John Essex (born c.1680 - died 1744, London) was an English dancer, choreographer and author who promoted the recording of dance steps through notation as well as performing in London theatre. In 1728 he published his major work The Dancing-Master, or, The Art of Dancing Explained, a translation of Pierre Rameau's Le maître à danser (1725).
He is first mentioned in record in 1702 as a dancer at Drury Lane Theatre, performing serious and comic dances. In 1703 he left after a dispute with the manager, Christopher Rich. He set up as an independent dance teacher and teacher of music in Rood Lane (off Fenchurch Street) in the parish of St Dionis Backchurch in the City of London. [1] [2]
He became part of a group of dance teachers who sought to modernise and improve the teaching and recording of dancing. These included a Mr Isaac, Thomas Caverley, and John Weaver. [1] [2]
Essex was involved in several publications in the early 1700s which brought to England and explained the dance notations of the French dance masters Raoul Auger Feuillet and Pierre Rameau. Essex translated the introduction to Feuillet's Recueil de contredances (1706), and was the author of a treatise on the notation of country dances entitled, For the Further Improvement of Dancing (1710). In 1715 a second edition was printed containing 4 additional country dances to supplement the original 10 and "The Princess's Passpied", his only surviving ball dance. [3] His most important book appeared in 1728 The Dancing-Master, or, The Art of Dancing Explained, which was a translation with diagrams of Rameau's Le maître à danser (1725). This ran to a second edition in 1731 and a third about 1733 which included new illustrations by George Bickham the Younger. A fourth edition appeared in 1744, the year of his death. [1]
In 1721 he authored The Young Ladies Conduct, or, Rules for Education, for its day an orthodox treatise on female education, apart from the emphasis it puts on the usefulness of dancing. [1]
In 1724 he returned to performance, appearing at Dury Lane and later at The Haymarket Theatre. [2]
With his wife Catherine (née Hawtayne) (d. 1721), he had six children of whom three died in infancy, all are recorded in the parish register of St Dionis Backchurch. [1]
Baroque dance is dance of the Baroque era, closely linked with Baroque music, theatre, and opera.
André Campra was a French composer and conductor.
Lewis Theobald, British textual editor and author, was a landmark figure both in the history of Shakespearean editing and in literary satire. He was vital for the establishment of fair texts for Shakespeare, and he was the first avatar of Dulness in Alexander Pope's The Dunciad.
Beauchamp–Feuillet notation is a system of dance notation used in Baroque dance.
A ballet master is an employee of a ballet company who is responsible for the level of competence of the dancers in their company. In modern times, ballet masters are generally charged with teaching the daily company ballet class and rehearsing the dancers for both new and established ballets in the company's repertoire. The artistic director of a ballet company, whether a male or female, may also be called its ballet master. Historic use of gender marking in job titles in ballet is being supplanted by gender-neutral language job titles regardless of an employee's gender.
John Weaver was an English dancer, dancing master and choreographer, and producer of a number of works on dancing. He is often regarded as the father of English ballet and of English pantomime.
Pierre Beauchamp (also Beauchamps was a French choreographer, dancer and composer, and the probable inventor of Beauchamp–Feuillet notation. His grand-father was called Christophe and his father, a violonist of the king's chamber, was simply called Louis. Following a custom of the time, Pierre Beauchamp was named Pierre after his godfather Pierre Vacherot, tailor of the queen's pages and a relative of the Beauchamps family. See Regine Kunzle and John Powell Powell, John S. “Pierre Beauchamps, Choreographer to Molière's Troupe Du Roy.” Music & Letters, vol. 76, no. 2, 1995, pp. 168–186. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/737729. Accessed 4 Nov. 2020.
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Pierre Rameau, was the French dancing master to Elisabetta Farnese, and the author of two books that now provide us with valuable information about Baroque dance.
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The Very Reverend John Lynch (1697–1760), of The Groves at Staple, Kent, was an 18th-century Church of England clergyman, Royal chaplain to the King (1727-34) Dean of Canterbury (1734-60) and Archdeacon of Canterbury.
The chapelle royale was the musical establishment attached to the royal chapel of the French kings. The term may also be applied to the chapel buildings, the Chapelle royale de Versailles.
Thomas Walker (1698–1744) was an English actor and dramatist.
Sir Richard Manningham M.D. (1690–1759) was an English physician and man-midwife, now remembered for his involvement in the Mary Toft hoax.
Jane Egleton was a British stage actress of the eighteenth century associated with John Rich's company at the Lincoln's Inn Fields Theatre.
Anna Marcella Giffard (1707-1777) was an Irish stage actress.
