From Page to Stage: Gesture and Nuance in 18th-century Dance

‘This is the Natural Effect of good Dancing, adorn’d with all its Beauties, in that the Music seems to inspire the Dancing, and the latter the former …in Conjunction there is at once an Attack upon both these Senses.’ Kellom Tomlinson, The Art of Dancing (1735).

Surviving notation for early 18th-century dance repertoire offers a tantalizing insight into the style and technique of the dance and dance music which combined to entertain 18th-century audiences. In an attempt to recreate these intricate choreographies we may draw upon detailed information, recorded by 18th-century masters, about the steps, floorpatterns and subtle nuances of gestures associated with each type of dance. Yet notation is a two-dimensional medium seeking to bridge the gap between the three-dimensional, instant organic experience of live performance and the desire to record it for posterity. However detailed the notation may be, it inevitably leaves many unanswered questions. Considering that French belle danse was intended to express character, mood and, on occasion, subtle narrative, musicians and dancers alike face the same challenges when it comes to interpreting and realising this fascinating repertoire. Through collaboration and sensitive informed exploration, dancers and musicians can together attempt the exciting challenge of reanimating these choreographies. This paper investigates the process of taking these graphic sources, reconstituting them, and combining them to result in a striking, dramatic presentation. It presents a symbiotic attempt to find and understand the character, tempo, phrasing and expression in both the notated choreography and the music score and examines the profound implications of this quest.