The Bard's Galliard

While much has been written on every aspect of Shakespeare's plays by Shakespearean scholars,actors and directors,dance is an oft-overlooked,yet frequent feature in Shakespeare's plays.From busking entertainers to dances strategically placed within many dramas to a set of raucous jigs following even the most somber tragedies,dance engulfed and permeated Shakespeare's plays.Notwithstanding some scholars have realised the close connection between Shakespeare's works and dance,Alan Brissenden's Shakespeare and the Dance remains the only book-length work which examines the relationship of dance within Shakespeare's playtexts.While this book is the seminal text for literary study on Shakespeare and dance,however,with focus of attention changing from play to play,the illumination of dance function in the texts seems sporadic and confused sometimes.While dance employed frequently in Shakespeare's plays,it is quite challenging for contemporary audiences,readers,directors and even scholars to understand these dances let alone to perform them.Using the method of close reading of text combined with some knowledge of the Renaissance dance,this thesis explores how dances function in Shakespeare's plays and tries to acquaint the reader with these dances and to consider their ramifications.According to how dances employed by Shakespeare,the functional study of dance can be categorized into three aspects: “dance as word”,“dance as show”,and “dance as progenitor”.“Dance as word” refers to these dances including dance as the general term and specific dance items utilised by Shakespeare as verbal references within his playtexts.By “decoding” these dance references,this part figures out that these dances function as layers of subtext to imagery,characterisation and theme in Shakespeare's drama.“Dance as show” indicates these dances actively staged in his plays as dramatic structures.Placing these dancing actions back to their playtexts and the social context of Shakespeare,this part demonstrates that theses dancing shows function not only to entertain both the nobility and the commonality,but also to contribute to advancing the plots and more sophisticatedly,presenting social hierarchy in Shakespeare's time.“Dance as progenitor” emphasises the seminal role of Shakespeare's dances referenced or staged play in modern dance adaptations of his works.As the intermedial role between Shakespeare's playtexts and Shakespeare-based physical narratives,dances bridge the seemingly insurmountable gap between language and movement.Dances in Shakespeare's drama provide potentialities and choreographies for modern dance adaptations,making dance adaptation an especially apt way to re-envision his dramas.Overall,dance is an integral part of Shakespeare's dramatic works and artistic milieu and remains a significant communicative form for contemporary readers.Dance in Shakespeare's drama functions in creating meaning in the plays and their afterlives on stage not by replacing language,but as an additional communicative form.As a kind of interdisciplinary and intermedial study,this functional study of dance will give a better understanding of Shakespeare's drama and Shakespearean theatre and inspire greater cross-disciplinary collaboration in Shakespearean study.