John Weaver

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John Weaver (born July 21, 1673 in Shrewsbury , Shropshire , † September 24, 1760 in Shrewsbury) was a British dancer , choreographer and dance historian.

Life

Weaver came from an English dance master family and worked as a grotesque dancer and choreographer in London from around 1700 . 1717-1721 he was engaged at the Drury Lane Theater.

Because the drama was the most respected literary genre, Weaver tried to create a dance drama based on the model of ancient pantomime . The text of his work Loves of Mars and Venus (1717) contains detailed information about the actions on the stage and is an important source for the reconstruction of the pantomime dance at that time. Weaver influenced important choreographers of the later 18th century such as Gasparo Angiolini and Jean Georges Noverre and is thus a forerunner of the narrative ballet .

Weaver also worked as a book author. As a pioneer of dance notation , he spread the Beauchamp Feuillet notation in Great Britain. As a dance historian, he dealt with dance in antiquity and published a comprehensive dance history in 1712. His treatise on pantomime from 1728 received much attention and served as a justification for newer forms of pantomime.

Works (selection)

Fonts

  • A Small Treatise of Time and Cadence in Dancing , 1706
  • A Collection of Ball-Dances Performed at Court , 1706
  • Orchesography or, The Art of Dancing, by Characters and Demonstative Figures , 1706
  • Essay towards an History of Dancing , 1712
  • Anatomical and Mechanical Lectures Upon Dancing , 1721
  • History of the Mimes and Pantomimes , 1728

Choreographies

  • The Tavern Bilkers , London 1702
  • The Loves of Mars and Venus , 1717
  • Orpheus and Eurydice , 1718
  • Judgment of Paris , 1733

literature

  • Sibylle Dahms: John Weaver, in: Carl Dahlhaus (Ed.): Piper's Enzyklopädie des Musiktheater , Vol. 6 pp. 651f., Munich: Piper 1997. ISBN 3-492-02421-1

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Weaver, John
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British dancer, mime artist, choreographer and dance historian
DATE OF BIRTH July 21, 1673
PLACE OF BIRTH Shrewsbury , Shropshire
DATE OF DEATH September 24, 1760
Place of death Shrewsbury