Overview

Fifteenth-century Italy produced the earliest known treatises on the dance. Guglielmo Ebreo, an eminent Jewish dancing master, dedicated his `On the Practice or Art of Dancing' to the future Sforza duke of Milan in the determination to give dance the status enjoyed by music and other arts and sciences. He included not only choreographies (subsequently likened to the artistic achievements of Machaut, Leonardo, Dante, and Petrarch), but a Defence of the Dance, a Socratic dialogue, and theoretical precepts - still valid today - which clearly reflect the contemporary humanistic aesthetic and ideals. Challenging exercises (such as dancing counter to the time of the music!) and advice to young ladies at balls are also described. Barbara Sparti has provided a heretofore unavailable (rare) source book for students, amateurs, and scholars: a critical edition in Italian and a facing English translation; dance tunes in facsimile and in annotated transcriptions based on the choreographies. Recent specialized studies and archival discoveries have greatly enriched the introductory chapters on De pratica's history, the interpretation of its music, Guglielmo's life, and dancing in fifteenth-century Italy. An Appendix containing significant theoretical, musical, and choreographic additions from a later copy also has an Autobiography describing princely festivities, replete with names of participants, locations, and expenditures, of particular import to historians and those interested in court life in the Italian Renaissance. A Bibliography, Biographical Notes on Guglielmo's patrons, Illustrations depicting scenes of dancing, as well as a Glossary of dance, music, and humanistic terms, complete the critical apparatus.

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9780198165743

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Reviews

should be immediately placed on all university and college shelves ... a careful and beautifully researched edition ... I cannot recommend this book more highly BBC Music Magazine

<br> Sparti has produced a book that should interest a wide range of scholars....Sparti has not only made an important primary source readily available, she has provided an up-to-date and succinct introduction to an essential skill of the Renaissance courtier. --Renaissance Quarterly<p><br> Barbara Sparti has provided dance historians, musicologists, and interested performers with a valuable resource....Both the editorial procedures adopted for this edition and the elegant layout of the text, with the English translation facing the original Italian text, make this edition easy to use....Sparti opens up the area of fifteenth-century Italian court dance to the nonspecialist reader and provides a scholarly, well-researched, and well-written source for those who wish to perform these dances. --Speculum<p><br> In her Preface to the book, Sparti acknowledges that the book consumed about a dozen years of labor. For the historical dance community, this book was worth the wait. Sparti has given

Sparti has produced a book that should interest a wide range of scholars....Sparti has not only made an important primary source readily available, she has provided an up-to-date and succinct introduction to an essential skill of the Renaissance courtier. --Renaissance Quarterly<br> Barbara Sparti has provided dance historians, musicologists, and interested performers with a valuable resource....Both the editorial procedures adopted for this edition and the elegant layout of the text, with the English translation facing the original Italian text, make this edition easy to use....Sparti opens up the area of fifteenth-century Italian court dance to the nonspecialist reader and provides a scholarly, well-researched, and well-written source for those who wish to perform these dances. --Speculum<br> In her Preface to the book, Sparti acknowledges that the book consumed about a dozen years of labor. For the historical dance community, this book was worth the wait. Sparti has given us a comprehensive, scholarly, and very accessible resource....True to the highest standards of historical dance scholarship, Sparti provides the original Italian text on the left-hand page, paired with the English translation on the right. Moveover, Sparti made the decision to use the original Italian dance terminology in the English translation. The decision earns Sparti the gratitude of students of historical dance....Sparti's scholarship and presentation of the material makes this book a practical tool for performing artists....Sparti sets the highest standards of scholarship for historical dance scholars and translators. Oxford University Press should take great pride in publishing this excellent modelfor dance research. --Sixteenth Century Journal<br> [An] excellent edition of Guglielmo Ebreo's dance treatise....A thorough and reliable edition... --Early Music Today<br> This edition and translation of De pratica is a labor of love, careful scholarship, and surpassing expertise. --Journal of Modern History<br>

<br> Sparti has produced a book that should interest a wide range of scholars....Sparti has not only made an important primary source readily available, she has provided an up-to-date and succinct introduction to an essential skill of the Renaissance courtier. --Renaissance Quarterly<p><br> Barbara Sparti has provided dance historians, musicologists, and interested performers with a valuable resource....Both the editorial procedures adopted for this edition and the elegant layout of the text, with the English translation facing the original Italian text, make this edition easy to use....Sparti opens up the area of fifteenth-century Italian court dance to the nonspecialist reader and provides a scholarly, well-researched, and well-written source for those who wish to perform these dances. --Speculum<p><br> In her Preface to the book, Sparti acknowledges that the book consumed about a dozen years of labor. For the historical dance community, this book was worth the wait. Sparti has given us a comprehensive, scholarly, and very accessible resource....True to the highest standards of historical dance scholarship, Sparti provides the original Italian text on the left-hand page, paired with the English translation on the right. Moveover, Sparti made the decision to use the original Italian dance terminology in the English translation. The decision earns Sparti the gratitude of students of historical dance....Sparti's scholarship and presentation of the material makes this book a practical tool for performing artists....Sparti sets the highest standards of scholarship for historical dance scholars and translators. Oxford University Press should take great pride in publishing this excellent model for dance research. --Sixteenth Century Journal<p><br> [An] excellent edition of Guglielmo Ebreo's dance treatise....A thorough and reliable edition... --Early Music Today<p><br> This edition and translation of De pratica is a labor of love, careful scholarship, and surpassing expe

Sparti has produced a book that should interest a wide range of scholars....Sparti has not only made an important primary source readily available, she has provided an up-to-date and succinct introduction to an essential skill of the Renaissance courtier. --Renaissance Quarterly Barbara Sparti has provided dance historians, musicologists, and interested performers with a valuable resource....Both the editorial procedures adopted for this edition and the elegant layout of the text, with the English translation facing the original Italian text, make this edition easy to use....Sparti opens up the area of fifteenth-century Italian court dance to the nonspecialist reader and provides a scholarly, well-researched, and well-written source for those who wish to perform these dances. --Speculum In her Preface to the book, Sparti acknowledges that the book consumed about a dozen years of labor. For the historical dance community, this book was worth the wait. Sparti has given us a comprehensive, scholarly, and very accessible resource....True to the highest standards of historical dance scholarship, Sparti provides the original Italian text on the left-hand page, paired with the English translation on the right. Moveover, Sparti made the decision to use the original Italian dance terminology in the English translation. The decision earns Sparti the gratitude of students of historical dance....Sparti's scholarship and presentation of the material makes this book a practical tool for performing artists....Sparti sets the highest standards of scholarship for historical dance scholars and translators. Oxford University Press should take great pride in publishing this excellent model for dance research. --Sixteenth Century Journal [An] excellent edition of Guglielmo Ebreo's dance treatise....A thorough and reliable edition... --Early Music Today This edition and translation of De pratica is a labor of love, careful scholarship, and surpassing expe

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