The Barriers: From Combat to Dance (Almost)

Abstract

The relationships between Renaissance courtly dancing, the art of fencing, and military drill, have recently been much commented upon. This paper explores one particular type of mock combat - the Barriers - where the spectacle moved increasingly close to choreography, but without ever quite becoming a dance itself. After a brief outline of the evolution of the Barriers, the paper concentrates on a number of late sixteenth and early seventeenth century treatises which - rather than the actual combat - all stressed the importance of the passeggio and riverenza, that is the balletic aspects of the spectacle; and placed great emphasis on grace, deportment, foot placement, and on the need to keep exactly to the tempo set by accompanying music.