Essai sur la danse, antique et moderne ...

All of Mme. Voiart's manual is devoted to the history of dance. Quoting heavily from many previously published materials, including a number of travelogues, this book discusses the origins of dance and devotes a chapter each to Greek and Roman dance. The second part of the book discusses transition to what the author terms "modern dance," in this case the court dances of France. In examining the dances of the French Baroque court, Mme. Voiart (1786-1866) refers to a great variety of dances including the courante, minuet, and gavotte as well as dances from at least one hundred years earlier such as the pavane and branle. Demonstrating an interest in non-European dance, the book also discusses dance as practiced in other parts of the world including Norway, Canada, the Sioux of Missouri, and Africa. Although the scholarship, by contemporary standards, is seriously flawed, the book is part of the large body of literature that has influenced the writing of dance history for more than one hundred years.