines itself by a judicious        
observation of the beauties and         
delicacies of nature4 ,these he must    
incessantly study1 in order to          
transplant into his art such as are     
capable of producing the most pleasing  
effect4 ,he must particularly consult   
the fitness of time1 place and manners2 
otherwise what would please in one dance
 might displease in another4 ,propriety 
is the great rule of this art1 as of all
 others4 ,a discordance in music hurts a
 nice ear2 a false attitude or motion in
 dancing equally offends the judicious  
eye4  ,the looks of the dancer are far  
from insignificant to the character he  
is representing4 ,their expression      
should be strictly conformable to his   
subject4 ,the eye especially should     

speak4 ,thence it is that the ,italian  
custom of dancing with uncovered faces1 
cannot but be more advantageous than    
that of dancing masked1 as is commonly  
done in ,france2 when the passions can  
never be so well represented as by the  
changes of expression1 which the dancer 
should throw into his countenance4  ,and
 it is by these changes of countenance1 
as well as of attitude and gesture1 that
 the dancer can express the gradations  
of the passions2 whereas the painter is 
confined intirely to one passion1 that  
of the particular moment in which he    
will have chosen to draw a character4   
,for example1 a painter1 who means to   
represent a country-maid1 under the     
influence of the passion of love1 can   
only aim at expressing some particular  
degree of that passion1 suitable to the 
circumstances of the rest of his        
picture1 or to the situation in which he
 shall have placed her4 ,but a dancer   
may successively represent all the      
gradations of love2 such as surprize at 

first sight1 admiration1 timidity1      
perplexity1 agitation1 languor1 desire1 
ardor1 eagerness1 impatience1 tumultous 
transports1 with all the external       
simptoms of that passion4 ,all these may
 be executed in the most lively manner1 
in time and cadence1 to a correspondent 
music or simphany4 ,and so of all the   
other passions1 whether of fear1        
revenge1 joy1 hatred1 which have all    
their subdivisions expressible1 by the  
quick shift and succession of steps1    
gestures1 attitudes1 and looks1         
respectively adapted to each gradation4 
,a mask then cannot but hide a great    
part of the necessary expression1 or    
justness of action4 ,it can only be     
favorable to those who have contracted  
ill habits of grimacing or of           
contortions of the face while they      
perform4  ,there are however some       
characters in which a mask is even      
necessary3 but then great care should be
 taken to model and fit it as exactly as
 possible to the face1 as well as to    

have it perfectly natural to the        
character represented4 ,the ,french are 
particularly1 and not without reason1   
curious in this point4  ,the female     
dancers have naturally a greater ease of
 expression than the men4 ,more pliable 
in their limbs1 with more sensibility in
 the delicacy of their frame2 all their 
motions and actions are more tenderly   
pathetic1 more interesting than in our  
sex4 ,we are besides prepossessed in    
their favor1 and less disposed to remark
 or cavil at their faults4 ,while on the
 other hand1 that so natural desire they
 have of pleasing1 independently of     
their profession1 makes them studiously 
avoid any motion or gesture that might  
be disagreeable1 and consequently any   
contortion of the face4 ,they1          
instinctively then1 one may say1 make a 
point of the most graceful expression4  
,a woman1 who should only depend on the 
exertion of strength in her legs or     
limbs1 without attention to expression1 
would possess but a very defective      

talent4 ,such an one might surprize the 
public1 by the masculine vigor of her   
springs2 but should she attempt to      
execute a dance1 where tender           
expressions are requisite1 she would    
certainly fail of pleasing4  ,the female
 dancers have also an advantage over the
 men1 in that the petticoat can conceal 
many defects in their execution2 even1  
if the indulgence due to that amiable   
sex1 did not only make great allowances1
 but give to the least agreeable steps  
in them1 the power of obtaining         
applause4  ,at the ,italian theatres at 
,rome1 in the ,carnaval1 where the      
female dancers are not suffered to      
perform the dances1 and where the parts 
of the women are perform'd by men in the
 dresses of women1 it appears plainly1  
how much the execution suffers by this  
expedient4 ,however well they may be    
disguised1 there is an inherent         
clumsiness in them1 which it is         
impossible for them to shake off1 so as 
to represent with justness the sprightly

 graces and delicacy of the female sex4 
,the very idea of seeing men effeminated
 by such a dress1 invincibly disgusts4  
,an effeminate man appears even worse   
than a masculine woman4  ,but however   
the consulting a looking-glass gives to 
men1 in general1 the air of fops or     
coxcombs2 it is to those who would make 
a figure in dancing a point of          
necessity4 ,a glass is to them1 what    
reflexion is to a thinking person2 it   
serves to make them acquainted with     
their defects1 and to correct them4 ,to 
practice then before it is even         
recommendable1 that practice will give  
the advantage of expertness1 and        
expertness will give the grace of ease1 
which is invaluable2 nothing being such 
an enemy to the graces as stiffness or  
affectation4 ,this is a general rule    
both for composition and performance4   
,education has doubtless a great share  
in giving early to the body a command of
 graceful positions1 especially for the 
grand and serious dances1 which1 as ,i  

have before observed1 are the principal 
grounds of the art4 ,and once more1 the 
great point is not to stick at          
mediocrity2 but to aim at an excellence 
in the art1 that may give at least the  
best chance for not being confounded    
with the croud4 ,if it is true1 that1   
among the talents1 those which are      
calculated for pleasing1 are not those  
that are the least sure of              
encouragement2 it is also equally true1 
that for any dependence to be had on    
them1 it is something more than an      
ordinary degree of merit in them that is
 required4  ,in support of this         
admonition1 ,i am here tempted to       
enliven this essay with the narrative of
 an adventure in real life1 that may    
serve to break the too long a line of an
 attempt at instruction4  ,a celebrated 
female dancer in ,italy1 designing to   
perform at a certain capital1 wrote to  
her correspondent there to provide her  
an apartment suitable to the genteel    
figure which she had always made in     

life4 ,on her arrival1 her acquaintance 
seeing she had brought nothing with her1
 but her own person and two servants1   
asked her when she expected her baggage4
 ,she answered1 with a smile1 ,if you   
will come to-morrow morning and         
breakfast with me1 you1 and whoever you 
will bring with you1 shall see it1 and  
,i promise you it is worth your while   
seeing1 being a sort of merchandize that
 is very much in fashion4  ,curiosity   
carried a number early to the           
rendezvous1 where1 after an elegant     
breakfast1 she got up1 and danced before
 them in a most surprizingly charming   
manner4  ,these1 said she1 7pointing at 
her legs17 are all the baggage ,i have  
left2 the ,alps have swallowed up all   
the rest4 ,the truth was1 she had been  
really robbed of her baggage in her     
journey1 and the merchandize on which   
she now depended1 was her talent at     
dancing4 ,nor was she deceived1 for her 
inimitable performance1 joined to the   
vivacity with which she bore her        

misfortunes1 in the spirit of the old   
,philosopher1 who valued himself upon   
carrying his all about him1 made her    
many friends1 whose generous compassion 
soon enabled her to appear in her former
 state4  ,as to the composition of      
dances1 it is impossible for a professor
 of this art1 to make any figure without
 a competent stock of original ideas1   
reducible into practice4 ,a dance should
 be a kind of regular dramatic poem to  
be executed by dancing1 in a manner so  
clear1 as to give to the understanding  
of the spectator no trouble in making   
out the meaning of the whole1 or of any 
part of it4 ,all ambiguity being as     
great a fault of stile in such          
compositions1 as in writing4 ,it is even
 harder to be repaired2 for a false     
expression in the motions1 gestures1 or 
looks1 may confuse and bewilder the     
spectator so as that he will not easily 
recover the clue or thread of the fable 
intended to be represented4  ,clearness 
then is one of the principal points of  

merit which the composer should have in 
view2 if the effect1 resulting from the 
choice and disposition of the           
ground-work of his drama1 does honor to 
his inventiveness or taste2 the         
justness1 with which every character is 
to be performed1 is not less essential  
to the success of his production1 when  
carried into execution4  ,to be well    
assured of this1 it cannot but be       
necessary that the composer of the dance
 or ballet-master1 should be himself a  
good performer1 or at least understand  
the grounds of his art4  ,he must also1 
in his composition1 be pre-assured of   
all the necessaries for their complete  
execution4 ,otherwise decorations either
 deficient or not well adapted2 an      
insufficient number of performers1 or   
their being bad ones2 or1 in short1 the 
fault of a manager1 who1 through a      
misplaced economy1 would not allow the  
requisite expences2 all these1 or any of
 these1 might ruin the composition1 and 
the composer might1 after taking all    

imaginable pains to please1 find his    
labor abortive1 and himself condemned   
for what he could not help4 ,there is no
 exhibiting with success any            
entertainment of this sort without      
having all the necessary performers and 
accompaniments4 ,it will be in a great  
measure perfect or imperfect in         
proportion as they are supplied or      
withheld4  ,a good ballet-master must   
especially have regard to both poetical 
and picturesque invention2 his aim being
 to unite both those arts under one     
exhibition4 ,the poetical part of the   
composition being necessary to furnish a
 well-composed piece that shall begin   
with a clear exposition1 and proceed    
unfolding itself to the conclusion1 in  
situations well chosen1 and well        
expressed4 ,the picturesque part is also
 highly essential for the formation of  
the steps1 attitudes1 gestures1 looks1  
grouping the performers1 and planning   
their evolutions2 all for the greatest  
and justest effect4  ,he should himself 

be thoroughly struck with his initial   
idea1 which will lead him to the second1
 and so on methodically until the whole 
is concluded1 without having recourse to
 a method justly exploded by the best   
masters1 that of choregraphy or noting  
dances1 which only serves to obstruct   
and infrigidate the fire of composition4
 ,when he shall have finished his       
composition1 he may then coolly review  
it1 and make what disposition and       
arrangement of the parts shall appear   
the best to him4 ,every interruption is 
to be avoided1 in those moments1 when   
the imagination is at its highest pitch 
of inventing and projecting4 ,there are 
few artists who have not1 at times1     
experienced in themselves a more than   
ordinary disposition or aptitude1 for   
this operation of the mind2 and it is   
these critical moments1 which may       
otherwise be irretrievable1 they ought  
particularly to improve1 with as little 
diversion from them as possible4 ,they  
should pursue a thought1 or a hint of a 

thought1 from its first crudity to its  
utmost maturity4  ,a man of true genius 
in any of the imitative arts1 and there 
is not one that has a juster claim to   
that title than the art of dancing1     
sensible that nature is the varied and  
abundant spring of all objects of       
imitation1 considers her and all her    
effects with a far different eye from   
those who have no intention of availing 
themselves of the matter she furnishes  
for observation4 ,he will discover      
essential differences between objects1  
where a superficial beholder sees       
nothing but sameness2 and in his        
imitation he will so well know how to   
render those differences discernible1   
that in the composition of his dance1   
the most trite subject will assume the  
air of novelty with the grace of        
variety4  ,there is nothing disgusts so 
much as repetitions of the same thing2  
and a composer of dances will avoid them
 as studiously as painters do in their  
pieces1 or writers tautology4  ,the     

public complains1 with great reason1    
that dances are frequently void of      
action1 which is the fault of the       
performers not giving themselves the    
trouble to study just ones3 satisfied   
with the more mechanical part of        
dancing1 they never think of connecting 
the part of the actor with it1 which    
however is indispensably necessary to   
give to their performance1 spirit1 and  
animation4  ,a dance without meaning is 
a very insipid botch4 ,the subject of   
the composition should always be        
strictly connected to the dances1 so as 
that they should be in equal            
correspondence to one another4 ,and1    
where a dance is expletively introduced 
in the intervals of the acts1 the       
subject of it should have1 at least1    
some affinity to the piece4 ,a long     
custom has made the want of this        
attention pass unnoticed4 ,it is surely 
an absurd and an unnatural patchwork1   
between the acts of a deep tragedy1 to  
bring on1 abruptly by way of diversion1 

a comic dance4 ,by this contrast both   
entertainments are hurt2 the abruptness 
of the transition is intolerable to the 
audience2 and the thread1 especially of 
the tragic fable1 is unpleasingly       
broken4 ,the spectators cannot bear to  
be so suddenly tossed from the serious  
to the mirthful1 and from the mirthful  
to the serious4 ,in short1 such an      
heterogeneous adulteration has all the  
absurdity reproached to the motley      
mixture in tragi-comedy1 without any    
thing of that connection which is       
preserved in that kind of justly        
exploded dramatic composition4 ,how easy
 too to avoid this defect1 by adapting  
the subjects of the dances to the       
different exigences of the different    
dramas1 whether serious1 comic1 or      
farcical6  ,one great source of this    
disorder1 is probably the managers      
considering dances in nothing better    
than in the light of merely a mechanical
 execution for the amusement of the eye1
 and incapable of speaking to the mind4 

,and in this mistake they are certainly 
justifiable by the great degeneracy of  
this art1 from the pitch of perfection  
to which it was antiently carried1 and  
to which the encouragement of the public
 could not fail to restore it4 ,the     
managers would then see their interest  
too clearly in consulting the greater   
pleasure of the public1 not to afford to
 this art1 the requisite cultivation and
 means of improvement4  ,the composer1  
who must even have something of the poet
 in him2 the musician1 the painter1 the 
mechanic1 are essentially necessary to  
the contribution of their respective    
arts1 towards the harmony and perfection
 of composition1 in a fine dramatic     
dance2 even the dresses are no          
inconsiderable part of the              
entertainment4 ,the costume1 or in a    
more general term1 propriety1 should    
have the direction of them4 ,it is not  
magnificence1 that is the great point1  
but their being well assorted to        
character and circumstances4 ,the       

,french are notoriously faulty in       
over-dressing their characters1 and in  
making them fine and showy1 where their 
simplicity would be their greatest      
ornament4 ,i do not mean a simplicity   
that should have any thing mean1 low or 
indifferent in it2 but1 for example1 in 
rural characters1 the simplicity of     
nature1 if ,i may use the expression1 in
 her holy-day-cloaths4  ,as to the      
decorations and machines especially1 ,i 
know of no place where there is less    
excuse for their being deficient in them
 than in ,london1 where they are too    
manifestly1 to bear any suspicion of    
flattery in the attributing it to them1 
executed to a perfection that is not    
known in any other part of ,europe4 ,the
 quickness with which the shifts and    
deceptions in the pantomime             
entertainments are performed here1 have 
been attempted in many other parts2 but 
the persons there employed1 not having  
the same skill and depth in mechanics as
 the artists here1 cannot come up to    

them in this point4 ,and it is in this  
point precisely that a composer of      
dances may be furnished with great      
assistence in the effects from the      
theatrical illusion4 ,and in an         
entertainment1 where by an established  
tacit agreement between the audience and
 performers1 there is such a latitude of
 introducing superhuman personages1     
either of the heathen deities1 or of    
fairy-hood1 inchanters1 and the like1   
those transformations and deceptions of 
the sight are even in the order of      
natural consequences1 from the          
pre-supposed and allowed power of such  
characters to operate them4 ,at the same
 time the rules of probability must even
 there be observed4 ,nor is it amiss to 
be very sparing and reserved in the     
composition of those dances1 grounded on
 the introduction of purely imaginary   
beings1 such as the allegorical         
impersonation of the moral ,beings1     
whether the ,virtues or the ,vices4     
,unless the invention is very           

interesting indeed1 the characters      
distinctly marked1 and the application  
very just and obvious2 their effect is  
rarely answerable to expectation1       
especially on the audiences of this     
country4 ,the taste here for those airy 
ideal characters is not very high1 and  
perhaps not the worse for not being so4 
,among the many losses which this art   
has sustained1 one surely1 not the least
 regrettable1 even for our theatres1 was
 that of the dances in armour1 practised
 by the ,greeks1 which they used by way 
of diversion and of exercise for        
invigorating their bodies4 ,sometimes   
they had only bucklers and javelins in  
their hands3 but1 on certain occasions  
they performed in panoply1 or complete  
suits of armour4 ,strengthened by their 
daily and various manly exercises1 they 
were enabled to execute these dances1   
with a surprising exactness and         
dexterity4 ,the martial simphony that   
accompanied them1 was performed by a    
numerous band of music2 for the clash of

 their arms being so loud1 would else   
have drowned the tune or airs of the    
musicians4 ,it is impossible to imagine 
a more sublime1 splendid and picturesque
 sight than what these dances afforded1 
in the brilliancy of their arms1 and the
 variety of their evolutions2 while the 
delight they took in it1 inspired them  
with as much martial fire1 as if they   
had been actually going to meet the     
enemy4 ,and indeed this diversion was so
 much of the nature of the military     
exercise1 that none could be admitted   
who were not thoroughly expert in all   
martial training4 ,in time of peace1    
this kind of dance was considered as    
even necessary to keep up that          
suppleness and athletic disposition of  
body1 to bear action and fatigue1       
essential to the military profession4   
,if the practice had been neglected1 but
 for a few days1 they observed a        
numbness insensibly diffuse itself over 
the whole body4 ,they were persuaded    
then that the best way of preserving    

their health1 and fitness for action1   
and consequently to qualify them for the
 most heroic enterprizes1 was to keep up
 this kind of exercise1 in the form of  
diversion4  ,these martial dances1 have1
 in some operas of ,italy1 been         
attempted to be imitated1 with some     
degree of success3 but as the performers
 had not been trained up to such an     
exercise1 like the ,greeks1 it was not  
to be expected that the representation  
should have the same perfection1 or     
color of life4  ,the composition of the 
music1 and the suiting the airs to the  
intended execution of a dance1 is a     
point of which it is scarce needful to  
insist on the importance1 from its being
 so obvious and so well known4 ,nothing 
can produce a more disagreeable         
discordance than a performer's dancing  
out of time4 ,and here it may be        
observed1 how much lies upon a dancer1  
in his being at once obliged to adapt   
his motions exactly to the music and to 
the character3 which forms a double     

incumbence1 neither point of which he   
can neglect1 without falling into       
unpardonable errors4  ,where dances are 
well composed1 they may give a picture1 
to the life1 of the manners and genius  
of each nation and each age1 in         
conformity to the subject respectively  
chosen4 ,but then the truth of the      
costume1 and of natural and historical  
representation must be strictly         
preserved4 ,objects must be neither     
exagerated beyond probability1 nor      
diminished so as not to please or       
affect4 ,a real genius will not be      
affraid of striking out of the common   
paths1 and1 sensible that inventiveness 
is a merit1 he will create new          
theatrical subjects1 or produce varied  
combinations of old ones4 ,and where the
 decorations1 or requisite              
accompaniments are not supplied as he   
could wish1 he must endeavour to make   
the most of what he can get1 towards the
 exhibition of his production2 if not   
with all the advantage of which it is   

susceptible1 at least with all those he 
can procure for it4 ,where the best     
cannot be obtained1 he must be content  
with the least bad4 ,but especially a   
composer of dances should never lose    
sight of his duty in preserving to his  
art its power of competition1 as well as
 its affinity with the other imitative  
arts1 in the expression of nature2 all  
the passions and sentiments being       
manifestly to be marked by motion1      
gestures1 and attitudes1 to the time of 
a correspondent and well adapted music4 
,while all this aided and set off1 by   
the accompaniments of proper decorations
 of painting1 and1 where necessary1 of  
machinery1 makes that1 a well composed  
dance1 may very justly be deemed a small
 poem1 thrown into the most lively      
action imaginable2 into an action so    
expressive as not to need the aid of    
words1 for conveying its meaning2 but to
 make the want of them rather a pleasure
 than matter of regret2 from its        
exercising1 without fatiguing1 the mind 

of the spectator1 to which it can never 
be but an agreeable entertainment1 to   
have something left for its own making  
out1 always provided that there be no   
perplexing difficulty or ambiguity4     
,nothing of which is impossible to an   
artist who has the talent of making a   
right choice among the most pleasing    
objects of nature2 of sufficiently      
feeling what he aims at expressing2 of  
knowing how far it is allowable for his 
art1 to proceed towards the embellishing
 nature1 and where it should stop to    
avoid its becoming an impertinence2 and 
especially of agreeably disposing his   
subject1 in the most neat and           
intelligible manner that can be desired4
                           ,some        
,,thoughts                 ,on the      
,,utility of                 ,,learning 
,,to ,,dance1              ,and         
,especially upon the                    
,,minuet4   ,was ,i1 in quality of a    
dancing-master1 to offer even the       
strongest reasons of inducement to learn

 this art1 they could not but justly    
lose much1 if not all1 of their weight1 
from my supposed interest in the        
offering them2 besides the partiality   
every artist has for his art4  ,it would
 however exceed the bounds prescribed to
 modesty itself1 were ,i to neglect     
availing myself of the authority of     
others1 who were not only far from being
 professors of this art1 but who hold   
the highest rank in the public opinion  
for solidity of understanding1 and      
purity of morals1 and who yet did not   
disdain to give their opinion in favor  
of an art only imagined frivolous1 for  
want of considering it in a just and    
inlarged view4  ,after this             
introduction1 ,i need not be ashamed of 
quoting ,mr4 ,locke1 in his judicious   
treatise of education4    ,nothing 7says
 he7 appears to me to give children so  
much   becoming confidence and          
behaviour1 and so to raise them to   the
 conversation of those above their age1 
as dancing4   ,i think they should be   

taught to dance as soon as they are     
capable of learning it2 for though this 
consists only in   outward gracefulness 
of motion1 yet1 ,i know not how1 it     
gives children manly thoughts and       
carriage more than any   thing4  ,in    
another place1 he says1    ,dancing     
being that which gives graceful motions 
to all our   lives1 and above all       
things1 manliness1 and a becoming       
confidence to young children1 ,i think  
it cannot be learned   too early1 after 
they are once capable of it4 ,but you   
must   be sure to have a good master1   
that knows and can teach what   is      
graceful and becoming1 and what gives a 
freedom and   easiness to all the       
motions of the body4 ,one that teaches  
not this1 is worse than none at all2    
natural awkwardness   being much better 
than apish affected postures3 and ,i    
think   it much more passable1 to put   
off the hat1 and make a leg   like an   
honest country-gentleman1 than like an  
ill-fashioned   dancing-master4 ,for as 

for the jigging1 and the figures of     
dance1 ,i count that little or nothing  
better than as it   tends to perfect    
graceful carriage4  ,the ,chevalier ,de 
,ramsay1 author of ,cyrus's travels1 in 
his plan of education for a young       
,prince1 has 7page #ad47 the following  
passage to this purpose4    ,to the     
study of poetry1 should be joined that  
of the three   arts of imitation4 ,the  
antients represented the passions1 by   
gests1 colors and sounds4 ,xenophon     
tells us of some   wonderful effects of 
the ,grecian dances1 and how they moved 
and expressed the passions4 ,we have now
 lost the perfection   of that art2 all 
that remains1 is only what is necessary 
to   give a handsome action and airs to 
a young gentleman4 ,this   ought not to 
be neglected1 because upon the external 
figure   and appearance1 depends often  
the regard we have to the   internal    
qualities of the mind4 ,a graceful      
behaviour1 in the   house of ,lords or  
,commons1 commands the attention of a   

whole   assembly4  ,and most certainly  
in this last allegation of advantage to 
be obtained by a competent skill1 or at 
least tincture of the art1 the          
,chevalier ,ramsay1 has not exagerated  
its utility4 ,quintilian has recommended
 it1 especially in early years1 when the
 limbs are the most pliable1 for        
procuring that so necessary             
accomplishment1 in the formation of     
orators gesture3 observing withall1 that
 where that is not becoming1 nothing    
else hardly pleases4  ,but even         
independent of that consideration1      
nothing is more generally confessed1    
than that this branch of breeding       
qualifies persons for presenting        
themselves with a good grace4 ,to whom  
can it be unknown that a favorable      
prepossession at the first sight is     
often of the highest advantage2 and that
 the power of first impressions is not  
easily surmountable8  ,in assemblies or 
places of public resort1 when we see a  
person of a genteel carriage or         

presence1 he attracts our regard and    
liking1 whether he be a foreigner or one
 of this country4 ,at court1 even a     
graceful address1 and an air of ease1   
will more distinguish a man from the    
croud1 than the richest cloaths that    
money may purchase2 but can never give  
that air to be acquired only by         
education4  ,there are indeed who1 from 
indolence or self-sufficiency1 affect a 
sort of carelessness in their gait1 as  
disdaining to be obliged to any part of 
their education1 for their external     
appearance1 which they abandon to itself
 under the notion of its being natural1 
free1 and easy4  ,but while they avoid1 
as they imagine1 the affectation of     
over-nicety1 they run into that of a    
vicious extreme of negligence1 which    
proves nothing but either a deficiency  
of breeding1 or if not that1 a high     
opinion of themselves1 with what is not 
at all unconsequential to that1 a       
contempt of others4  ,such are certainly
 much mistaken1 if they imagine that an 

art1 which is principally designed to   
correct defects1 should leave so capital
 an one subsisting as that of want of   
ease1 and freedom1 in the gesture and   
gait4 ,on the contrary1 it is as great  
an enemy to stiffness1 as it is to      
looseness of carriage1 and air4 ,it     
equally reprobates an ungainly          
rusticity1 and a mincing1 tripping1     
over-soft manner4 ,its chief aim is to  
bring forth the natural graces1 and not 
to smother them with appearances of     
study and art4  ,but of all the people  
in the world1 the ,british would        
certainly be the most in the wrong for  
not laying a great enough stress on this
 part of education2 since none have more
 conspicuously the merit of figure and  
person2 and it would in them be a sort  
of ingratitude to ,nature1 who has done 
so much for them1 not to do a little    
more for themselves1 in acquiring an    
accomplishment1 the utility of which has
 been acknowledged in all ages1 and in  
all countries1 and especially by the    

greatest and most sensible men in their 
own4  ,as to the ladies1 there is one   
light in which perhaps they would not do
 amiss to view the practice of this art1
 besides that of mere diversion or      
improvement of their deportment3 it is  
that of its being highly serviceable to 
their health1 and to what it can never  
be expected they should be indifferent  
about1 their beauty1 it being the best  
and surest way of preserving1 or even   
giving it to their whole person4  ,it is
 in history a settled point1 that beauty
 was no where more florishing1 nor less 
rare1 than among such people as         
encouraged and cultivated exercise1     
especially in the fair sex4 ,the various
 provinces and governments in ,greece1  
all agreed1 some in a less1 some in a   
greater degree1 in making exercise a    
point of female education4 ,the         
,spartans carried this to perhaps an    
excess1 since the training of the       
children of that sex1 hardly yielded to 
that of the male in laboriousness and   

fatigue4 ,be this confessed to be an    
extreme3 but then it was in some measure
 compensated by its being universally   
allowed1 that the ,spartan women owed to
 it that beauty in which they excelled  
the rest of the ,grecian women1 who were
 themselves held1 in that point1        
preferable to the rest of the world4    
,hellen was a ,spartan4 ,yet the        
legislator of that people1 did not so   
much as consider this advantage among   
the ends proposed in prescribing so     
hardy an education to the weaker sex4   
,his views were for giving them that    
health and vigor of body1 which might   
enable them to produce a race of men the
 fittest to serve their country in war4 
,but as the best habit of body is ever  
inseparable from the greatest perfection
 of beauty1 of which its possessor is   
susceptible1 it very naturally followed1
 that the good plight to which exercise 
brought and preserved the females1 gave 
also to their shape1 that delicacy and  
suppleness1 and to their every motion1  

that graceful agility which caracterized
 the ,grecian beauties1 and             
distinguished them for that nymph-stile 
of figure1 which we to this day admire  
in the description of their historians1 
of their poets1 or in the               
representations that yet remain to us in
 their statues1 or other monuments of   
antiquity4  ,but omitting to insist on  
the ,spartan austerity1 and especially  
on their gimnastic training for both    
sexes1 and to take the milder methods of
 exercise in use among the ,grecians1 we
 find that the chace1 that foot-races1  
and especially dancing1 principally     
composed the amusement of the young     
ladies of that country2 where1 in the   
great days of ,greece1 no maxim ever    
more practically prevailed1 than that   
sloth or inactivity was equally the     
parent of diseases of the body1 as of   
vices of the mind4 ,agreeable to which  
idea1 one of the greatest physicians now
 in ,europe1 the celebrated ,tronchin1  
while at ,paris1 vehemently declaimed   

against this false delicacy and aversion
 against exercise2 from which the       
ladies1 especially of the higher rank of
 life1 derived their bad habits of body1
 their pale color1 with all the         
principles of weakness1 and of a puny   
diseased constitution1 which they       
necessarily intail on their innocent    
children4 ,thence it was that he        
condemned the using oneself too much to 
coaches or chairs1 which1 he observed1  
lowers the spirits1 thickens the humors1
 numbs the nerves1 and cramps the       
liberty of circulation4  ,considering   
the efficacy of exercise1 and that      
fashion has abolished or at least       
confined among a very few1 the more     
robust methods of amusement1 it can     
hardly not be eligible to cultivate and 
encourage an art1 so innocent and so    
agreeable as that of dancing1 and which 
at once unites in itself the three great
 ends1 of bodily improvement1 of        
diversion1 and of healthy exercise4 ,as 
to this last especially1 it has this    

advantage1 its being susceptible at     
pleasure1 of every modification1 of     
being carried from the gentlest degree  
of motion1 up to that of the most       
violent activity4 ,and where riding is  
prescribed purely for the sake of the   
power of the concussion resulting from  
it1 to prevent or to dissipate          
obstructions1 the springs and agitations
 of the bodily frame1 in the more active
 kind of dances1 can hardly not answer  
the same purpose1 especially as the     
motion is more equitably diffused1 and  
suffers no checks or partiality from    
keeping the seat1 as either in riding1  
or any other method of conveyance4 ,at  
least1 such an entertainment1 one would 
imagine1 preferable1 for many reasons1  
to an excess of such sedentary          
amusements as those of cards1 and the   
like4  ,certainly those of the fair sex 
who use exercise1 will1 in their        
exemption from a depraved or deficient  
appetite1 in the freshness or in the    
glow of their color1 in the firmness of 

their make1 in the advantages to their  
shape1 in the goodness in general of    
their constitution1 find themselves not 
ill repaid for conquering any ill-habit 
of false delicacy and sloth1 to which so
 many1 otherwise fine young ladies1 owe 
the disorders of their stomach1 their   
pale sickly hue1 and that languid state 
of health which must poison all their   
pleasures1 and even endanger their      
lives4 ,these are not strained nor      
far-fetched consequences4  ,but even as 
to those of either sex1 the practice of 
dancing is attended with obviously good 
effects4 ,such as are blessed by nature 
with a graceful shape and are           
clean-limbed1 receive still greater ease
 and grace from it2 while at the same   
time1 it prevents the gathering of those
 gross and foggy humors which in time   
form a disagreeable and inconvenient    
corpulence4 ,on the other hand1 those   
whose make and constitution occasion a  
kind of heavy proportion1 whose muscular
 texture is not distinct1 whose necks   

are short1 shoulders round1 chest       
narrow1 and who1 in short are1 what may 
be called1 rather clumsy figures2 these 
will greatly find their account in a    
competent exercise of the art of        
dancing1 not only as it will give them a
 freedom and ease one would not1 at the 
first sight1 imagine compatible with    
their figure1 but may contribute much to
 the cure1 or at least to the           
extenuation of such bodily defects1 by  
giving a more free circulation to the   
blood1 a habit of sprightliness and     
agility to the limbs1 and preventing the
 accumulation of gross humors1 and      
especially of fat1 which is itself not  
among the least diseases1 where it      
prevails to an excess4 ,not that ,i here
 mean any thing so foolishly partial1 as
 that nothing but dancing could operate 
all this2 but only place it among not   
the least efficacious means4  ,nothing  
is more certain than that exercises in  
general1 diversions1 such as that of    
hunting1 and the games of dexterity1    

keep up the natural standard of strength
 and beauty1 which luxury and sloth are 
sure to debase4  ,dancing furnishes then
 to the fair-sex1 whose sphere of       
exercise is naturally more confined than
 that of the men1 at once a salutary    
amusement1 and an opportunity of        
displaying their native graces4 ,but as 
to men1 fencing1 riding and many other  
improvements have also doubtless their  
respective merit1 and answer very       
valuable purposes4  ,but where only the 
gentlest exercise is requisite1 the     
minuet offers its services1 with the    
greatest effect2 and when elegantly     
executed1 forms one of the most         
agreeable fights either in private or   
public assemblies1 or1 occasionally1    
even on the theatre itself4  ,yet ,i    
speak not of this dance here with any   
purpose of specifying rules for its     
attainment4 ,such an attempt would be   
vain and impracticable4 ,who does not   
know that almost every individual       
learner requires different instructions8

 ,the laying a stress on some particular
 motion or air which may be proper to be
 recommended to one1 must be strictly   
forbidden to another4 ,in some1 their   
natural graces need only to be called   
forth2 in others the destroying them by 
affectation is to be carefully checked4 
,where defects are uncurable1 the       
teacher must show how they may be       
palliated and sometimes even converted  
into graces4 ,it will easily then be    
granted that there is no such thing as  
learning a minuet1 or indeed any dance  
merely by book4 ,the dead-letter of it  
can only be conveyed by the noting or   
description of the figure and of the    
mechanical part of it2 but the spirit of
 it in the graces of the air and        
gesture1 and the carriage of the dancer 
can only be practically taught by a good
 master4  ,i have mentioned the         
distinction of a good master1 most      
assuredly not in the way of a vain silly
 hint of self-recomdation2 but purely   
for the sake of giving a caution1 too   

often neglected1 against parents1 or    
those charged with the education of     
youth1 placing children1 at the age when
 their muscles are most flexible1 their 
limbs the most supple1 and their minds  
the most ductile1 and who are           
consequently susceptible of the best    
impressions1 under such pretended       
masters of this art1 who can only give  
them the worst1 and who1 instead of     
teaching1 stand themselves in need of   
being taught4 ,the consequence then of  
such a bad choice1 is1 that young people
 of the finest disposition in the world1
 contract1 under such teachers1 bad1    
awkward habits1 that are not afterwards 
easily curable4  ,those masters who     
possess the real grounds of their art1  
find in their uniting their practice    
with their knowledge1 resources even    
against the usual depredations of age2  
which1 though it may deprive them of    
somewhat of their youthful vigor1 has   
scarce a sensible influence on their    
manner of performance4 ,there will still

 long remain to them the traces of their
 former excellence4  ,i have myself seen
 the celebrated ,dupr1 at near the age  
of sixty1 dance at ,paris1 with all the 
agility and sprightliness of youth1 and 
with such powers of pleasing1 as if the 
graces in him had braved superannuation4
  ,such is the advantage of not having  
been content with a superficial tincture
 of this art2 or with a mere rote of    
imitation1 without an aim at excellence 
or originality4  ,but though there is no
 necessity for most learners to enter so
 deep into the grounds and principles of
 the art1 as those who are to make it   
their profession1 it is at least but    
doing justice to one's scholars to give 
them those essential instructions as to 
the graces of air1 position1 and        
gesture2 without which they can never be
 but indifferent performers4  ,for      
example1 instead of being so often told 
to turn their toes out1 they should be  
admonished to turn their knees out1     
which will consequently give the true   

direction to the feet4 ,a due attention 
should also be given to the motion of   
the instep1 to the air of sinking and   
rising2 to the position of the hips1    
shoulders1 and body2 to the graceful    
management of the arms1 and particularly
 to the giving the hand with a genteel  
manner1 to the inflections of the neck  
and head1 and especially to the so      
captivating modesty of the eye2 in      
short1 to the diffusing over the whole  
execution1 an air of noble ease1 and of 
natural gracefulness4  ,it might be too 
trite to mention here what is so        
indispensable and so much in course1 the
 strict regard to be paid to the keeping
 time with the music4  ,nothing has a   
better effect1 nor more prepossessing in
 favor of the performance to follow1    
than the bow or curtsy at the opening   
the dance1 made with an air of dignity  
and freedom4 ,on the contrary1 nothing  
is more disgustful than that initial    
step of the minuet1 when auckwardly     
executed4 ,it gives such an ill         

impression as is not easily removed by  
even a good performance in the remaining
 part of the dance4  ,there is another  
point of great importance to all1 but to
 the ladies especially1 which is ever   
strictly recommended in the teaching of 
the minuet2 but which in fact1 like most
 of the other graces of that dance1     
extends to other occasions of appearance
 in life4 ,this point is the easy and   
noble port of the head4 ,many very      
pretty ladies lose much of the effect of
 their beauty1 and of the signal power  
of the first impressions1 as they enter 
a room1 or a public assembly1 by a      
vulgar or improper carriage of the head1
 either poking the neck1 or stooping the
 head1 or in the other extreme1 of      
holding it up too stiff1 on the ,mama's 
perpetually teizing remonstrance1 of    
hold up your head1 ,miss1 without       
considering that merely bridling1       
without the easy grace of a free play1  
is a worse fault than that of which she 
will have been corrected4  ,certainly   

nothing can give a more noble air to the
 whole person than the head finely set1 
and turning gracefully1 with every      
natural occasion for turning it1 and    
especially without affectation1 or      
stifly pointing the chin1 as if to show 
which way the wind sits4  ,but it must  
be impossible for those who stoop their 
heads down1 to give their figure any air
 of dignity1 or grace of politeness4    
,they must always retain something of   
ignoble in their manner4 ,nothing then  
is more recommendable than for those who
 are naturally inclined to this defect1 
to endeavor the avoiding it by a        
particular attention to this capital    
instruction in learning the minuet4 ,it 
is also not enough to take the          
minuet-steps true to time1 to turn out  
their knees1 and to slide their step    
neatly1 if that flexibility1 or rise and
 fall from the graceful bending of the  
instep1 is not attended to1 which gives 
so elegant an air to the execution      
either of the minuet1 or of the serious 

theatrical dances4 ,nothing can more    
than that1 set off or show the beauty of
 the steps4  ,it should also be         
recommended to the dancers of the       
minuet1 ever to have an expression of   
that sort of gaity and chearfulness in  
the countenance1 which will give it an  
amiable and even a noble frankness4     
,nothing can be more out of character1  
or even displeasing1 than a froward or  
too pensive a look4 ,there may be a     
sprightly vacancy1 an openness in the   
face1 without the least tincture of any 
indecent air of levity3 as there may be 
a captivating modesty1 without any of   
that bashfulness which arises either    
from low breeding1 wrong breeding1 or no
 breeding at all4  ,but to execute a    
minuet in a very superior manner1 it is 
recommendable to enter into some        
acquaintance1 at least1 with the        
principles of the serious or grave      
dances1 with a naturally genteel person1
 a superficial knowledge of the steps1  
and a smattering of the rules1 any one  

almost may soon be made to acquit       
himself tolerably of a minuet2 but to   
make a distinguished figure1 some notion
 of the depths and refinements of the   
art1 illustrated by proper practice1 are
 required4  ,it is especially incumbent 
on an artist1 not to rest satisfied with
 having pleased3 he should1 from his    
knowledge of the grounds of his art1 be 
able to tell himself why he has pleased2
 and thus by building upon solid        
principles1 preferably to mere lucky    
hits1 or to transient and accidental    
advantages of form or manner1 insure the
 permanency of his power to please4     
,there is a vice in dancing1 against    
which pupils cannot be too carefully    
guarded2 it is that of affectation4 ,it 
is essentially different from that      
desire of pleasing1 which is so natural 
and so consistent even with the greatest
 modesty1 in that it always builds on   
some falsity1 mistaken for a means of   
pleasing1 though nothing can more surely
 defeat that intention2 there is not an 

axiom more true than that the graces are
 incompatible with affectation4 ,they   
vanish at the first appearance of it3   
and the curse of affectation is1 that it
 never but lets itself be seen1 and     
wherever it is seen1 it is sure to      
offend1 and to frustrate its own design4
  ,the simplicity of nature is the great
 fountain of all the graces2 from which 
they flow spontaneous1 when unchecked by
 affectation1 which at once poisons and 
dries them up4  ,nature does not refuse 
cultivation1 but she will not bear being
 forced4 ,the great art of the          
dancing-master is not to give graces1   
for that is impossible1 but to call     
forth into a nobly modest display those 
latent ones in his scholars1 which may  
have been buried for want of            
opportunities or of education to break  
forth in their native lustre1 or which  
have been spoiled or perverted1 by wrong
 instruction1 or by bad models of       
imitations4 ,in this last case1 the     
master's business is rather to extirpate

 than to plant2 to clear the ground of  
poisonous exotics1 and to make way for  
the pleasing productions of nature4     
,this admirable prerogative of pleasing1
 inseparable from the natural graces1   
unpoisoned by affectation1 is in nothing
 more strongly exemplified1 than in the 
rural dances1 where simplicity of       
manners1 a sprightly ease1 and an       
exemption from all design but that of   
innocent mirth1 give to the young and   
handsome villagers1 or country-maids1   
those inimitable graces for ever unknown
 to artifice and affectation4 ,not but1 
even in those rural assemblies1 there   
may be found some characters tainted    
with affectation2 but then in the       
country they are exceptions1 whereas in 
town they constitute the generality1 who
 are so apt to mistake airs for graces1 
though nothing can be more essentially  
different4  ,but how shall those masters
 guard a scholar sufficiently against   
affectation1 who are themselves         
notoriously infected with it8 ,nay1 this

 is so common to them1 that it is even  
the foundation of a proverbial remark1  
that no gentleman can be said to dance  
well1 who dances like a dancing-master4 
,those false refinements1 that finical1 
affected air so justly reproached to the
 generality of teachers1 a master should
 correct in himself before he can well  
give lessons for avoiding them to his   
pupils4 ,and1 in truth1 they are but    
wretched substitutes to the true grounds
 and principles of the art1 in which    
nothing is more strongly inculcated than
 the total neglect of them1 and the     
reliance on the engaging and noble      
simplicity of nature4  ,it is then no   
paradox to say that the more deep you   
are in the art1 the less will it stifle 
nature4 ,on the contrary1 it will1 in   
the noble assurance which a competent   
skill is sure to bring with it1 give to 
the natural graces a greater freedom and
 ease of display4 ,imperfection of      
theory and practice cramps the          
faculties2 and gives either an          

unpleasing faulteringness to the air1   
steps1 and gestures1 or wrong execution4
 ,and as the minuet derives its merit   
from an observation of the most         
agreeable steps1 well chosen in nature  
and well combined by art1 there is no   
inconsistence in avering that art may1  
in this1 as in many other objects of    
imitative skill1 essentially assist     
nature1 and place her in the most       
advantageous point of light4  ,the truth
 of this will be easily granted1 by     
numbers who have felt the pleasure of   
seeing a minuet gracefully executed by a
 couple who understood this dance       
perfectly4 ,nay1 excellence in the      
performance of it1 has given to an      
indifferent figure1 at least a temporary
 advantage over a much superior one in  
point of person only2 and sometimes an  
advantage of which the impression has   
been more permanent4  ,but besides the  
effect of the moment in pleasing the    
spectators2 the being well versed in    
this dance especially contributes       

greatly to form the gait1 and address1  
as well as the manner in which we should
 present ourselves4 ,it has a sensible  
influence in the polishing and          
fashioning the air and deportment in all
 occasions of appearance in life4 ,it   
helps to wear off any thing of          
clownishness in the carriage of the     
person1 and breathes itself into        
otherwise the most indifferent actions1 
in a genteel and agreeable manner of    
performing them4  ,this secret and      
relative influence of the minuet1       
,marcel1 my ever respected master1 whom 
his own merit in his profession1 and the
 humorous mention of him by ,helvetius1 
in his famous book ,,de ,l',,esprit1    
have made so well known1 constantly kept
 in view1 in his method of teaching it4 
,his scholars were generally known and  
distinguished from those of other       
masters1 not only by their excellence in
 actual dancing1 but by a certain       
superior air of easy-genteelness at     
other times4 ,he himself danced the     

minuet to its utmost perfection4 ,not   
that he confined his practice to that   
dance alone2 on the contrary1 he        
confessed himself obliged for his       
greatest skill in that1 to his having a 
general knowledge of all the other      
dances1 which he had practised1 but     
especially those of the serious stile4  
,but certainly it is not only to the    
professed dancer1 that dancing in the   
serious stile1 or the minuet1 with grace
 and ease1 is essential4 ,the possessing
 this branch of dancing is of great     
service on the theatre1 even to an      
actor4 ,the effect of it steals into his
 manner1 and gait1 and gives him an air 
of presenting himself1 that is sure to  
prepossess in his favor4 ,persons of    
every size or shape are susceptible of  
grace and improvement from it4 ,the     
shoulders so drawn back as not to       
protuberate before1 but as it were1 to  
retreat from sight1 or as the ,french   
express it bien effaces1 the knees well 
turning outwards1 with a free play2 the 

air of the shape noble and disengaged2  
the turns and movements easy2 in short1 
all the graces that characterise a good 
execution of the minuet1 will1          
insensibly on all other occasions1      
distribute through every limb and part  
of the body1 a certain liberty and      
agreeableness of motion easier to be    
conceived than defined4 ,to the actor1  
in all characters1 it gives1 as ,i have 
just before observed1 a graceful mien   
and presence2 but1 in serious           
characters1 it especially suggests that 
striking portliness1 that majestic tread
 of the stage1 for which some actors    
from the very first of their appearance 
so happily dispose the public to a      
favorable reception of their merit in   
the rest of their part4 ,an influence of
 the first impression1 which a good     
actor will hardly despise1 especially   
with due precaution against his         
contracting any thing forced or affected
 in his air or steps1 from his attention
 to his improvement by dancing1 as the  

very best things may be even pernicious 
by a misuse4 ,whatever is not natural1  
free1 and easy1 will undoubtedly1 on the
 stage1 as every where else1 have a bad 
effect4 ,a very little matter of excess 
will1 from his aim at a grace1 produce a
 ridiculous caricature4 ,too stiff a    
regulation of his motions or gestures1  
by measure and cadence1 would even be   
worse than abandoning every thing to    
chance2 which might1 like the ,eolian   
harp1 sometimes suffer lucky hits to    
escape him2 whereas affectation is as   
sure forever to displease1 as it is not 
to escape the being seen where it       
exists4  ,among the many reasons for    
this dance of the minuet having become  
general1 is the possibility of dancing  
it to so many different airs1 though the
 steps are invariable4 ,if one tune does
 not please a performer1 he may call for
 another2 the minuet still remaining    
unalterable4  ,there is no occasion     
however for a learner to be confined to 
this dance4 ,he should rather be        

encouraged1 or have a curiosity be      
excited in him1 to learn especially     
those dances1 which are of the more     
tender or serious character1            
contributing1 as they greatly do1 to    
perfect one in the minuet2 independently
 of the pleasure they besides give both 
in the performance and to the sight4    
,the dances the most in request are1 the
 ,saraband1 the ,bretagne the ,furlana1 
the ,passepied1 the ,folie d',espagne1  
the ,rigaudon1 the ,minuet du ,dauphin  
the ,louvre1 ,la ,marie1 which is always
 danced at the ,opera of ,roland at     
,paris4 ,some of these are performed    
solo1 others are duet-dances4 ,the      
,louvre is held by many the most        
pleasing of them all1 especially when   
well executed by both performers1 in a  
just concert of motions2 no dance       
affording the arms more occasion for a  
graceful display of them1 or a more     
delicate regularity of the steps2 being 
composed of the most select ones from   
theatrical dances1 and formed upon the  

truest principles of the art4 ,this     
dance is executed in most countries of  
,europe without any variation4 ,it is   
generally followed or terminated by a   
minuet2 and these two dances1 the       
,louvre and the minuet1 are at present  
the most universally in fashion1 and    
will1 in all probability1 continue so1  
from their being both pleasing beyond   
all others1 to the performers1 as well  
as to the spectators1 and from their not
 being difficult to learn1 if the       
scholar has but common docility4  ,youth
 being for learning this art undoubtedly
 the best season1 for reasons as ,i have
 before observed1 too obvious to need   
insisting on1 the master cannot pay too 
much attention to the availing himself  
of the pliancy of that age1 to give his 
scholars the necessary instructions for 
preparing and well-disposing their      
limbs4 ,this holds good1 particularly   
with regard to that propensity innate to
 most persons of turning in their toes4 
,i have already mentioned the expediency

 of curing this defect1 by the directing
 them to acquire a habit of turning the 
knees outward1 to which ,i have to add1 
that on the proper turn of the knee1    
chiefly depend the graces of the under  
part of the figure1 that is to say1 from
 the foot to the hip4  ,frequent        
practice also of dancing1 or of any     
salutary exercise1 is also highly       
recommendable for obtaining a firmness  
of body2 for a tottering dancer can     
never plant his steps so as to afford a 
pleasing execution4 ,it may sound a     
little odd1 but1 the truth is1 that in  
dancing1 sprightliness and agility are  
principally produced by bodily strength2
 while on the contrary1 weakness1 or    
infirmity1 must give every step and     
spring1 not only a tottering1 but a     
heavy air4 ,the legs that bear with the 
most ease the weight of the body1 will  
naturally make it seem the lightest4    
,a                  ,,summary ,,account 
,of various kinds of                    
,,dances          ,in different ,parts  

of the ,,world4       ,cantatur et      
saltatur apud omnes gentes1             
aliquo saltem modo1                     
,,quint4       ,in ,,europe4   ,as      
almost every country has dances         
particular to it1 or1 at least1 so      
naturalized by adoption from others1    
that in length of time they pass for    
originals2 a slight sketch of the most  
remarkable of them may serve to throw a 
light upon this subject1 entertaining to
 some1 and both entertaining and useful 
to others4  ,in ,,britain1 you have the 
hornpipe1 a dance which is held an      
original of this country4 ,some of the  
steps of it are used in the             
country-dances here1 which are          
themselves a kind of dance executed with
 more variety and agreeableness than in 
any part of ,europe1 where they are also
 imitatively performed1 as in ,italy1   
,germany and in several other countries4
 ,nor is it without reason they obtain1 
here the preference over the like in    
other places4 ,they are no where so well

 executed4 ,the music is extremely well 
adapted1 and the steps in general are   
very pleasing4 ,some foreign comic      
dancers1 on their coming here1 apply    
themselves with great attention to the  
true study of the hornpipe1 and by      
constant practice acquire the ability of
 performing it with success in foreign  
countries1 where it always meets with   
the highest applause1 when masterly     
executed4 ,there was an instance of     
this1 sometime ago at ,venice1 at an    
opera there1 when the theatre was as    
well provided with good singers and     
dancers1 as any other4 ,but they had not
 the good fortune to please the public4 
,a dancer luckily for the manager1      
presented himself1 who danced the       
hornpipe in its due perfection4 ,this   
novelty took so1 and made such full     
houses1 that the manager1 who had begun 
with great loss1 soon saw himself       
repaired1 and was a gainer when he      
little expected it4  ,it is to the      
,,highlanders in ,north-,britain1 that  

,i am told we are indebted for a dance  
in the comic vein1 called the ,scotch   
,reel1 executed generally1 and ,i       
believe always in trio1 or by three4    
,when well danced1 it has a very        
pleasing effect3 and indeed nothing can 
be imagined more agreeable1 or more     
lively and brilliant1 than the steps in 
many of the ,scotch dances4 ,there is a 
great variety of very natural and very  
pleasing ones4 ,and a composer of comic 
dances1 might1 with great advantage to  
himself1 upon a judicious assemblage of 
such steps as he might pick out of their
 dances1 form a dance that1 with well   
adapted dresses1 correspondent music1   
and figures capable of a just           
performance1 could hardly fail of a     
great success upon the theatre4  ,i do  
not know whether ,i shall not stand in  
need of an apology for mentioning here a
 dance once popular in ,england1 but to 
which the idea of low is now currently  
annexed4 ,it was originally adapted from
 the ,moors1 and is still known by the  

name of ,morris-dancing1 or             
,moresc-dance4 ,it is danced with       
swords1 by persons odly disguised1 with 
a great deal of antic rural merriment3  
it is true that this diversion is now   
almost exploded1 being entirely confined
 to the lower classes of life1 and only 
kept up in some counties4 ,what the     
reason may be of its going out of use1  
,i cannot say2 but am very sure1 there  
was not only a great deal of natural    
mirth in it1 but that it is susceptible 
enough of improvement1 to rescue it from
 the contempt it may have incurred1     
through its being chiefly in use among  
the vulgar2 though most probably it may 
have descended among them from the      
higher ranks4 ,for certainly of them it 
was not quite unworthy1 for the ,pirrhic
 or military air it carries with it1 and
 which probably was the cause of its    
introduction among so martial a people4 
,rude1 as it was1 it might require      
refinement1 but it did not1 perhaps1    
deserve to become quite obsolete4  ,in  

,,spain1 they have a dance1 called1 ,les
 ,folies d',espagne1 which is performed 
either by one or by two1 with castanets4
 ,there is a dress peculiarly adapted to
 it1 which has a very pleasing effect1  
as well as the dance itself4  ,in       
,,france1 their ,contre-dances1 are     
drawn from the true principles of the   
art1 and the figures and steps are      
generally very agreeable4 ,no nation    
cultivates this art with more taste and 
delicacy4 ,their ,provenale dance1 is   
most delightfully sprightly1 and well   
imagined4 ,the steps seem to correspond 
with the natural vivacity and gaiety of 
the ,provenals4 ,this dance is commonly 
performed to the pipe and tabor4  ,the  
,,flemish dances run in the most droll  
vein of true rural humor4 ,the          
performers seem to be made for the      
dances1 and the dances for the          
performers2 so well assorted are the    
figures to the representation4 ,several 
eminent painters in the grotesque stile1
 ,teniers especially1 have formed many  

diverting pictures taken from life1 upon
 this subject4  ,at ,,naples1 they have 
various grotesque dances1 which are     
originals in their kind1 being extremely
 difficult to execute1 not only for the 
variety of the steps1 but for the       
intricacy and uncommonness1 or rather   
singularity of them4  ,but while ,i am  
mentioning ,naples1 ,i ought not to omit
 that effect of dancing1 which is       
attributed to it1 upon those who are    
bitten with the ,tarantula4 ,the        
original of this opinion1 was probably  
owing to some sensible physician1       
prescribing such a violent motion1 more 
likely to be kept up in the patient1 by 
the power of music1 than by any thing   
else1 as might enable him to expel the  
poison1 by being thereby thrown into a  
copious sweat1 and by other benefits    
from such a vehement agitation4 ,this1  
it is supposed1 was afterwards abused   
and turned into a mere trick1 to        
assemble a croud and get money1 either  
by sham bites1 or by making a kind of   

show of this method of practice in real 
ones4 ,however1 that may be1 the various
 grimaces or contortions1 leaps and     
irregular steps1 commonly used on this  
occasion1 to be executed to that sort of
 music1 or airs adapted to it1 might    
afford a good subject for a grotesque   
dance1 to be formed upon the plan of a  
burlesque or mock-imitation3 and ,i am  
not quite sure that the idea of such a  
dance1 has not been already carried into
 execution4  ,the castanets the         
,,neapolitans most frequently use1 are  
of the largest size4 ,it is also from   
,naples that we have taken the          
,punchinello dance4  ,at ,,florence1    
they have a dance1 called1 il           
,treschone4 ,the country-women1 in the  
villages1 are very fond of it4 ,they are
 generally speaking1 very robust1 and   
capable of holding out the fatigue of   
this dance1 for a long time4 ,to make   
themselves more light for it1 they often
 pull off their shoes4 ,the dance is    
opened by a couple1 one of each sex4    

,the woman holds in her hand a          
handkerchief1 which she flings to him   
whom she chuses for her next partner1   
who1 in his turn has an equal right to  
dispose of it in the same manner1 to any
 woman of the company he chuses4 ,thus  
is the dance carried on without any     
interruption till the assembly breaks   
up4  ,the favorite dance of the         
,,venetians1 is what they call the      
,furlana1 which is performed by two     
persons dancing a-round with the        
greatest rapidity4 ,those who have a    
good ear1 keep time with the crossing   
their feet behind2 and some add a motion
 of their hands1 as if they were rowing 
or tugging at an oar4 ,this dance is    
practiced in several other parts of     
,italy4  ,the ,peasants of ,,tirol1 have
 one of the most pleasant and grotesque 
dances that can be imagined4 ,they      
perform it in a sort of holy-day dress1 
made of skins1 and adorned with ribbons4
 ,they wear wooden shoes1 not           
uncuriously painted2 and the women      

especially express a kind of rural      
simplicity and frolic mirth1 which has a
 very agreeable effect4  ,the ,,grisons 
are in possession of an old dance1 which
 is not without its merit1 and which    
they would not exchange for the politest
 in ,europe2 they being as invariably   
attached to it1 as to their dress4  ,the
 ,,hungarians are very noisy in their   
dances1 with their iron heels1 but when 
they are of an equal size1 and dressed  
in their uniforms1 the agility of their 
steps1 and the regularity of dress in   
the performers1 render them not a       
disagreeable sight4  ,the ,,germans have
 a dance called the ,allemande1 in which
 the men and women form a ring4 ,each   
man holding his partner round the waist1
 makes her whirl round with almost      
inconceivable rapidity3 they dance in a 
grand circle1 seeming to pursue one     
another3 in the course of which they    
execute several leaps1 and some         
particularly pleasing steps1 when they  
turn1 but so very difficult as to appear

 such even to professed dancers         
themselves4 ,when this dance is         
performed by a numerous company1 it     
furnishes one of the most pleasing      
sights that can be imagined4  ,the      
,,polish nobility have a dance1 to which
 the magnificence of their dress1 and   
the elegance of the steps1 the          
gracefulness of the attitudes1 the      
fitness of the music1 all contribute to 
produce a great effect4 ,were it        
performed here on the theatre1 it would 
hardly fail of a general applause4  ,the
 ,,cossacs1 have1 amidst all their      
uncouth barbarism1 a sort of dancing1   
which they execute to the sound of an   
instrument1 somewhat resembling a       
,mandoline1 but considerably larger1 and
 which is highly diverting1 from the    
extreme vivacity of the steps1 and the  
oddity of the contortions and grimaces1 
with which they exhibit it4 ,for a      
grotesque dance there can hardly be     
imagined any thing more entertaining4   
,the ,,russians1 afford nothing         

remarkable in their dances1 which they  
now chiefly take from other countries4  
,the dance of dwarfs with which the     
,czar ,peter the ,great1 solemnized the 
nuptials of his niece to the ,duke of   
,courland1 was1 probably rather a       
particular whim of his own1 than a      
national usage4       ,in ,,asia4   ,in 
,,turky1 dances have been1 as of old in 
,greece1 and elsewhere instituted in    
form of a religious ceremony4 ,the      
,dervishes who are a kind of            
devotionists execute a dance1 called the
 ,semaat in a circle1 to a strange      
wild-simphony1 when holding one another 
by the hand1 they turn round with such  
rapidity1 that1 with pure giddiness1    
they often fall down in heaps upon one  
another4  ,they have also in ,turky1 as 
well as ,india and ,persia1 professed   
dancers1 especially of the female sex1  
under the name of dancing-girls1 who are
 bred up1 from their childhood1 to the  
profession2 and are always sent for to  
any great entertainment1 public or      

private1 as at feasts1 weddings1        
ceremonies of circumcision1 and1 in     
short1 on all occasions of festivity and
 joy4 ,they execute their dances to a   
simphony of various instruments1        
extremely resembling the antient ones1  
the tympanum1 the crotala1 the cimbals1 
and the like1 as well as to songs1 being
 a kind of small dramatic compositions1 
or what may properly be called ballads1 
which is a true word for a song at once 
sung and danced3 ballare signifying to  
dance2 and ballata1 a song1 composed to 
be danced4 ,it is probable that from    
these eastern kind of dances1 which are 
undoubtedly very antient1 came the name1
 among the ,romans1 of balatrones4      
,nothing can be imagined more graceful1 
nor more expressive1 than the gestures  
and attitudes of those dancing-girls1   
which may properly be called the        
eloquence of the body1 in which indeed  
most of the ,asiatics and inhabitants of
 the southren climates constitutionally 
excel1 from a sensibility more exquisite

 than is the attribute of the more      
northern people2 but a sensibility      
ballanced by too many disadvantages to  
be envied them4 ,the ,siamese1 we are   
told1 have three dances1 called the     
,cone1 the ,lacone1 and the ,raban4 ,the
 ,cone is a figure-dance1 in which they 
use particularly a string-instrument in 
the nature of a violin1 with some others
 of the ,asiatic make4 ,those who dance 
are armed and masked1 and seem to be a  
fighting rather than dancing4 ,it is a  
kind of ,indian ,pirrhic4 ,their masks  
represent the most frightful hideous    
countenances of wild-beasts1 or demons1 
that fancy can invent4 ,in the ,lacone  
the performers sing commutually stanzes 
of verses containing the history of     
their country4 ,the ,raban is a mixed   
dance1 of men and women1 not martial1   
nor historical1 but purely gallant2 in  
which the dancers have all long false   
nails of copper4 ,they sing in this     
dance1 which is only a slow march       
without any high motions1 but with a    

great many contortions of body and arms4
 ,those who dance in the ,raban and     
,cone have high gilt caps like          
sugar-loaves4 ,the dance of the ,lacone 
is appropriated to the dedication of    
their temples1 when a new statue of     
their ,sommona-codom is set up4  ,in    
many parts of the ,east1 at their       
weddings1 in conducting the bride from  
her house to the bridegroom's1 as in    
,persia especially1 they make use of    
processional music and dancing4 ,but1 in
 the religious ceremonies of the        
,gentoos1 when1 at stated times1 they   
draw the triumphal car1 in which the    
image of the deity of the festival is   
carried1 the procession is intermixed   
with troops of dancers of both sexes1   
who1 proceed1 in chorus1 leaping1       
dancing1 and falling into strange       
antics1 as the procession moves along1  
of which they compose a part2 these     
adapt their gestures and steps to the   
sounds of various instruments of music4 
,considering withal that the ,romans1 in

 their most solemn processions1 as in   
that called the ,pompa1 which ,i have   
before mentioned1 in which not only the 
,pirrhic dance was processionally       
executed1 but other dances1 in          
masquerade1 by men who1 in their habits1
 by leaping and by feats of agility1    
represented satirs1 the ,sileni1 and    
,fauni1 and were attended by minstrels  
playing on the flute and guitar2 besides
 which1 there were ,salian priests1 and 
,salian virgins1 who followed1 in their 
order1 and executed their respective    
religious dances2 it may bear a question
 whether not an unpleasing use might not
 be made1 on the theatres1 of           
processional dances properly introduced1
 and connected1 especially in the       
burlesque way4 ,in every country1 and   
particularly in this1 processions are   
esteemed an agreeable amusement to the  
eye2 and certainly they must receive    
more life and animation from a proper   
intermixture of dances1 than what a mere
 solemn march can represent1 where there

 is nothing to amuse but a long train of
 personages in various habits1 walking  
in parade4 ,i only mention this however 
as a hint not impossible to be improved1
 and reduced into practice4  ,but even1 
where it might be improper or ridiculous
 to think of mixing dances with a       
procession1 though it were but in       
burlesque1 which must1 if at all1 be the
 preferable way of mixing them1 the     
pleasure of those who delight in seeing 
processions and pageantry exhibited on  
the theatre1 might be gratified1 without
 any violence to propriety1 by making   
them introductory to the dances of the  
grandest kind4 ,for example2 where a    
dance in ,chinese characters is         
intended1 a procession might be         
previously brought in1 of personages1 of
 whom the habits1 charactures1 and      
manners might be faithfully copied from 
nature1 and from the truth of things1   
and convey to the spectator a juster    
notion1 of the people from which the    
representation was taken1 of their dress

 and public processions1 than any verbal
 description1 or even prints or         
pictures4 ,after which1 the dance might 
naturally take place1 in celebration of 
the festival1 of which1 the procession  
might be supposed the occasion4  ,in    
order to give a more distinct idea of   
this hint1 ,i have hereto annexed the   
print of a ,chinese procession taken    
from the description of a traveller into
 that country2 by which a good composer 
would well know how to make a proper    
choice of what might be exhibited1 and  
what was fit to be left out2 especially 
according as the dance should be1       
serious or burlesque4 ,in the last case2
 even the horses might be represented by
 a theatrical imitation4 ,and certainly1
 bringing the personages on in such a   
regular procession at first1 would give 
a better opportunity of observing their 
dresses1 than in the huddled1 confused  
manner of grouping them1 that has been  
sometimes practised3 to say nothing of  
the pleasure afforded to the eye by the 

procession itself4  ,the print annexed  
represents the procession of a ,chinese 
,mandarin of the first order4 ,first    
appear two men who strike each upon a   
copper instrument called a gongh1       
resembling a hollow dish without a      
border1 which has pretty much the effect
 of a kettle-drum4  ,follow the         
ensign-bearers1 on whose flags are      
written in large characters the         
,mandarin's titles of honour4 ,next     
fourteen standards1 upon which appear   
the proper simbols of his office1 such  
as the dragon1 tiger1 phoenix1 flying   
tortoise1 and other winged creatures of 
fancy1 emblematically exhibited4  ,six  
officers1 bearing a staff headed by an  
oblong square board1 raised high1       
whereon are written in large golden     
characters the particular qualities of  
this ,mandarin4  ,two others bear1 the  
one a large umbrella of yellow silk 7the
 imperial color7 of three folds1 one    
above the other2 the other officer      
carries the case in which the umbrella  

is kept4  ,two archers on horseback1 at 
the head of the chief guard3 then the   
guards1 armed with large hooks1 adorned 
with silk fringe1 in four rows one above
 another2 two other files of men in     
armor1 some bearing maces with long     
handles2 others1 maces in the form of a 
hand1 or of a serpent3 others1 equipped 
with large hammers and long hatchets    
like a crescent4 ,other guards bearing  
sharp axes3 some1 weapons like scythes1 
only strait4 ,soldiers carrying         
three-edged halberds4  ,two porters1    
carrying a splendid coffer1 containing  
the seal of his office4  ,two other men1
 beating each a gongh1 which gives      
notice of the ,mandarin's approach4     
,two officers1 armed with staves1 to    
keep off the croud4  ,two mace-bearers  
with gilt maces in the shape of dragons1
 and a number of officers of justice1   
some equiped with bamboes1 a kind of    
flat cudgels1 to give the bastinado3    
others with chains1 whips1 cutlasses1   
and hangers4  ,two standard-bearers1 and

 the captain of the guard4  ,all this   
equipage precedes the ,mandarin or      
,viceroy1 who is carried in his chair1  
surrounded with pages and footmen1      
having near his person an officer who   
carries a large fan in the shape of a   
hand-fire-screen4  ,he is followed by   
guards1 some armed with maces1 and      
others with long-handled sabres2 after  
whom come several ensigns and cornets1  
with a great number of domestics on     
horseback1 every one bearing some       
necessary belonging to the ,mandarin3 as
 for example1 a particular ,tartarian   
cap1 if the weather should oblige him to
 change the one he has on4  ,from the   
above1 it may appear1 what scope or     
range a composer may have for the       
exhibition of processions and pageantry 
of other nations1 as well as of the     
,chinese2 in all which1 nothing is more 
recommendable than adhering1 in the     
representation1 as much as the          
limitations of the theatre will admit1  
to the truth of things1 as they actually

 pass in the countries where the scene  
is laid3 which is but1 in saying other  
words1 in this1 as in every other       
imitative branch1 strike to nature as   
close as possible4       ,in ,,africa4  
,the spirit of dancing prevails1 almost 
beyond imagination1 among both men and  
women1 in most parts of ,africa4 ,it is 
even more than instinct1 it is a rage1  
in some countries of that part of the   
globe4  ,upon the ,gold-coast           
especially1 the inhabitants are so      
passionately fond of it1 that in the    
midst of their hardest labor1 if they   
hear a person sing1 or any musical      
instrument plaid1 they cannot refrain   
from dancing4  ,there are even well     
attested stories of some ,negroes       
flinging themselves at the feet of an   
,european playing on a fiddle1          
entreating him to desist1 unless he had 
a mind to tire them to death2 it being  
impossible for them to cease dancing1   
while he continued playing4 ,such is the
 irresistible passion for dancing among 

them4  ,with such an innate fondness for
 this art1 one would imagine that       
children taken from this country1 so    
strong-made and so well-limbed as they  
generally are1 and so finely disposed by
 nature1 might1 if duly instructed1 go  
great lengths towards perfection in the 
art4 ,but ,i do not remember to have    
heard that the experiment was ever made 
upon any of them1 by some master capable
 of giving them such an improvement1 as 
one would suppose them susceptible of4  
,upon the ,gold-coast1 there long       
existed and probably still exists a     
custom1 for the greater part of the     
inhabitants of a town or village to     
assemble together1 most evenings of the 
year1 at the market-place to dance1     
sing1 and make merry for an hour or two1
 before bed-time4 ,on this occasion1    
they appear in their best attire4 ,the  
women1 who come before the men1 have a  
number of little bells tinkling at their
 feet4 ,the men carry little fans or    
rather whisks in their hand made of the 

tails of elephants and horses1 much like
 the brushes used to brush pictures2    
only that theirs are gilt at both ends4 
,they meet usually about sunset4 ,their 
music consists of horn-blowers or       
trumpeters1 drummers1 players on the    
flute1 and the like2 being placed a-part
 by themselves4 ,the men and women1 who 
compose the dance1 divide into couples1 
facing each other1 as in our            
country-dances1 and forming a general   
dance1 fall into many wild ridiculous   
postures1 advancing and retreating1     
leaping1 stamping on the ground1 bowing 
their heads1 as they pass1 to each      
other1 and muttering certain words2 then
 snapping their fingers1 sometimes      
speaking loud1 at other times           
whispering1 moving now slow1 now quick1 
and shaking their fans4  ,artus and     
,villault add1 that they strike each    
another's shoulders alternately with    
those fans2 also that the women1 laying 
straw-ropes in circles on the ground1   
jump into or dance round them2 and      

clicking them up with their toes1 cast  
them in the air1 catching them as they  
fall with their hands4  ,they are       
strangely delighted with these gambols2 
but do not care to be seen at them by   
strangers1 who can scarce refrain       
laughing1 and consequently putting them 
out of countenance4  ,after an hour or  
two spent in this kind of exercise1 they
 retire to their respective homes4      
,their dances vary according to times1  
occurrences1 and places4 ,those which   
are in honor of their religious         
festivals1 are more grave and serious4  
,there have been sometimes public dances
 instituted by order of their ,kings1 as
 at ,abrambo1 a large town in ,widaw1   
where annually1 for eight days together1
 there resorted a multitude of both     
sexes from all parts of the country4    
,this was called the dancing-season4 ,to
 this solemnity all came dressed in the 
best manner1 according to their         
respective ability4 ,the dance was      
ridiculous enough2 but it served to keep

 up their agility of body4 ,and amidst  
all the uncouth barbarism of their      
gestures and attitudes1 nature breaks   
out into some expressions of joy1 or of 
the passions1 that would not be unworthy
 of an ,european's observation4  ,they  
have also their kind of ,pirrhic dances1
 which they execute by mock-skirmishing 
in cadence1 and striking on their       
targets with their cutlasses4  ,i have  
already mentioned that it is from       
,africa1 the ,moresc-dances originally  
came4 ,but what is somewhat surprising1 
the ,portugueze themselves1 among whom  
,i will not however include the higher  
ranks of life in that nation1 but1 at   
least1 the number of the people who     
adopted1 from the ,caffrees1 or ,negroes
 of their ,african possessions1 a dance 
called by them ,las,cheganas1           
7,approaches7 was so great that the late
 ,king of ,portugal was obliged to      
prohibit it by a formal edict4 ,the     
reason of which was1 that some of the   
motions and gestures had so lascivious  

an air1 and were so contrary to modesty1
 that the celebrated ,frey ,gaspar1 a   
natural son1 if ,i mistake not1 of the  
late ,king of ,portugal1 represented so 
efficaciously to his ,portugueze        
,majesty1 the shame and scandal of this 
dance being any longer suffered1 that it
 was put down by royal authority4 ,nor  
was this done without occasioning heavy 
complaints against ,frey ,gaspar1       
against whom there were lampoons and    
ballads publickly sung1 upon his having 
used his influence to procure that      
prohibition4       ,in ,,america4   ,in 
this part of the world1 so lately       
discovered1 nothing is a stronger proof 
of the universality of dancing1 of its  
being1 in short1 rather an human        
instinct1 than an art1 than the fondness
 for dancing every where diffused over  
this vast continent4  ,in ,,brazil1 the 
dancers1 whether men or women1 make a   
point of dancing bare-headed4 ,the      
reason of this is not mentioned3 it     
cannot however be thought a very serious

 one1 since nothing can be more comical 
than their gestures1 their contortions  
of body1 and the signs they make with   
the head to each other4  ,in ,,mexico1  
they have also their dances and music1  
but in the most uncouth and barbarian   
stile4 ,for their simphony they have    
wooden drums1 something in form of a    
kettle-drum1 with a kind of pipe or     
flageolet1 made of a hollow cane or     
reed1 but very grating to an ,european  
ear4 ,it is observed they love every    
thing that makes a noise how            
disagreeable soever the sound is4 ,they 
will also hum over something like a     
tune1 when they dance thirty or forty in
 a circle1 stretching out their hands1  
and laying them on each others          
shoulders4 ,they stamp and jump1 and use
 the most antic gestures for several    
hours1 till they are heartily weary4    
,and one or two of the company sometimes
 step out of the ring1 to make sport for
 the rest1 by showing feats of activity1
 throwing up their lances into the air1 

catching them again1 bending backwards1 
and springing forwards with great       
agility4 ,then when they are in a       
violent sweat1 from this exercise1 they 
will frequently jump into the water1    
without the least bad consequences to   
their health4 ,their women have their   
dancing and music too by themselves2 but
 never mingle in those of the men4  ,in 
,,virginia1 according to the author of  
the history of that country1 they have  
two different kinds of dancing2 the     
first1 either single1 or at the most in 
small companies2 or1 secondly1 in great 
numbers together1 but without having any
 regard either to time or figure4  ,in  
the first kind one person only dances1  
or two1 or three at most4 ,while during 
their performance1 the rest1 who are    
seated round them in a ring1 sing as    
loud as they can scream1 and ring their 
little bells4 ,sometimes the dancers    
themselves sing1 dart terribly          
threatening looks1 stamp their feet upon
 the ground1 and exhibit a thousand     

antic postures and grimaces4  ,in the   
other dance1 consisting of a more       
numerous company of performers1 the     
dance is executed round stakes set in   
the form of a circle1 adorned with some 
sculpture1 or round about a fire1 which 
they light in a convenient place4 ,every
 one has his little bell1 his bow and   
arrow in his hand4 ,they also cover     
themselves with leaves1 and thus        
equipped1 begin their dance4 ,sometimes 
they set three young women in the midst 
of the circle4  ,in ,,peru1 the manner  
of dancing has something very           
particular4 ,instead of laying any      
stress on the motion of the arms1 in    
most of their dances1 their arms hang   
down1 or are wrapped up in a kind of    
mantle1 so that nothing is seen but the 
bending of the body1 and the activity of
 the feet2 they have however many       
figure-dances1 in which they lay aside  
their cloaks or mantles1 but the graces 
they add1 are rather actions than       
gestures4  ,the ,,peruvian ,creolians   

dance after the same manner1 without    
laying aside their long swords1 the     
point of which they contrive to keep up 
before them so that it may not hinder   
them from rising1 or in coupeeing1 which
 is sometimes to such a degree that it  
looks like kneeling4  ,they have a dance
 there1 adopted from the natives1 which 
they call ,zapatas1 7shoes7 because in  
dancing they alternately strike with the
 heels and toes1 taking some steps1 and 
coupeeing1 as they traverse their       
ground4  ,among the savages of          
,north-,america1 we are told there are  
various dances practised1 such as that  
of the calumet1 the leaders dance1 the  
war-dance1 the marriage-dance1 the      
sacrifice-dance1 all which1 respectively
 differ in the movements1 and some1     
amidst all the wildness of their        
performance1 are not without their      
graces4 ,but the dance of the calumet is
 esteemed the finest2 this is used at   
the reception of strangers whom they    
mean to honor1 or of ambassadors to them

 on public occasions4 ,this dance is    
commonly executed in an oval figure4    
,the ,,americans1 in some parts1        
prescribe this exercise by way of       
phisic1 in their distempers3 a method of
 treatment1 not1 it seems unknown to the
 antients3 but1 in general1 their motive
 for dancing1 is the same as with the   
rest of the world1 to give              
demonstrations of joy and welcome to    
their guests1 or to divert themselves4  
,on some occasions indeed1 they make    
them part of the ceremony at their      
assemblies upon affairs1 when even their
 public debates are preceded by dancing1
 as if they expected that that exercise 
would rouse their mental faculties1 and 
clear their heads4 ,the war-dance is    
also used by them1 by way of            
proclamation of war against their       
enemies4  ,the foregoing summary sketch 
of some of the various dances1 which are
 practised in different parts of the    
globe1 and which1 to describe           
universally and minutely1 would fill    

whole volumes1 may serve to show that   
nature has1 in all parts of the         
inhabited world1 given to man the       
instinct of dancing1 as well as of      
speaking1 or of singing4 ,but it        
certainly depends on the nations who    
encourage the polite arts1 once more to 
carry it up to that pitch of excellence1
 of which the history of the ,greeks and
 ,romans shows it to have been          
susceptible1 among the antients1 however
 the moderns may have long fallen short 
of it4 ,there has indeed lately appeared
 a dawning hope of its recovery2 which1 
that it may not be frustrated1 is the   
interest of all who wish well to an     
innocent and even useful pleasure4      
,of ,,pantomimes4  ,as this branch of   
the art of dancing is often mentioned1  
especially in this country1 without a   
just idea being affixed to it1 or any   
other idea than what is vulgarly taken  
from a species of compositions which are
 sometimes exhibited after the play1 on 
the theatre here1 7not to mention       

,sadler's wells7 and go by the name of  
pantomime entertainments2 it may not be 
unacceptable to the reader1 my laying   
down before him the true grounds and    
nature of this diversion1 which once    
made so great a figure in the theatrical
 sphere of action4  ,and as1 on this    
point1 ,monsieur ,cahusac1 an ingenious 
,french writer1 has treated the         
historical part of it with so much      
accuracy1 that it was hardly possible to
 offer any thing new upon it1 beyond    
what he has furnished2 and that not to  
make use of his researches would only   
betray me into a fruitless affectation  
of originality1 ,i am very ready to     
confess1 that for the best and greatest 
part of what ,i am now going to offer   
upon this subject ,i am indebted to his 
production4  ,that prodigious perfection
 to which the antients carried the      
pantomime art1 appeared so extraordinary
 to the celebrated abbot ,du ,bos1 that1
 not being able to contradict the       
authorities which establish the truth of

 it1 he was tempted to consider the art 
of dancing in those times as something  
wholly different from what is at present
 understood by dancing4  ,the chevalier 
,ramsay places it also among the lost   
arts4 ,both1 no doubt1 grounding their  
opinion on that deficiency of execution 
on the modern theatres1 compared to what
 is incontestably transmitted to us1 by 
history1 of the excellence of the       
antient pantomimes4  ,but none have more
 contributed to establish the opinion of
 the pantomime art being an art totally 
different from that of dancing1 and not 
merely an improvement of it1 as was     
certainly the case1 than some of the    
professors of the art themselves1 who   
even exclaimed against ,m4 ,cahusac1 for
 his attempts to give juster notions1   
and to recommend the revival of it4  ,we
 are too apt to pronounce upon          
possibilities from our own measure of   
knowledge1 or of capacity4 ,nothing is  
more common than to hear men of a       
profession declare loudly against any   

practice attempted to be established for
 the improvement of their art1 and      
peremptorily to aver such a practice    
being impossible1 for no other reason   
than that their own study and efforts   
had not been able to procure them the   
attainment of it4 ,in this too they are 
seconded by that croud of superficial   
people who frequent the theatres1 and   
who can believe nothing beyond what     
themselves have seen3 any thing above   
the reach of what they are accustomed or
 habituated to admire1 always seems to  
them a chimera4  ,the reproach of       
incredulity is commonly made to men of  
the greatest knowledge1 because they are
 not over-apt to admit any proposition  
without proof3 but this reproach may1   
with more justice1 be oftenest made to  
the ignorant1 who generally reject1     
without discussion1 every thing beyond  
their own narrow conception4  ,to these 
it may sound more than strange2 it may  
appear incredible1 that on the theatre  
of ,athens1 the dance of the ,eumenides1

 or ,furies1 had so expressive a        
character1 as to strike the spectators  
with irresistible terror4 ,the          
,areopagus itself shuddered with horror 
and affright2 men grown old in the      
profession of arms1 trembled2 the       
multitude ran out2 women with child     
miscarried2 people imagined they saw in 
earnest those barbarous deities         
commissioned with the vengeance of      
heaven1 pursue and punish the crimes of 
the earth4  ,this passage of history is 
furnished by the same authors1 who tell 
us1 that ,sophocles was a genius2 that  
nothing could withstand the eloquence of
 ,demosthenes2 that ,themistocles was a 
hero2 that ,socrates was the wisest of  
men2 and it was in the time of the most 
famous of the ,greeks that even upon    
those highly privileged souls1 in sight 
of irreproachable witnesses1 the art of 
dancing produced such great effects4    
,at ,rome1 in the best days of this art1
 all the sentiments which the dancers   
expressed1 had each a character of      

truth1 so great a power1 such pathetic  
energy1 that the multitude was more than
 once seen hurried away by the illusion1
 and mechanically to take part in the   
different emotions presented to them by 
the animated picture with which they    
were struck4 ,in the representation of  
,ajax in a frenzy1 the spectators took  
such violent impressions from the       
acting-dancer who represented him1 that 
they perfectly broke out1 into outcries2
 stripped1 as it were1 to fight1 and    
actually came to blows among each other1
 as if they had caught their rage from  
what was passing on the theatre4  ,at   
another time they melted into tears at  
the tender affliction of ,hecuba4  ,and 
upon whom were these lively impressions 
produced8 ,upon the cotemporaries of    
,mecenas1 of ,lucullus1 ,augustus1      
,virgil1 ,pollio2 upon men of the most  
refined taste1 whose criticism was as   
severe as their approbation honorable2  
who never spared their censure nor their
 applause1 where either was due4 ,how1  

especially under the eyes of ,horace1   
could any thing pass the approbation of 
the public1 unless under the seal of    
excellence in point of art and good     
taste8 ,would ,augustus have declared   
himself the special patron of a kind of 
entertainment that had been deficient as
 to probability and genius8 ,would      
,mecenas1 the protector of ,virgil1 and 
of all the fine arts1 have been pleased 
with a sight that was not a striking    
imitation of beautiful nature8  ,the    
proofs shown of the perfection of       
dancing at ,athens1 and under the reign 
of ,augustus1 being incontestable1 it is
 plain that what now passes for the art 
of dancing1 is as yet only in its       
infancy4 ,to display the arms           
gracefully1 to preserve the equilibrium 
in the positions1 to form steps with a  
lightness of air2 to unfold all the     
springs of the body in harmony to the   
music1 all these points1 sufficient to  
what may be called private1 or to       
assembly-dancing1 are little more than  

the alphabet of the theatrical dances1  
or of pantomime execution4 ,the steps   
and figures are but the letters and     
words of this art4 ,a writing-master is 
one who teaches the mechanical part of  
forming letters4 ,a mere dancing-master 
is an artist who teaches to form steps4 
,but the first is not more different    
from what we call a man of letters1 or a
 writer1 than the second is from what   
may deserve on the theatre1 the name of 
principal dancer4  ,besides the         
necessity of learning his art           
elementally1 a dancer1 like a writer1   
should have a stile of his own1 an      
original stile3 more or less valuable1  
according as he can exhibit1 express1   
and paint with elegance a greater or    
lesser quantity of things admirable1    
agreeable1 and useful4  ,speech is      
scarce more expressive1 than the gestual
 language4 ,the art of painting1 which  
places before our eyes the most         
pathetic1 or the most gay images of     
human life1 composes them of nothing but

 of attitudes1 of positions of the arms1
 expressions of the countenance1 and of 
all these parts dancing is composed1 as 
well as painting4  ,but1 as ,i have     
before observed1 painting can express no
 more than an instant of action4        
,theatrical dancing can exhibit all the 
successive instants it chuses to paint4 
,its march proceeds from picture to     
picture1 to which1 motion gives life4   
,in painting1 life is only imitated2 in 
dancing1 it is always the reality       
itself4  ,dancing is1 evidently1 in its 
nature1 an action upon the theatres2    
nothing is wanting to it but meaning3 it
 moves to the right1 to the left2 it    
retrogrades1 it advances1 it forms      
steps1 it delineates figures4 ,there is 
only wanting to all this an arrangement 
of the motions1 to furnish to the eye a 
theatrical action upon any subject      
whatever4  ,the history of the art      
proves that the dancers of genius1 had  
no other means or assistance in the     
world but this to express all the human 

passions1 and the possibilities of it   
are in all times1 the very same4  ,both 
here1 and in ,france1 there have been   
some of these dramatic pieces in action1
 by dance1 attempted1 which have been   
well received by the public4  ,some     
years ago1 the ,dutchess of ,maine      
ordered simphonies to be composed for   
the scene of the fourth act of the      
,horatii2 in which the young ,horatius  
kills ,camilla4 ,two dancers1 one of    
each sex1 represented this action at    
,sceaux2 and their dance painted it with
 all the energy and pathos of which it  
was susceptible4  ,in ,italy especially 
many subjects of a what may be called   
low comedy1 are very naturally expressed
 by dancing4 ,in short1 there is hardly 
any comic action but what they represent
 upon their theatres1 if not with       
perfection1 at least satisfactorily4    
,and certainly the dance in action has  
the same superiority over sheer         
unmeaning dancing1 that a fine          
history-piece has over cutting flowers  

in paper4 ,in the last there is little  
more required than mechanical nicety1   
and1 at the best1 it affords no great   
pretention to merit4 ,but it is only for
 genius to order1 distribute and        
compose1 in the other4 ,a ,raphael is   
allowed to take place in the ,temple of 
,fame1 by a ,virgil2 and the art of     
dancing is capable of having its        
,raphaels too4 ,pilades1 and ,bathillus 
were painters1 and great ones1 in their 
way4 ,picturesque composition is not    
less the duty of a composer of dances1  
than of a painter4  ,among the antients1
 that ,protheus1 of whom fabulous       
history records such wonders1 was only  
one of their dancers1 who1 by the       
rapidity of his steps1 by the strength  
of his expression1 and by the employment
 of the theatrical deceptions1 seemed at
 every instant1 to change his form4 ,the
 celebrated ,empusa was a female dancer1
 whose agility was so prodigious that   
she appeared and vanished like a spirit4
  ,but it was at ,rome that the         

,pantomime art received its highest     
improvement4 ,pilades born in ,cilicia1 
and ,bathillus of ,alexandria1 where the
 two most surprising geniuses1 who1     
under the reigns of ,augustus ,csar1    
displayed their talents in their utmost 
lustre4 ,the first invented the solemn1 
grave and pathetic dances4 ,the         
compositions of ,bathillus were in the  
lively1 gay1 and sprightly stile4       
,bathillus had been the slave of        
,mecenas1 who had given him his freedom 
in favor of his talents4 ,having seen   
,pilades in ,cilicia1 he engaged him to 
come to ,rome1 where he had disposed    
,mecenas in his favor1 who1 becoming the
 declared protector of both1 procured to
 them the encouragement of the ,emperor4
  ,a theatre was built for them3 the    
,romans flocked to it1 and saw1 with    
surprise1 a complete tragedy2 all the   
passions painted with the most vigorous 
strokes of representation3 the          
exposition1 plot1 catastrophe expressed 
in the clearest and most pathetic       

manner1 without any other means or      
assistence but that of dancing1 executed
 to the simphonies the best adapted1 and
 far superior to any that had been      
before heard in ,rome4  ,their surprise 
was not to end here4 ,to this a second  
entertainment succeeded2 in which an    
ingenious action1 without needing the   
voice or speech1 presented all the      
characters1 all the pleasant strokes1   
and humorous pictures of a good comedy4 
,and in both these kinds1 the executive 
talents of ,pilades and ,bathillus      
corresponded to the boldness and beauty 
of the kind of compositions they had    
ventured to bring on the stage4         
,pilades especially1 who was at the head
 of this project1 was the most singular 
man that had till then appeared on the  
theatre4 ,his fertile imagination       
constantly supplied him with new means  
of perfecting his art and embellishing  
his entertainments4 ,athenus mentions   
his having written a book much esteemed 
on the depths and principles of his art4

  ,before him1 some flutes composed the 
orchestra of the ,romans4 ,he reinforced
 it with all the known instruments4 ,he 
added choruses of dances to his         
representations1 and took care that     
their steps and figures1 should always  
have some relation or affinity to the   
principal action4 ,he provided them with
 dresses in the highest taste of        
propriety1 and omitted nothing towards  
producing1 keeping up1 and pushing to   
the highest pitch1 the charm of the     
theatrical illusion4  ,the actions on   
the ,roman theatres were tragic1 comic1 
or satirical2 these last pretty nearly  
answering to what we understand by      
grotesque or farcical4  ,esopus and     
,roscius had been1 from their excellence
 in declamation1 the delight and        
admiration of ,rome4 ,but on their      
leaving no successors to their degree of
 merit2 the taste for dramatic poetry   
which was no longer supported by actors 
equal to them1 began to decline2 and the
 theatrical dances under such great     

masters as ,pilades and ,bathillus1     
either by their novelty1 or by their    
merit1 or by both1 made the ,romans the 
less feel their loss of those           
incomparable actors4 ,the gestual       
language took place of that which was   
declaimed2 and produced regular pieces  
acted in the three kinds of tragedy1    
comedy1 and farce or grotesque4 ,the    
spectators grew pleased with such an    
exercise of their understanding4 ,steps1
 motions1 attitudes1 figures1 positions1
 now were substituted to speech2 and    
there resulted from them an expression  
so natural1 images so resembling1 a     
pathos so moving1 or a pleasantry so    
agreeable1 that people imagined they    
heard the actions they saw4 ,the        
gestures alone supplied the place of the
 sweetness of the voice1 of the energy  
of speech1 and of the charms of         
poetry499      ,footnote 993 ,hanc      
partem ,music disciplin ,majores        
mutam nominrunt1 qu ore clauso loquitur1
 et quibusdam     gesticulationibus     

facit intelligi1 quod vix narrante      
lingua1 aut scriptur textu possit       
agnosci4          ,cassiod1 var4 #a4    
#bj4      ,loquacissimas manus1         
linguosos digitos1 silentium            
clamosum1 expositionem tacitam4         
,idem4  ,this kind of entertainment1 so 
new1 though formed upon a ground-work   
already known1 planned and executed by  
genius1 and adopted with a passionate   
fondness by the ,romans1 was called the 
,italic dance2 and in the transports of 
pleasures it caused them1 they gave to  
the actors of it1 the title of          
,pantomimes4 ,this was no more than a   
lively1 and not at all exagerated       
expression1 of the truth of their       
action1 which was one continual picture 
to the eyes of the spectators4 ,their   
motion1 their feet1 their hands1 their  
arms1 were but so many different parts  
of the picture2 none of them were to    
remain idle2 but all1 with propriety1   
were to concur to the formation of that 
assemblage1 from which result the       

harmony1 and1 with pardon for the       
expression1 the happy all-together of   
the composition and performance4 ,a     
dancer learned from his very name of    
pantomime1 that he could be in no esteem
 in ,rome1 but so far as he should be   
all the actor4  ,and1 in fact1 this art 
was carried to a point of perfection    
hard to believe2 but for such a number  
of concurrent and authentic testimonies4
  ,it appears also clearly from history1
 that this art1 in its origin1 7so      
favored by an arbitrary prince1 and who 
also made some use of it1 towards       
establishing his despotism1 nay even    
primordially introduced by ,bathillus1 a
 slave7 could no longer preserve its    
great excellence1 than the spirit of    
liberty was not wholly worn out in the  
,roman breasts2 and1 like its other     
sister arts1 gradually decayed and sunk 
under the subsequent emperors4  ,pilades
 gave a memorable instance of the 7as   
yet7 unextinguished spirit of liberty1  
when1 upon his being banished ,rome1 for

 some time1 by ,augustus ,cesar1 upon   
account of the disturbances the         
pantomime parties occasioned1 he told   
him plainly to his face1 that he was    
ungrateful for the good his power       
received1 by the diversion to the       
,romans from more serious thoughts on   
the loss of their liberty4 ,why do not  
you1 says he1 let the people amuse      
themselves with our quarrels8  ,this    
dancer had such great powers in all his 
tragedies1 that he could draw tears from
 even those of the spectators the least 
used to the melting mood4  ,but in      
truth1 the effect of these pantomimes1  
in general1 was prodigious4 ,tears and  
sobs interrupted often the              
representation of the tragedy of        
,glaucus1 in which the pantomime        
,plancus played the principal character4
  ,bathillus1 in painting the amours of 
,leda1 never failed of exciting the     
utmost sensibility in the ,roman ladies4
  ,but what is more surprising yet1     
,memphir1 a ,pithagorean philosopher1 as

 ,athenus tells us1 expressed1 by       
dancing1 all the excellence of the      
philosophy of ,pithagoras1 with more    
elegance1 more clearness and energy1    
than the most eloquent professor of     
philosophy could have done4  ,upon      
considering all this1 one is almost     
tempted to say1 with ,m4 ,cahusac1 ,we  
have1 upon the stage1 excellent feet1   
lively legs1 admirable arms3 what a pity
 it is1 that with all this we have so   
little of the art of dancing6  ,our     
tragedy and our comedy have an extent   
and duration which are supported by the 
charms of speech1 by the interestingness
 of narration1 by the variety of the    
sallies of wit4 ,the action is divided  
into acts1 each act into scenes1 these  
scenes successively present new         
situations1 and these situations keep up
 the warmth of interest and attention1  
form the plot1 lead to the conclusion or
 unravelment1 and prepare it4  ,such    
must have been1 or such must be1 7but   
with more precision and markingness7    

tragedies or comedies represented by    
dancing2 as gesture is something more   
marking and succinct than speech4 ,there
 are required many words to express a   
thought1 but one single motion may paint
 several thoughts1 and situations4  ,in 
such compositions1 then1 made to be     
danced1 the theatrical action must go   
forward with the utmost rapidity3 there 
must not be one unmeaning entry1 figure1
 or step in them4 ,such a piece ought to
 be a close crouded abstract of some    
excellent written dramatic piece4       
,dancing1 like painting1 can only       
present situations to the eye2 and every
 truly theatrical situation is nothing  
but a living picture4  ,if a composer of
 dances should undertake to represent   
upon the stage any great action or      
theatrical subject1 he must begin by    
making an extract from it1 of all the   
most picturesque situations4 ,no other  
parts beside these can enter into his   
plan2 all the others are defective or   
useless1 they can only embarras1        

perplex1 confound1 and render it cold   
and insipid4  ,whereas1 if the          
situations succeed one another          
naturally1 and in great number2 if their
 being well linked together conducts    
them with rapidity1 from the first      
situation to the last1 which must       
clearly and strikingly unravel the      
whole2 the choice is complete1 and the  
theatrical effect will be sure4  ,it is 
that final effect1 of which1 in the     
execution1 the composer and performer   
must never lose sight4 ,successive      
pictures must be exhibited1 and animated
 with all the expression that can result
 from the impassioned motions of the    
dance4  ,this was doubtless the great   
secret of the art of ,pilades1 who so   
highly excelled in his ideas of         
theatrical expression3 this is1 perhaps1
 too for all kinds of theatrical        
composition1 whether to be declaimed1 or
 to be executed by dancing1 a general   
rule that is not to be slighted4  ,one  
instance of the regard shewn by ,pilades

 to theatrical propriety is preserved to
 us1 and not unworthy of attention4 ,he 
had been publickly challenged by ,hilas1
 once a pupil of his1 to represent the  
greatness of ,agamemnon3 ,hilas came    
upon the stage with buskins1 which1 in  
the nature of stilts1 made him of an    
artificial height2 in consequence of    
which he greatly over-topped the croud  
of actors who surrounded him4 ,this     
passed well enough1 'till ,pilades      
appeared with an air1 stern and         
majestic4 ,his serious steps1 his arms  
a-cross1 his motion sometimes slow1     
sometimes animated1 with pauses full of 
meaning1 his looks now fixed on the     
ground1 now lifted to heaven1 with all  
the attitudes of profound pensiveness1  
painted strongly a man taken up with    
great things1 which he was meditating1  
weighing1 and comparing1 with all the   
dignity of kingly importance4 ,the      
spectators1 struck with the justness1   
with the energy and real elevation of so
 expressive a portraiture1 unanimously  

adjudged the preference to ,pilades1    
who1 coolly turning to ,hilas1 said to  
him1 ,young man1 we had to represent a  
king who commanded over twenty kings3   
you made him tall3 ,i showed him great4 
,it was in the reign of ,nero1 that a   
cinical mock-philosopher1 called        
,demetrius1 saw1 for the first time1 one
 of these pantomime compositions4       
,struck with the truth of the           
representation1 he could not help       
expressing the greatest marks of        
astonishment3 but whether his pride made
 him feel a sort of shame for the       
admiration he had involuntarily shewn1  
or whether naturally envious and        
selfish1 he could not bear the cruel    
pain of being forced to approve any     
thing but his own singularities2 he     
attributed to the music the strong      
impression that has been made upon him3 
as1 in that reign1 a false philosophy   
very naturally had a greater influence  
than the real1 this man was1 it seems1  
of consequence enough for the managers  

of the dances to take notice of this    
partiality1 or at least to be piqued    
enough1 for their own honor1 to lay a   
scheme for undeceiving him4 ,he was once
 more brought to their theatre1 and     
seated in a conspicuous part of the     
house1 without his having been          
acquainted with their intention4  ,the  
orchestra began3 an actor opens the     
scene3 on the moment of his entrance1   
the simphony ceases1 and the            
representation continues4 ,without any  
aid but that of the steps1 the positions
 of the body1 the movements of the arms1
 the piece is performed1 in which are   
successively represented the amours of  
,mars and ,venus1 the ,sun discovering  
them to the jealous husband of the      
goddess1 the snares which he sets for   
his faithless spouse and her formidable 
gallant1 the quick effect of the        
treacherous net1 which1 while it        
compleats the revenge of ,vulcan1 only  
publishes his shame1 the confusion of   
,venus1 the rage of ,mars1 the arch     

mirth of the gods1 who came to enjoy the
 sight4  ,the whole audience gave to the
 excellence of the performance its due  
applause1 but the ,cinic1 out of        
himself1 could not help crying out1 in a
 transport of delight2 ,no6 this is not 
a representation2 it is the very thing  
itself4  ,much about the same time a    
dancer represented the labors of        
,hercules4 ,he retraced in so true a    
manner all the different situations of  
that hero1 that a king of ,pontus1 then 
at ,rome1 and who had never seen such a 
sight before1 easily followed the thread
 of the action1 and charmed with it1    
asked with great earnestness of the     
emperor1 that he would let him have with
 him that extraordinary dancer1 who had 
made such an impression upon him4    ,do
 not1 says he to ,nero1 be surprised at 
my request4 ,i have   for borderers upon
 my kingdom1 some ,barbarian nations    
whose   language none of my people could
 understand1 nor they learn   ours4     
,such a man as this dancer would be an  

admirable   interpreter between us4  ,it
 would then surely be a great error to  
imagine1 that an habitual dexterity1 a  
daily practice1 with their arms1 their  
legs and feet1 were the only talents of 
these pantomime dancers4 ,their         
execution1 without doubt1 required all  
these advantages of the body in the most
 eminent degree2 but their compositions 
supposed1 and indispensably implied an  
infinite number of combinations which   
belong intirely to the mind1 or         
intellectual faculties2 as for example1 
especially an attentive and judicious   
discernment of the most interesting     
truths of human nature4 ,how extensive a
 study this exacts1 it is more easy to  
conceive than to attain4  ,and surely   
there is an evident necessity for       
studying men1 before one can undertake  
to paint or represent them4 ,it is not  
till after a profound examination of the
 passions1 that one ought to flatter    
one's self with characterising them     
purely by the powers of external signs  

of actions4 ,all the passions have      
affinities to each other1 which it is   
only for a great justness of            
understanding to seize2 they have shades
 that distinguish them1 which nothing   
but a nice eye can perceive1 and which  
easily escape a superficial observer4   
,in serious dancing1 where the character
 of a hero is to be given1 there are in 
his actions1 in the course of his life1 
certain marking strokes1 certain        
incidents or extraordinary passages1    
which are subjects proper for the stage1
 and which must be separated from others
 perhaps more brilliant in history1 but 
which would infrigidate a theatrical    
composition4  ,in the state of dancing  
of our days1 the dancers1 and even the  
composers of dances1 aspire to little   
more than the mechanical part of their  
art2 and1 indeed1 they hardly know any  
thing beyond that1 and cannot in course1
 cultivate what they have no conception 
of4  ,when ,m4 ,cahusac wrote1 he       
observed that this was sufficient for   

the spectators1 who required nothing    
more than a brilliant execution from the
 dancers in the old track of steps and  
capers2 and this is1 in fact1 true of   
the greater number now4 ,but lately1 the
 taste for dances of action1 animated   
with meaning and conveying the idea of  
some fable or subject1 has begun to gain
 ground4 ,people are less tired with a  
dance1 in which the understanding is    
exercised1 without the fatigue of       
perplexity1 than by merely seeing a     
succession of lively steps1 and         
cabriols1 however well executed2 which1 
in point of merit1 bear no more         
proportion to that of a well-composed   
dance1 than a tiresome repetition of    
vignettes1 of head-pieces and           
tail-pieces1 would do to the gravings of
 historical pieces after a ,raphael1 a  
,michael ,angelo1 or a ,correggio4  ,as 
hitherto the composer of the dances of  
action1 have not been able to recover   
that height of perfection to which the  
antient pantomimes carried their art2   

the most that any composers could do1 ,i
 mean with success1 7for there have been
 some attempts made1 that1 for want of a
 proper plan and execution1 failed17 was
 to furnish certain dances1 in the      
nature of poemetti or small dramatic    
poems1 which1 where the subject of      
action has been clearly and intelligibly
 executed1 have ever been received with 
the most encouraging applause by the    
public4  ,and here the ingenious author 
to whom ,i am so much obliged in this   
chapter1 furnishes me with rules of     
composition for the dances of action1   
which can hardly be too much            
recommended4  ,all theatrical           
compositions ought to have three        
essential parts4  ,by a lively dialogue1
 in a piece made to be spoken1 or by an 
incident dextrously introduced in one   
made for a dance in action1 the         
spectator is to be prepared for the     
subject that is to be represented1 and  
to have some acquaintance of the        
character1 quality1 and manners of the  

persons of the drama3 this is what is   
called the exposition4  ,the            
circumstances1 the obstacles which arise
 out of the ground-work of the subject1 
embroil it1 and retard its march without
 stopping it4 ,a sort of embarrasment   
forms itself out of the actions of the  
characters1 which perplexes the         
curiosity of the spectators1 from whose 
even guess-work1 the manner how all is  
to be ultimately unravelled is to be    
kept as great a secret as possible3 and 
this embarrasment is what is called the 
plot4  ,from this embarrasment1 one sees
 successively break forth lights1 the   
more unexpected1 the better4 ,they      
unfold the action1 and conduct it by    
insensible degrees to an ingenious      
conclusion3 this is what is called the  
unravelment4  ,if any of these three    
parts is defective1 the theatrical merit
 is imperfect4 ,if they are all three in
 due proportion1 the action is complete1
 and the charm of the representation is 
infallible4  ,as the theatrical dance   

then is a representation1 it must be    
formed of these three essentially       
constitutive parts4 ,thus it will be    
more or less perfect1 according as its  
exposition shall be more or less clear1 
its plot more or less ingenious1 its    
unravelment more or less striking4  ,but
 this division is not the only one that 
should be known and practised4 ,a       
dramatic work is commonly composed of   
five or fewer acts2 and an act is       
composed of scenes in dialogue or       
soliloquy4 ,now every act1 every scene1 
should have1 subordinately1 its         
exposition1 its plot1 and its           
unravelment1 just as the total of the   
piece has1 of which they are the parts4 
,so ought1 also every representation in 
dancing to have those three parts1 which
 constitute every thing that is action4 
,without their union1 there is no action
 that is perfect3 a fault in one of     
those parts will have a bad effect on   
the others2 the chain is broke2 the     
picture1 whatever beauty it may have in 

other respects1 is without any          
theatrical merit4  ,besides these       
general laws of the theatre1 which are  
in common to those compositions of      
dances1 that are to be executed on it1  
they are subjected to other particular  
rules1 which are derived from the       
primitive principles of the art4  ,as   
the art of dancing essentially consists 
in painting by gestures and attitudes1  
there is nothing of what would be       
rejected by a painter of good taste1    
that the dancer can admit2 and1         
consequentially1 every thing that such a
 painter would chuse1 ought to be laid  
hold of1 distributed1 and properly      
placed in a dance of action4  ,here1 on 
this point1 recurs that never too often 
repeated rule1 as infallible as it is   
plain3 let nature1 in every thing1 be   
the guide of art2 and let art1 in every 
thing1 aim at imitating nature3 a rule  
this1 than which there is not one more  
trite1 more hackneyed in the theory1 nor
 less regarded in the practice4  ,nature

 then being always ,nature1 always      
invariable in her operations and        
productions2 there is no false          
conclusion1 nor straining inferences1 in
 avering1 that the art of dancing could 
not but be a great gainer by a revival  
of the taste of the antients for the    
pantomime branch2 which1 upon the       
theatre1 converted a transient flashy   
amusement of the eye1 into a rational or
 sensible entertainment1 and made of    
dancers1 who are otherwise1 a mere      
mechanical composition of feet1 legs1   
and arms1 without spirit or meaning1    
artists formed to paint with the most   
pathetic expression1 the most striking  
situations of human nature3 ,i am not   
afraid of using here the term of the    
most pathetic expression1 injuriously to
 the great power of theatrical          
declamation2 because the great effect   
and charm of the moment is1 evidently1  
the more likely to be produced by       
attitudes or gestures alone1 unseconded 
by the voice2 for that the pleasure of  

the spectator will have been the greater
 for the quickness of his apprehension  
not having needed that help to          
understand the meaning of them4 ,and    
this is so true of the force of         
impression depending on that part of    
bodily eloquence1 that even in oratory1 
action was1 by one of the greatest      
judges of that art1 pronounced to be the
 most essential part of it4  ,this may  
be1 perhaps1 an exaggeration3 but when  
people resort to a theatre to unbend1 or
 relax1 they will hardly think their    
pleasure tastelesly diversified by a    
fine pantomime execution of a dramatic  
composition1 to the perfection of which1
 poetry1 music1 painting1 decoration1   
and machinery will have all contributed 
their respective contingents4  ,for the 
subjects of these poetical dances1 the  
composer will undoubtedly find those    
which are the most likely to please1 in 
fabulous history1 especially for the    
serious1 or pathetic stile4 ,this we    
find was the great resource of the      

antients1 who had1 in that point1 a     
considerable advantage1 from which the  
moderns are excluded1 by the antient    
mithology having lost that effect1 and  
warmth of interest1 which accompanied   
all transactions taken from it by their 
poets1 and brought upon the theatre4    
,the heroes of antiquity1 the marvellous
 of their deities1 and the histories of 
their amours1 or of their exploits1 can 
never make the same impression on the   
moderns so thoroughly differing in      
manners and ways of thinking1 from      
those1 to whom such exhibitions were a  
kind of domestic1 and even religious    
remembrancers4 ,the spectators of those 
times were more at home to what they saw
 represented upon their theatres2 the   
ground-work of the fable represented to 
the audience being generally foreknown1 
contributed greatly to the quickness of 
their apprehension2 and its being part  
of their received theology1 and often of
 the history of their own country1      
procured it the more favorable          

attention4  ,the greatest part of these 
advantages are wanting in the employment
 of these fictions among the moderns2   
and to which however they are1 in some  
measure1 compelled to have recourse1 for
 want of theatrical subjects striking   
enough to be agreeably thrown into a    
dance2 by which ,i do not mean to       
exclude all subjects that have not those
 poetical fictions of ,greek and ,roman 
antiquity for a basis2 on the contrary1 
it might justly pass for a barrenness of
 invention1 the being reduced constantly
 to borrow from them1 but purely to     
point out a treasure1 ever open to the  
artist who shall know how to make a     
selection with judgment and taste3      
always remembering1 that the more       
universally the fable is foreknown1 the 
more easy will the task be of rendering 
it intelligible in the execution4       
,there are1 doubtless1 some parts of the
 antient mithology so obscure1 and so   
little known1 that any plan taken from  
them1 would1 to the generality of the   

spectators1 be as great a novelty1 as if
 the composer had himself invented the  
subject4 ,there are others again of     
which all the interest is entirely      
antiquated and exploded4  ,as to the    
pieces of composition in the comic vein1
 there is nothing like taking the       
subject of them from the most agreeable 
and the most marking occurrences in     
real1 current life2 and the stronger    
they are of the manners and practice of 
the times1 the nearer they will seem to 
the truth of nature1 and the surer at   
once to be understood1 and to have a    
pleasing effect4  ,and here ,i shall    
take the liberty of concluding with     
offering two instances of poetic dances2
 the one in the serious1 the other in   
the comic vein1 which are furnished     
rather as hints of the improvable nature
 of such compositions1 than in the least
 meant for models of them4     ,the     
first has for title1    ,,venus and     
,,adonis4  ,the decoration represents a 
wood intersected by several walks1 which

 form an agreeable perspective of       
distances4 ,at the bottom of the        
theatre1 and in the middle1 there is a  
grand walk1 terminated by a small mount1
 on the summit of which is seen a       
colonnade1 that forms the peristile of a
 temple4  ,venus1 preceded by the       
,graces and several nimphs1 comes out of
 the temple1 descends the mount1 and    
advances to the front of the wood2 the  
simphony to be the most agreeable and   
melodious imaginable1 to announce the   
arrival of the goddess of love4  ,the   
,graces and the nimphs open the action1 
and1 by their gestures and steps1       
express their endeavour to sooth the    
impatience of ,venus on the absence of  
,adonis4 ,the agitation in which she is1
 ought to be painted on her countenance1
 and expressed by the discomposure of   
her steps1 marking her anxiety and      
desire of seeing her lover4  ,the sound 
of the chace is heard1 which betokens   
the approach of ,adonis4 ,joy breaks    
forth in the eyes1 the gestures1 and    

steps of ,venus and her train4  ,adonis1
 followed by several hunters1 enters    
through one of the side-walks of the    
wood4 ,venus runs to meet him1 and seems
 to chide him for having been so long   
away4 ,he shows her the head of a stag1 
which he has killed1 and which is       
carried1 as in triumph1 upon a          
hunting-pole1 by one of the hunters2 and
 offers it1 as the fruit of his chace1  
in homage to the goddess1 who is        
presently appeased1 and graciously      
receives his offering4 ,these two lovers
 then express in a pas-de-deux1 their   
mutual satisfaction4  ,the hunters mix  
with the ,graces and nimphs1 and form a 
dance which characterises their harmony4
  ,soon a noisy simphony1 of military   
instrumental music1 gives warning of the
 arrival of ,mars4 ,venus1 ,adonis1 the 
,graces1 the nimphs1 and hunters1 show  
signs of uneasiness and terror4  ,mars1 
followed by several warriors1 enters    
precipitately through a walk opposite to
 that by which ,adonis and the hunters  

came4 ,venus separates from ,adonis1    
having insisted on his getting out of   
the way of the formidable god of war4   
,he withdraws with his train by the same
 way as he came4 ,mars1 inraged with    
jealousy1 makes a shew of going to      
pursue ,adonis4 ,venus stops him1 and   
employs1 in her soothing and caresses1  
all the usual arts of appeasing and     
blinding a jealous lover4 ,she prevails 
at length1 not only to dissipate his    
passion1 but to make him believe himself
 in the wrong for having been jealous4  
,the warriors address themselves to the 
,graces and nimphs1 and form together a 
dance expressive of a sort of           
reconciliation2 after which ,mars and   
his train return by the same way as they
 came4  ,venus1 the ,graces1 and the    
nimphs1 see them go1 and when they are  
got a little distance from them1 testify
 their satisfaction at having got so    
well over this interruption4  ,adonis   
returns alone3 ,venus springs to meet   
him1 and gives him to understand that he

 has now nothing to fear2 that ,mars    
will not return in haste4  ,in the same 
walk from which ,adonis came1 the       
hunters of his train are seen pursuing a
 wild boar1 that tries to escape just by
 where the ,graces and the nimphs are1  
who1 in their fright1 attempt to fly    
from him3 but he is already so near     
them1 that they do not know how to avoid
 him4 ,adonis runs hastily to pierce the
 boar with his javelin2 but the boar    
gets him himself down4 ,the hunters     
arrive at that instant1 and kill the    
boar2 but ,adonis is nevertheless       
mortally wounded1 and expires4  ,here it
 is that the music and the dance are to 
display their respective powers3 the one
 by the most plaintive mournful sounds2 
the other by gestures and steps in which
 grief and despair are strongly         
characterised1 ought to express the     
profound affection into which ,venus is 
plunged1 and the share the ,graces1 the 
nimphs1 and the hunters take in it4     
,venus appears to implore the aid of all

 the gods1 to restore her lover to her4 
,she bathes him with her tears1 and     
those precious tears have such a virtue1
 that ,adonis appears all of a sudden   
transformed into an anemony or          
wind-flower4  ,the ,graces and the      
nimphs express their surprise2 but the  
astonishment of the hunters should be   
yet more strongly marked4  ,venus       
herself is not the more comforted by    
this metamorphosis4 ,a flower cannot    
well supply the place of her lover4 ,she
 turns then her eyes towards the earth1 
and seems to invoke the power of some   
deity inhabitant of its bowels4  ,the   
flower disappears2 the earth opens1 and 
,proserpine rises out of it1 sitting on 
a chariot drawn by black horses1 and    
having at her side ,adonis restored to  
life4  ,it is natural to imagine the joy
 that is at this to be expressed1 by the
 simphony1 by the gestures1 and steps of
 ,venus1 of the ,graces1 the nimphs1 and
 hunters4  ,proserpine1 getting out of  
her chariot1 holding ,adonis by the     

hand1 presents him to ,venus4 ,a        
pas-de-trois or trio-dance follows1 in  
which the joy of the two lovers at      
seeing one another again is to be       
characterised by all the expression1 and
 all the graces of the most pleasing    
dance1 while ,proserpine testifies her  
satisfaction at having produced the     
re-union3 after which1 she gets into her
 chariot1 and re-descends into the      
earth4  ,the ,graces1 the nimphs1 and   
hunters1 express how highly they are    
charmed at seeing ,adonis again2 ,venus 
and ,adonis form a pas-de-deux1 or      
duet-dance1 in which the ,goddess takes 
off her girdle or cestus1 and puts it   
upon ,adonis1 in the way of a           
shoulder-belt1 or as now the ribbons of 
most orders of knight-hood are worn1    
which is to him a simbol of immortality4
  ,the ,graces and nimphs testify to    
,adonis how pleased they are to see him 
received into the number of the         
demi-gods3 the hunters pay their homage 
to him1 and the whole concludes by a    

general country-dance4     ,the other   
specimen has for title1    ,the         
,,coquette ,,punished4  ,the decoration 
represents a delicious garden1 in which 
there are several compartments1         
separated by canals and jet-d'eaux4     
,this scenery should exhibit the        
prospect of at once a pleasure-garden1  
and a fruit-one4  ,in the bottom of this
 perspective1 there appear several      
gardeners busied1 some in pruning the   
hedges1 others in sowing and planting3  
more towards the front are seen1 some   
women at work1 tying up the flowers1 or 
cleaning them from pernicious leaves2   
others setting roots in vases4 ,all this
 forms the scenical picture at the      
drawing up the curtain4  ,a simphony    
mixed with the most rural instruments of
 music1 begins with soft and soothing   
airs4  ,one of the female gardeners1    
more showishly dressed than the others1 
and who is employed upon some necessary 
task about the flower-vases1 seems      
however more attentive to the admiring  

the flowers1 than to do her work3 and as
 she is standing near a canal1 she is1  
when she imagines none are taking notice
 of her1 looking at her figure in the   
watery mirror1 admiring herself1 and    
adjusting her dress4 ,though she does   
all this by stealth1 her companions     
remark her coquettry1 make signs to each
 other1 and point her out to the        
gardeners1 who join the laugh at her1   
without the coquet's perceiving it1 who 
is too much taken up with herself4  ,the
 simphony should express by the sounds1 
as nearly as possible1 the mockery and  
bursts of laughter from the rest of the 
gardeners4  ,the coquet is sadly tempted
 to gather some of the flowers for her  
own use1 but dares not4 ,in the moment  
that she is expressing the greatest mind
 for it1 enters a gardener1 who is not  
one of those employed at work1 and who  
makes up to her1 shows her a fine       
nosegay1 and signifies to her that he is
 come on purpose to offer it her4 ,the  
coquet immediately leaves off her work2 

and this pas-de-deux begins by all the  
little grimaces and false coyness that  
the coquette opposes to her acceptance  
of the nosegay1 but which at the same   
time only the more betray the mind she  
has for it4 ,the gardener keeps pressing
 her to receive it4 ,her companions1    
curious to see how this will end1       
advance little by little towards them3  
the gardeners follow them2 and all      
surrounding the coquette and her swain1 
form a dance1 in which the men seem to  
excite the lover not to take a denial1  
and the women want to engage the        
coquette to receive the nosegay2 but all
 this1 with a bantering air3 at length  
the coquette accepts it1 sticks some of 
the flowers in her hair1 and the rest in
 her bosom4 ,her companions and the     
gardeners1 shew by their signs1 that    
they were very sure she would take the  
nosegay and return to their1 work4      
,another gardener now enters1 on the    
side opposite to that on which the first
 came1 and advancing with an air of     

gaiety1 presents to the coquette1 a     
small basket of fine fruit4 ,in this    
pas-de-trois1 she a-fresh makes a great 
many faces1 about whether she will take 
the fruit or not4 ,the swain of the     
nosegay expresses his vexation at the   
intervention of this rival1 but the     
coquette manages so well that she       
pacifies his jealousy1 and accepts the  
other's basket of fruit1 which she hangs
 upon her arm4 ,the gardeners do not    
quit their work1 but they give to       
understand by shrewd signs1 what they   
think of the coquette's game4  ,it is   
easy to conceive1 that the composer of  
this music will1 in the airs made for   
the pas-de-deux1 and pas-de-trois1 pay  
attention to the different affections   
that are to be characterised by the     
dance4  ,while the gardener who brought 
the nosegay1 and the other who presented
 the fruit1 and the coquette1 are all   
seemingly in good harmony1 enters a     
third gardener1 gallantly dressed1 of a 
most engaging figure1 having in his     

hands some pink-and-silver ribbons4     
,the simphony should announce the       
arrival of this amiable gardener1 by an 
air all expressive of briskness and gay 
gallantry4  ,the gallant gardener       
approaches the coquette1 and shews her  
those glittering ribbons1 which at once 
catch her eye1 and give her a violent   
longing for them4 ,this new-comer takes 
notice of the flowers in her hair and   
bosom1 and of the fruit-basket hung upon
 her arm4 ,he gives her plainly to      
understand that she must return all this
 to his rivals1 if she has a mind to    
have the ribbons4 ,these begin to       
express their resentment2 but the       
coquette is so transported with the     
pleasure of bedizening herself with     
those ribbons1 that no regard can       
with-hold her3 she returns the flowers  
to the one1 and the fruit to the other1 
and takes the ribbons4 ,the two         
gardeners1 who see themselves slighted  
in this manner1 threaten him who has    
given the ribbons1 and throw themselves 

into attitudes of falling upon him2 at  
which he puts on a resolute look1 and   
does not seem to fear them4 ,her        
companions and the gardeners leave their
 work1 and advance some steps forwards1 
being curious to see how the scene will 
end4  ,the simphony should here express1
 by different airs1 the resentment of   
the two first swains1 and the resentment
 of the gallant gardener4  ,the coquette
 uses her best arts to pacify the two   
angry gardeners2 but it is all in vain2 
they express their indignation1 and are 
determined to take their revenge upon   
their rival4 ,just in the instant that  
they are preparing to attack him1 and   
that he is stoutly standing upon his    
defence1 comes in a female gardener1    
amiable1 lively1 but without any mark of
 coquettry in her looks or dress2 who1  
by the eager and frightened air with    
which she interposes1 and places herself
 between the gallant gardener and the   
others1 to prevent their hurting him1   
discovers the tender regard she has for 

him4  ,the two others1 in respect to    
this charming girl1 dare not proceed2   
but they give her to understand that the
 coquette has been so base as to return 
the flowers to the one1 and the fruit to
 the other1 that she might get the      
ribbons from the gardener whom she is   
protecting from their just resentment4  
,at this the offended fair one expresses
 to her lover her indignation1 but does 
not the less for that make the others   
sensible that she will not suffer them  
to hurt him4 ,she snatches next1 from   
the coquette1 the ribbons4 ,the whole   
company round testify their approbation 
of what she has done1 even the two      
gardeners1 who were1 the moment before1 
so angry1 burst out a-laughing for joy1 
to see the coquette so well punished1   
being now left without flowers1 fruit1  
or ribbons2 at which she withdraws1     
overwhelmed with confusion1 and with the
 loud laugh and rallying gestures of her
 companions and the other gardeners4    
,the gay gardener1 vexed at having been 

surprised by his mistress1 in an act of 
gallantry to another woman1 wants to    
pass it off to her as merely a scheme to
 amuse himself1 and to laugh at the     
coquette4 ,at first she will not hear   
him2 she treads the ribbons under her   
feet1 and is going away in a passion4   
,he stops her1 and entreats her         
forgiveness with an air so moving and   
penetrated1 that1 little by little1 she 
is disarmed of her anger1 and pardons   
him1 in sign of which she gives him her 
hand4  ,there is no need of specifying  
here what the dance in action1          
accompanied by the music1 should express
 in this pas-de-deux2 it is too obvious4
  ,the gardeners1 men and women1 testify
 their rejoicing at this reconciliation1
 and the dance becomes general4         
,,finis4          99       99       99  
99       99            99       99      
99       99        99       99       99 
99       99   ,,spelling ,,notes3  ,the 
word ,salii was consistently printed as 
,sal 7u with umlaut72 it has been       

corrected for the e-text4 ,the word     
,prsul was printed in italics and may   
have read ,proesul 7oe for ae ligature72
 it is here given the standard spelling4
  ,a number of words usually spelled    
with y are written with i in this text3 
nimph1 mith1 simbol2 and names such as  
,pilades1 ,hilas4  ,the form ,hetruscans
 is used consistently4   ,some          
,variations and ,anomalies3    character
 is sometimes spelled charracter or     
caracter   direct and dirrect both occur
   withall is more common than withal   
embarras is consistently spelled with   
one s   exagerate is almost always      
spelled with one g    choregraphy is    
always written without the second o     
gestual is not an error for gestural but
 a different word   ,,errors1 noted or  
corrected3    ,all duplications occur   
across a line break 7of _/ of 44474     
diverting the ,romans from serious      
thoughts  thoughs   twirling it1 or with
 a pail to draw water  a a pail   ,voi  
gli correrete dietro  ,voigli   ,then   

handing you backwards     catchword has 
,there for ,then   specifying rules for 
its attainment  for for   must be       
strictly forbidden  fobidden   a vain   
silly hint of self-recomdation2     text
 unchanged3 recom_/dation at line break 
nothing is more strongly inculcated     
stongly   ,persons of every size or     
shape  of of   inhabitants of the       
southren climates  spelling unchanged   
called by them ,las,cheganas1  spacing  
unchanged   7not to mention ,sadler's   
wells7  capitalization unchanged   not  
being able to contradict the authorities
     printed be_/ing at line break      
without hyphen   adopted with a         
passionate fondness by the ,romans      
adoped   the obstacles which arise out  
of the ground-work      printed our of1 
corrected by hand to out of   and steps 
of ,venus  of of