Dance, Embodied Politics and Court Culture in Early Modern Spain: The Poetics Turn

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Professor Florence d’Artois

Dance, Embodied Politics and Court Culture in Early Modern Spain

The Poetics Turn

Professor Florence d’Artois

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Hardback

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English

Tamesis Books
23 December 2025

Dance; Literary studies: general; Early modern history: c 1450 to c 1700; Social & cultural history

Series: Monografías A

Does dance tell a story? What, if anything, is it intended to represent? How was it conceived in the early modern period?

This book examines the theories and political uses of dance in Spain during the period preceding and following the 'Poetics turn', which coincided with the rule of Philip III (1598-1621), also known as the Dancing King, and the onset of the reign of Philip IV. While this turning point finalised the definition of dance as an art form, it was also paradoxical. Indeed, this development saw the emergence of an aesthetic thought of dance within Aristotelian poetics, thanks to a common court culture, yet it never led to the formulation of a poetics of ballet.

By recontextualising this turning point, the book examines the relationship between dance and representation during Spain's Golden Age. It revisits the initial codifications of dance in Italy and figurative experiments at the Burgundian court during the second half of the 15th century, as well as their influence on subsequent practices and humanist theories of dance at the courts of Charles V and Philip II. Subsequently, it focuses on the various shifts in court dance as it became a scenic art at the beginning of the seventeenth century, interrogating the possibility of the king performing dance himself. The book concludes that, in Spain, neo-Aristotelian ideas enabled a shift from an ethical to an aesthetic problematic, which saw dance, whether symbolic or purely kinetic in nature, as a legitimate art form to be placed at the service of the monarchy.

By: Professor Florence d’Artois
Imprint: Tamesis Books
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 234mm, Width: 156mm,
ISBN: 9781855664067
ISBN 10: 1855664062
Series: Monografías A
Pages: 468
Publication Date: 23 December 2025
Audience: College/higher education , Further / Higher Education
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming

FLORENCE D'ARTOIS is Professor of Early Modern Spanish Culture and Literature at the Université Toulouse Jean-Jaurès. Between 2019 and 2025, she was a member of the Institut Universitaire de France working on the project The performing body: dance, festivals and theater at the courts of the Hispanic Monarchy (1560-1700).