Beauchamp–Feuillet notation is a system of

dance notation Dance notation is the symbolic representation of human dance movement and form, using methods such as graphic symbols and figures, path mapping, numerical systems, and letter and word notations. Several dance notation systems have been invented ...

used in

Baroque dance Baroque dance is dance of the Baroque era (roughly 1600–1750), closely linked with Baroque music, theatre, and opera. English country dance The majority of surviving choreographies from the period are English country dances, such as those i ...

. The notation was commissioned by

Louis XIV Louis XIV (Louis Dieudonné; 5 September 16381 September 1715), also known as Louis the Great () or the Sun King (), was List of French monarchs, King of France from 14 May 1643 until his death in 1715. His reign of 72 years and 110 days is the Li ...

(who had founded the

Académie Royale de Danse The Académie Royale de Danse, founded by Letters Patent on the initiative of King Louis XIV of France in March 1661, was the first dance institution established in the Western world. As one of King Louis’ first official edicts after the death o ...

in 1661), and devised in the 1680s by Pierre Beauchamp. The notation system was first described in detail in 1700 by Raoul-Auger Feuillet in ''Chorégraphie''. Feuillet also then began a programme of publishing complete notated dances. It was used to record dances for the stage and domestic use throughout the eighteenth century, being modified by Pierre Rameau in 1725, and surviving into at least the 1780s in various modified forms. One of the innovations of this notation, as you can see in the sample below, was to show the music, on a staff as a musician would use it, across the top of a page. The roles of the dancer or dancers, the tract they were to follow, and the steps to perform are shown in the notation below. The bar markings on the music are also drawn across the tract of the dancers, clarifying the relation of the steps to the music. The focus of the notation is the footwork

Reading

*Raoul Auger Feuillet (1700) ''Chorégraphie, ou l'art de d'écrire la danse'' (Paris) **a facsimile of the 1700 Paris edition (1968: Broude Brothers) **translated into English by John Weaver: (1706) ''Orchesography'' (London) **translated into English by

P. Siris P. Siris was an English dancer, dancing master and choreographer. His first name and dates of birth and death are uncertain. He may have been born in France. He was active in London from about 1705 to at least 1735. In 1706 he published a tran ...

: (1706) ''The Art of Dancing'' (London) *Raoul Auger Feuillet (1706) ''Recueil de contredanses'' (Paris) **a facsimile of the 1706 Paris edition (1968: Broude Brothers) *Wendy Hilton “Dance of court and theater: the French noble style 1690–1725” **reprinted in: (1997) ''Dance and Music of Court and Theater: Selected Writings of Wendy Hilton'' (Pendragon Press) *Meredith Ellis Little & Carol G. Marsh (1992) ''La Danse Noble: An Inventory of Dances and Sources'' (Broude Brothers) *Pierre Rameau (1725) ''Le Maître à danser'' (Paris) **a facsimile of the 1725 Paris edition (1967: Broude Brothers) **translated

John Essex 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-Mas ...

: (1728) ''The Dancing Master'' (London) *Pierre Rameau (1725) ''Abbregé de la nouvelle methode'' (Paris) *Kellom Tomlinson (1735) ''The Art of Dancing'' (London) *Gregorio Lambranzi (1716) ''Neue und Curieuse Theatralische Tantz-Schul'' (Nürnberg) *Philippa Waite & Judith Appleby (2003) ''Beauchamp–Feuillet Notation: A Guide for Beginner and Intermediate Baroque Dance Students'' (Cardiff:Consort de Danse Baroque)

External links

*Wilson, David.
Project Gutenberg copy of the John Weaver, English language, 1706, book ''Orchesography'', based on the Feuillet, French language, 1700, book ''Chorégraphie''The books of John Weaver
- Facsimiles of 18th-century English translations of Feuillet's books.

by Paige Whitley-Bauguess, including an introduction to reading Beauchamp-Feuillet notation. Dance notation Baroque dance {{Dance-stub