Letizia Dradi

Letizia Dradi from Milan has been involved in historical dance since 1992. As a dancer and choreographer, she has worked in Europe, Asia and America with a series of early music ensembles, such La Petite Bande (dir. S. Kuijken), Le Concert des Nations (dir. J. Savall), Dowland Consort (dir. J. Lindberg). She has presented her research work at institutions including the Society of Dance History Scholars (USA), the Dolmetsch Historical Dance Society (London) and the Vaganova Academy (Russia). Over many years she has devoted special attention to G. Magri's "Trattato Teorico-Prattico di Ballo" and dance style of the late 18th century. She teaches dance of the 15th to 19th centuries at various conservatories and music schools.

L'Amabile - Gennaro Magri and the style of the late 18th century

"Everyone is capable of dancing. If there is anyone who cannot, one should not put the blame on him, but on the teacher who wanted to lead him on a path where this man was not able to follow him." (G. Magri, 1779)

Gennaro Magri was not only a sought-after choreographer and grotesque dancer, but also an excellent teacher, as is shown by his description of the pupil/teacher relationship, his didactic suggestions and the training instructions in his treatise.
An active dancer from 1758 - 1782 in Italy and at Vienna's Burgtheater, in 1779 Magri published in his native city of Naples his treatise "Trattato Teorico-Prattico di Ballo", one of the most important dance sources of the 18th century, especially regarding stage dance.
After giving detailed descriptions of numerous stage and social dance steps in the first part, in the second he presents 39 Contraddanze and a single couple dance choreography, Le Charamente or L'Amabile. Inspired by the famous Aimable Vainqueur, Magri creates his own choreographical and musical form.

In the course we will reconstruct Magri's L'Amabile, make comparisons with French choreographies and also examine the evolution of dance steps over the whole 18th century. We will pay particular attention to M. Brive's "Nouvelle Methode pour apprendre l'art de la danse", which, like Magri's book, was published in 1779, as well as to the various possibilities of the Port des Bras as described in Magri.