The poetics of theatrical dance in early eighteenth-century Italy

grantor: University of TorontoDance has always played a significant role in social celebrations, religious rituals, and theatrical representations; yet it has unjustly received far less critical attention than the other liberal arts. The main purpose of this thesis is to shed light on the theory, criticism, and practice of theatrical dance during a period of Italian history--the age of the Arcadian academy during the presidency of Giovanni Mario Crescimbeni (1690-1728)--hitherto altogether neglected or cursorily treated by most theatre historians and scholars of the dance. In fact, during this period dance played a fundamental role in the development of early eighteenth-century Italian theatre. As a dramatic form, or as a component of it, dance proved to be a truly unique type of physical expression vital to the most popular theatrical genres of the time. The first chapter of this thesis provides both a theoretical introduction to and the historical background necessary for a thorough understanding of the poetics of theatrical dance in the age of Arcadia. The second chapter deals with the role of dance in the literary and critical works of Arcadia, where dance was entrusted by Pier Jacopo Martello with the ideological function of representing current Arcadian aspirations for an Italian national theatre. The third chapter analyses the role of the comic dance master Gregorio Lambranzi, who, in the finest commedia dell'arte tradition, regarded theatrical dance as a dynamic gestural language vital to the complex process of improvisational performance. The fourth and final chapter surveys representative Italian opera librettos published from 1690 to 1728 in order to conduct a systematic study of early eighteenth-century Arcadian operatic balletti, with the aim of arriving at a structural description of the genre in the context of the dramatic and literary theories of the time.Ph.D