The Dancing Master
The Dancing Master
Playford’s Dancing Master was the first published collection of English country dances and their tunes, starting in 1651 and spanning 18 editions over 80 years. It spawned numerous imitations throughout the 18th century. This year is the 400th anniversary of the birth of John Playford.
The music and dances continue to be loved by millions across the world, not least due to their inclusion in film and television, such as Bridgerton, Pride and Prejudice and Poldark.
This exhibition celebrates not only English country dancing but also the role of the Dancing Master during the 17th and 18th centuries, who would teach steps and choreograph new dances for court and assemblies.
A programme of events to accompany the exhibition includes concerts, workshops for musicians and dancers, and a Playford Ball.
Dancing master history
A dancing master was both a person who taught dance (particularly to the children of the gentry) and a type of book from which one could learn dances and the tunes used to accompany them. John Playford's The English Dancing Master (1651) was the first such collection to be published. It contained the melodies and dance instructions for just over 100 English country dances, with the music and dance instructions printed side by side. Retitled simply The Dancing Master by 1652 and for the remaining 17 editions, these books were published by John and then his son Henry Playford, and spawned numerous imitations throughout the 17th and 18th centuries. Our exhibition includes several editions of The Dancing Master from the Bodleian collection.
Playford almost certainly did not write any of the melodies or dances. Some tunes were very old: for example, Mundesse, a round dance, is almost identical to Mon Desir from Susato’s Danserye of 1551. Similarly, Halfe Hannikin was one of the country dances in the masque Time Vindicated performed by the future Charles I, amongst others, on 19 January 1623.
Wood 125 Playford, J. (1652) The Dancing Master, 2nd edition (Bodleian Libaries)
Dance titles often referred to popular ballads, including some that were celebrated cavalier songs that Cromwell’s Parliament tried to suppress. For example, Faine I would if I could, was a ballad also known as ‘The King’s Complaint’ and ‘A Coffin for King Charles’. It was an elaborate dance performed whilst the Royal court was at Oxford.
Playford’s Dancing Master books were incredibly popular. Playford’s introduction to his Dancing Master, entitled ‘To the Ingenious Reader’, refers to dancing in the ‘Courts of Princes’ and by ‘The Gentlemen of the Innes of Court’. It is therefore likely that Playford’s customers would have been educated people. One was Samuel Pepys: in his celebrated diary he wrote, ‘By water down to Greenwich and then walked to Woolwich, all the way reading Playford’s Introduction to Musique wherein are some things very pretty.’
Exhibition
The project showcased Playford’s Dancing Master and associated works by exhibiting original publications held in the Bodleian Library in the Weston Library’s temporary exhibition space in Blackwell Hall from September 2023 to January 2024. The exhibition was free. Items on display included:
Dancing Master books, including the second edition of Playford’s The Dancing Master, published in 1652 (Wood 125), and John Johnson’s A Choice Collection of 200 Favourite Country Dances, Volume 3, 1744 (Douce DD101).
Dances with a connection to television and film, including Grimstock, which featured in the BBC television adaptation of Pride and Prejudice.
Playford’s Dancing Master, 5th edition, 1675 (Harding F328).
Items connecting John Playford and Samuel Pepys. On 22 March 1667, Pepys recorded in his diary that he had ‘by water down to Greenwich and thence walked to Woolwich, all the way reading Playford’s “Introduction to Musique” wherein are some things very pretty.’ The Bodleian’s copy of this book (Vet. A3 f.1925) was displayed in the exhibition.
Pepys was a fan of catches (songs sung as rounds) and wrote on 23 November 1666, ‘At the Temple I called at Playford’s, and there find that his new impression of his ketches are not yet out, the fire having hindered it, but his man tells me that is will be a very fine piece, many things new being added to it.’ On 15 April 1667, Pepys purchased, ‘Playford’s new Catch-book that hath a great many fooleries in it’. The Bodleian’s copy of Playford’s Catch that Catch Can (published 1652) was displayed (Wood 126).
Dancing Masters (the people). In addition to material published by John and Henry Playford, the exhibition included publications focusing on the role of the Dancing Master as choreographer and tutor. The Union, A New Dance compos’d by Mr Isaac (Don. d.45), with Feuillet’s dance notation, and Rameau’s The Dancing Master, or The Art of Dancing Explained (Vet. A4 d.86), translated by John Essex, were two examples displayed in the exhibition.
Events
From September 2023 to January 2024, a series of concerts, workshops and talks was held both in person and online. All events and other content were accessible to all and were free of charge.
Sunday 15 October 2-3pm at the Blackwell Hall, Weston Library
Leveret concert
Thursday 2 November 5.30-6.30pm online
Online talk with Jeremy Barlow and Dr Alice Little – A dance band for Playford?
Sunday 5 November 12-1pm at the Blackwell Hall, Weston Library
Playford dancing for beginners with Steph West, Giles Lewin and Matthew Coatsworth
Sunday 5 November 2-3pm at the Blackwell Hall, Weston Library
Oakstone Trio concert
Sunday 19 November 2-3pm at the Blackwell Hall, Weston Library
Chris Green’s Switched on Playford concert
https://visit.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/event/nov23/switched-on-playford
Tuesday 28 November 5.30-6.30pm online
Online talk with Professor Rebecca Herissone and Dr Alice Little – The Dancing Master in context
https://visit.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/event/nov23/the-dancing-master-in-context
Thursday 30 November 7-8pm at The Cherwell School
Playford dancing for beginners with Steph West, Giles Lewin and Matthew Coatsworth
https://visit.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/event/nov23/playford-dancing-for-beginners
Sunday 3 December 12.30-2.30pm at the Blackwell Hall, Weston Library
Lifting tunes off the page workshop with The Oakstone Trio
https://visit.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/event/dec23/lifting-tunes-off-the-page
Sunday 3 December 2.30-3.30pm at the Blackwell Hall, Weston Library
Playing Playford tune session with Matthew Coatsworth
https://visit.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/event/dec23/playing-playford
Wednesday 6 December 7-8pm at The Cherwell School
Playford dancing for beginners with Steph West, Giles Lewin and Matthew Coatsworth
https://visit.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/event/nov23/playford-dancing-for-beginners
Saturday 13 January 2024 at the Blackwell Hall, Weston Library
Playford Ball with Andrew Swaine and The Warleggan Village Band
(booking opening in autumn https://visit.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/event/jan24/the-playford-ball)
People
Dr Alice Little
Alice is a Research Fellow at the Bate Collection of Musical Instruments, part of the Music Faculty at the University of Oxford. Her research focuses on collectors and collecting, particularly eighteenth-century tunebooks and their compilers, looking at what sources the collections were gathered from and what the selection of music says about the people and cultures that collected and used them. She completed two TORCH Knowledge Exchange Fellowships (2019-2021) working with the English Folk Dance and Song Society on the eighteenth-century tunebooks in their collection. alice.little@music.ox.ac.uk
Matthew Coatsworth
Matthew is a significant figure in the world of 17th and 18th century English country dance music. He has performed with groups including Boldwood, The Warleggan Village Band and on screen for BBC’s Poldark and Netflix’s Bridgerton. His research has led to four Boldwood Dancing Master publications. In addition to his musical activities, Matthew is a senior leader at Oxfordshire Teacher Training working with nearly 100 primary, secondary and special schools across the region; he has extensive experience working on musical projects with schools, including Folk Weekend Oxford, Oxfordshire County Music Service, Oxford Lieder Festival and Oxford Opera. mail@warlegganvillageband.uk
