Signora Violante (1682–1741) was a rope-dancer, acrobat,

commedia dell'arte Commedia dell'arte was an early form of professional theatre, originating from Theatre of Italy, Italian theatre, that was popular throughout Europe between the 16th and 18th centuries. It was formerly called Italian comedy in English and is a ...

actor and theatre company manager.

Early life

Background

Signora Violante was Italian or French, and was active as a performer from 1720. She was married to an Italian, Senor Violante, a rope-slider. Neither her maiden or married name are known for certain, and she and her husband are also sometimes named as Larini in contemporary newspaper accounts. She is also known as Madam Violante and Mrs Violante in 18th century sources.

Family

Her children were among the performers in her troupe. Her daughter Rosina Violante, a dancer, later married dancer George Richard Estcourt Luppino, son of dancers George Charles Luppino and Charlotte Mary Estcourt, and forebear of the Lupino family of performers and designers.

Career

Violante's first appearances in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, in the spring of 1720, were working with De Grimbergue's French company at the King's Theatre and

Lincoln's Inn Fields Lincoln's Inn Fields is located in Holborn and is the List of city squares by size, largest public square in London. It was laid out in the 1630s under the initiative of the speculative builder and contractor William Newton, "the first in a ...

theatres. Her performances in these shows included rope dancing with flags, sometimes advertised in bills as "The Flourishing of the Colours"; her rope-dancing inspired a poem published in ''Oxoniensis'' on 6 June 1720''.'' Another reported act of Violante's was, while on the slack rope, to dance a

minuet A minuet (; also spelled menuet) is a social dance of French origin for two people, usually written in time. The English word was adapted from the Italian ''minuetto'' and the French ''menuet''. The term also describes the musical form tha ...

, with a child hanging from each ankle. In 1727 Violante is said to have danced on the tight rope with swords tied to her legs, a child balanced on her shoulders, and two children on her ankles. Violante returned to London in 1726 to the

Haymarket Theatre The Theatre Royal Haymarket (also known as Haymarket Theatre or the Little Theatre) is a West End theatre in Haymarket, London, Haymarket in the City of Westminster which dates back to 1720, making it the third-oldest London playhouse still in ...

, where she stayed for a season of 70 nights, performing acrobatics, dancing and pantomime, between 2 November 1726 and 28 April 1727. She was in

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

in 1727, and returned to London's

with a new company to perform regularly from 23 October to 6 May 1728, including a pantomime ''The Rivals'' in which she featured in the role of Colombina. The company performed ''The Rivals'' in

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

in the summer of 1728, where her husband Senor Violante slid on a rope across the

River Severn The River Severn (, ), at long, is the longest river in Great Britain. It is also the river with the most voluminous flow of water by far in all of England and Wales, with an average flow rate of at Apperley, Gloucestershire. It rises in t ...

, from St Vincent's Rocks in Clifton, a distance of 550 yards in thirty seconds, before a crowd of spectators. Violante had a large impact on the

theatre scene of the early 18th century. She worked in Dublin for three theatre seasons, during which time, in 1730, Violante and her principal dancer Lalauze established the Dame Street Booth, a rival to the Theatre Royal, Smock Alley in Dublin. She then travelled to

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

where she lived in Carruber's Close. In Edinburgh, magistrates refused her company permission to perform in their jurisdiction. after this, her company performed throughout Britain, and it is possible they also performed in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. One show was a pirated version of

The Beggar's Opera ''The Beggar's Opera'' is a ballad opera in three acts written in 1728 by John Gay with music arranged by Johann Christoph Pepusch. It is one of the watershed plays in Augustan drama and is the only example of the once thriving genre of sati ...

, the cast of which included

Peg Woffington Margaret Woffington (18 October 1720 – 28 March 1760), was an Irish actress and socialite of the Georgian era. Early life Woffington was born of humble origins in Dublin, Ireland yet excelled in playing women from the upper classes. Her f ...

, whom Violante "discovered" as a child, carrying water to her mother's wash-house, and subsequently coached. In 1735 Signora Violante settled in Edinburgh, where she rented the lower floor of the hall of the Incorporation of Mary's Chapel from 1738 and continued to perform as a rope-dancer, and ran a dance school.

Death

Signora Violante died in 1741.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Violante, Signora 1741 deaths Italian acrobats French acrobats British acrobats Women acrobats 1682 births Immigrants to the Kingdom of Great Britain 18th-century actresses 18th-century theatre Women theatre managers and producers Commedia dell'arte actors 18th-century dancers 18th-century circus performers