Portraits and Personae: Visions of Female Dancers, circa 1730-1840

This paper will consider the extent to which female dancers were objectified or professionalised by the images created of them during their lifetimes. To what extent does the catalogue of images attached to a particular dancer suggest a deliberately crafted persona? The case studies to be considered will include: Marie Sallé (1709-1756), whose portraits by Nicholas Lancret and 'L'après-diné - la Dame à la Promenade’ by Jean César Fenouil both appear to reflect of support the dancer's sobriquet of 'La Vestale'. Rose Parisot (fl. 1790s) is depicted as a voluptuous wanton in the satirical prints of her, but she also attracted some serious portraiture (A.W. Devis; John James Masquerier) - including a classical pose as the goddess Hebe (Devis). All of these images appear to capture the particular physicality of this dancer, although the vision projected depends very much on the function of the illustration. Emilie Bigottini (1784-1858), for which a numerous series of images promoting her particular roles at the Paris Opéra (many drawn by the lithographer Godefroy Engelmann) exist; the relative 'institutional' tone of these will be contrasted with the more personal flavour of further portraits on and off stage. 

About the author

Sarah McCleave is a musicologist and senior lecturer based at the School of Arts, English and Languages, Queen's University Belfast. She is a founding member of the Centre for 18th-century Studies at Queen's. She has published a monograph, Dance in Hadel's Operas (Routledge, 2013), as well as articles evaluating the contributions to dance of Marie Sallé, John Rich, and Carlo Delpini. Her survey of Italian dancers in 18th-century London appeared in La Danza Italiana (2011). In October 2012 she appeared as an invited speaker for the project 'Les Arts Vivants au prisme du genre' (Paris). She was a keynote speaker for 'Plays, Places, and Participants', at the Norwegian University for Science and Technology, Trondheim (November 2013); a volume of essays from that conference will appear with Routledge in 2020. McCleave is currently the recipient of Leverhulme funding for her next book project, 'Fame and the Female Dancer'.