Rhetoric tacens, or mute rhetoric, was significant in all
areas of Renaissance art. Indeed, silent rhetoric, influenced by the
views of Quintilian and other classical rhetoricians, influenced all
aspects of Renaissance society, including dance: the "eloquent body".
Masques were an example of an early form of court dance.
Click to see.
How were dance and choreography influenced by rhetoric? Is there a
relationship between the designs of palatial gardens, dance, choreography
and Renaissance social class structure?
Rhetoric in dance.
Misura (measure) was a technical term based upon "proportion",
meaning aerial as well as terrestrial space around the dancer's body and
on the dance floor. Proportion emphasized views of Classical philosophy
such as those of Aristotle, that the mean, not extremes, were
to be emphasized. Thus dance motion was not to be too fast, nor too slow,
music not too loud nor too soft, etc. The full impact of avoiding extremes
cannot be over-emphasized, as this was also the ideology of the aristocracy.
Peasants or other low-class people, according to the aristocratic codes,
could not avoid gross, crude extremes not only in behavior but in dance as
well. Dance was a significant aspect of the aristocratic ideology. Thus
the movement of the dancer was a language that identified class allegiance,
and class sensitivities: aristocratic privilege was based on this language.
"... a person's character was revealed by deportment and gestures..." and
"The character of everyone is made known by the dance." The vocabulary of
dance included such technical terminology as:
1, 2
maniera (the "manner" of graceful dancing)
aiere (space above the dancer for dancing high)
ondeggiare (graceful undulation)
campeggiare (limited movement above the foot: only "lower class people" move crudely)
gratia
"Dance was an ordering of movements of the human body
that was concordant with the proportioning of the music
that accompanied it." Misura was based on
proportions found in music (the harmony of the
Pythagorean sect) that simultaneously applied to
dance, courtly behavior, and to the universe itself.
Thus there were four kinds of "misura":
2, 4
See mensuration
bassadanza misura
piva misura Harmonic ratio 1:2
saltarello misura Harmonic ratio 2:3
quaternaria misura Harmonic ratio 3:4
Antonio Cornazzano referred to the image of a ladder
that is of narrow width at the top, widening towards
the ground. The rungs of this ladder are of different
lengths, that are the proportions found in
misura.
Courtesy Books: Aristocratic Behavior in Dance 3
Of course, the gestures found in dance (mute, corporeal
rhetoric) were also related to the gestures found in the
mute rhetoric of Cicero and Quintilian. These gestures
included not only body motions, but facial expressions,
hand and foot movement, manner of walking, dress costume.
When Quintilian referred to variety of vocal tone in
textual rhetoric, this was also extended to variety of
dance steps. Alberti applied variety in color, number
and arrangement of figures in paintings. Thus
"maniera": "... picture of the movement of a gondola
which, pushed by two oars over the little waves of a quiet
sea, rises slowly and falls quickly" and maniera
"... a rising and falling movement of the body...", the
aristocrats' detachment from expressing passions such as
anger, never to express extremes. Dancers' motions were
not to be extreme (like that of a peasant).
4
Following Cicero and Quintilian, and then the humanists,
the dance masters also paid particular attention to the
carriage of the head.
Thus Thoinot Arbeau, in his Orchesographie:
.
"But above all, learned men maintain that the dance is
a kind of mute rhetoric [Rhetorique muette]
through which the Orator can, by his movements, without
uttering a single word, make himself understood and
persuade spectators that he is spirited [gaillard] and
worthy of being praised, loved and cherished. Is it not
in your opinion a discourse that he profers for himself,
with his own feet, in a demonstrative genre?"
4
It was important that those in the social elite carry
themselves so that their head neither hung low on their
chests, nor tilted up, with the chin in the air. It
should be held level at all times, with young ladies
especially remembering to keep their eyes, but not their
heads, modestly lowered. Thus the aristocrat is his
gestures. 5
An accurate description of courtier society may be found
in "The Book of the Courtier", by Baldesar Castiglione.
"... didactic literature on social behavior acted as a
text of reference for all social acts." Indeed, "...
dance was an ideological extension of civility."
6
What is choreography? Choreo means dance, graphics
means writing or drawing. Thus choreographcs means
"dance notation".7
Choreography as a subject evolved. This evolution was
quite natural. Choreography developed as a notational
system, and over time, different aspects of what was
expected of such a notational system changed. In the
beginning, movements of the feet were emphasized.
Later, movement of arms, hands, body, etc. became
increasingly important, and coordinating dance movement
with music became increasingly important. Although the
interest here is with Renaissance (or possibly Baroque
or Classical) music and dance, a cursory examination of
an important 19th century (non Renaissance) choreographic
system is instructive. The system is that of Vladimir
Stepanov, 1866 - 1896. 8
Some choreographic systems model foot or body movements
and describe these motions with an alphabet or diagrams,
while other systems of choreography model choreographic
motions with a system similar to music. Stepanov's
choreographic system was modeled upon music. Stepanov
used a system based upon a "music-like" staff composed
of nine lines, aggregated into three parts. The first part
was for head and body motion (a 2-line staff), the second
part was for arm motions (a 3-line staff), and the third
part was for leg motions (a 4-line staff).
Click here
to get an idea of what a system of choreography actually
looks like.
Examining Stepanov's system of choreography, we get
an idea of the kinds of dance motions that are deemed
important, and how these motions might be supported
(how the choreography is written, what was the music
that accompanied the dancers, and how were the dance
motions were coordinated with the music). However,
intricate foot motions (caprioles) and intricate hand
movements (constituting a gestural language in some
Asian countries) might require a choreography that is
far more complex. Furthermore, intricate "geometries"
of dancers that moved in complicated patterns were
also characteristic of the Renaissance, and only
some systems of choreography deal with such
geometric ensembles on stage. This discussion is
limited to the Renaissance, thus Western Europe at a
specific time period. Lastly, only a few systems of
choreography have been preserved, and their
descriptions are very limited.
Dance and choreography were well integrated into the society of
Renaissance courtesy codes. However, dance required music, thus
the music that accompanied dance, along with customary Renaissance
views about costume, must also be examined. Was rhetoric tacens
a part of music and did music support the political ideologies
that existed in Renaissance societies?
To get some idea of what Renaissance and Baroque dance
was like, click here.
This examination of Renaissance and Baroque dance has
many facets which will not be discussed here. However,
it should be noted that with the Black Plague of 1347
as well as other occurences such as Justinian's Plaque
in 541-542 A.D., dance was intimately involved.
Specifically, in choreomania, as well as the mystical
geometric displays of the Flagellants as they marched
in formation of the Cross.
1
"The Platonic Theory of Ethos in
Fifteenth-Century Italian Court Dance", Jennifer Nevile, Literature and
Aesthetics, vol. 3, 1993, p. 49
2
"The Eloquent Body: Dance and Humanist Culture in
Fifteenth-Century Italy", Jennifer Nevile, Indiana
Univ. Press, 2004, pp. 78-88
3
"Ut Pictura Poesis: The Humanistic Theory of Painting", Rensselaer
W. Lee, W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., 1967, pp. 35-41
.
"Decorum" was an all-embracing ideology of an aristocratic European
society: one was to "... have due regard for the dignity or lowliness of things,
for instance in the depiction of a scene at court wherin the beard,
mien, and habit of the king must have a becoming dignity, and a like
appropriateness must appear among the courtiers and the bystanders
according to the loftiness or humbleness of their position ...".
.
Just as an aristocrat must be depicted as "perfection", in like manner,
a peasant must be depicted in his/her "imperfection", Jews must be
depicted as being immoral or dirty, etc. "Decorum" is an ideology, and as
such applies everywhere
including dance, laws limiting clothing permitted to different strata
of society and laws limited to different strata concerning "criminal acts".
(There are regulations concerning aristocrats being 'humiliated' as a
consequence of criminal acts, etc: fueros existed and must be applied
in Iberia, similarly in England, and other countries.)
.
In reality, the view that only those of noble birth can dance should be
understood as a version of "racial" ideology (superior vs inferior 'breed').
"... noble movement is inborn and bred, and cannot be a subject for imitation."
Thus "Tahureau uses a sequence of animal metaphores and puns to describe the
clumsiness his dancer's legs. They are those of a calf, a goat and a hare...".
See McGowan, Margaret M.; "Dance in the Renaissance: European Fashion, French
Obsession", Yale Univ. Press, 2008, p. 25.
4
"The Eloquent Body: Dance and Humanist Culture in
Fifteenth-Century Italy", Jennifer Nevile, Indiana
Univ. Press, 2004, p. 88
5
"The Dancing Body in Renaissance Choreography",
Mark Franko, Summa Publications, Birmingham,
Alabama, 1986, p. 14
6
Ibid., p. 31. Certain gestures should be avoided in public like
yawning, laughter, nasal excretions, expectorating, harsh eye
expressions, twisting of the body, frowning, looking around.
These gestures are a violation of a shared civil code, often
discussed in "courtesy books". Such actions should never be
reflected in dance. Castiglione's "sprezzatura" (carefully
practiced nonchalance) are part of the civil code - specifically,
how members of the aristocracy can distance themselves from those
they view as being beneath them: act as though social class based
behavioral errors had never taken place. Words are not measured
by meaning, but are measured as vocal gestures, as this
conversation reveals character and morals. This aristocratic
social code was enacted in parallel in dance. Dance was composed
of gestures (meaning was not important), and expressed social
class at all times. pp. 52, 53, 74, 76.
7
"Choreo-graphics: A Comparison of Dance Notation
Systems From Fifteenth Century to the Present",
by Ann Hutchinson Guest, Gordon Breach, 1959, p. xi
8
"L'Alphabet des Mouvements du Corps Humain", by Vladimir
Stepanov.
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