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An American Ballroom Companion: Dance Instruction Manuals


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A collection of ball-dances perform'd at court: viz. the Richmond, the roundeau, the rigadoon, the favourite, the Spanheim, and the Britannia. All compos'd by Mr. Isaac, and writ down in characters, by John Weaver, dancing-master.

Isaac, Mr.

CREATED/PUBLISHED
London, Printed for the author, and sold by J. Vaillant, 1706.

SUMMARY
Dancer, teacher, and theoretician John Weaver (1673-1760) compiled this important collection of choreographies by Mr. Isaac. With melodies composed by James Paisible, the collection contains six ballroom dances: "The Richman," "The Rondeau," "The Rigadoon," "The Favorite," "The Spanheim," and "The Britannia." All are couple dances and are notated in a notation system first published in 1700 by dancing master Raoul-Auger Feuillet (1659 or 1660-1710). The system is based on tract drawings that trace the pattern of the dance. Additionally, bar lines in the dance score correspond to bar lines in the music score. Signs written on the right or left hand side of the tract indicate the steps.

NOTES
Plates contain diagrams of dance figures; at head of each diagram, the tune for the dance figure is represented.

Book-plate of Alfred Henry Littleton and Rosalind Littleton.

Bound in full mottled calf, gilt, inside borders, by Rivière.

SUBJECTS
Ballroom dancing--Handbooks, manuals, etc.--Early works to 1800.
Dance music.
Dance Instruction and Technical Manuals.
Notation for Dance.
Music for Dance.

RELATED NAMES
Weaver, John, 1673-1760.
Paisible, James, 1656?-1721. Collection of ball-dances perform'd at court.

MEDIUM
3 p.l., 41 plates on 32 l. 27 cm.

CALL NUMBER
MT950.A2 I7

DIGITAL ID
musdi 164 http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.music/musdi.164

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