Abstract: This talk argues that women in Love's Labour's Lost, Romeo and Juliet, and The Winter's Tale exercise forms of devotional authority that are explicitly choreographic in nature. It does so by exploring the rhetorical slippage between grace in its corporeal and spiritual senses in sixteenth-century dance manuals, for example in Fabritio Caroso's theorization of the "touch of grace" that accompanies "taking hands" to dance, and in the credit he gives to the divine motions of God, the "eternal Mover." But while such manuals blurred distinctions between spirit and matter, they also have material histories of their own. By studying widespread printing errors that threw into confusion a key moment—taking hands to dance—this talk suggests that how hands first touched often determined whether a choreography proceeded with grace or in disgrace. It then examines related moments in dramatic action, when the Princess of France, Juliet, Perdita, and Paulina each exercise agency over the taking of hands, and contends that their management of this gesture also manages the spiritual wellbeing of their communities.
This event will be held online via Zoom. You can access the meeting using this link: https://columbiauniversity.zoom.us/j/99533831610?pwd=S1JJUjdCdGVyeWxrZlo2Uld1YmFSUT09.
The meeting will be held from 7-8:30pm, with announcements from 7-7:15pm, the talk 7:15-8:00pm and Q&A from 8-8:30pm. As requested by the group, we will experiment with hosting a social/cocktail hour after the meeting. Since there won't be a dinner and we have no space constraints, an RSVP is not required. But I am still circulating the Evite for the sake of consistency and to preserve our sense of community. You can find announcements from our seminar members at the end of this email.
