'Whole Stories by Action': Pantomime Ballets on the Eighteenth-Century London Stage
(Moira Goff)
In 1717, John Weaver's 'Dramatick Entertainment of Dancing' The Loves of Mars and Venus was first performed at London's Drury Lane Theatre. In 1781, Gaëtan Vestris brought his version of Noverre's Medée et Jason – advertised as a 'Ballet Tragique' – to London's opera house the King's Theatre. These milestones in the history of theatrical dance are well known, but what happened with stage dancing that (to quote Weaver) told 'whole Stories by Action' in London's theatres in the intervening years? Although pantomime afterpieces and their dancing have been the focus of most research, this paper will explore pantomime ballet - of the sort that Weaver envisaged - on the London stage between 1717 and 1781, identifying other productions as well as other dancers and choreographers that influenced the genre and contributed to its development. I will concentrate on dancing at the Drury Lane and Covent Garden theatres, but I will also look at significant performances at the King's Theatre and pursue some of the continental influences that were evident at all three.
Moira Goff, Berkhamsted, United Kingdom
Moira Goff is a dance historian specialising in ballroom and theatre dance from the late 17th to the late 18th century. She has a particular interest in dancing on the London stage between 1660 and 1776, although her more general research occasionally extends as far as 1830. She has published many articles and papers and currently writes a blog Dance in History. Her book The Incomparable Hester Santlow: A Dancer-Actress on the Georgian Stage appeared in 2007. More recently she has published articles in Dance Research on the dancer and royal dancing master Leach Glover and her essay ‘From the Louvre to the Waltz: Changing Relationships within the Couple Dance’ will be published as part of a collection on dance and sociability early in 2026. Moira continues to reconstruct the notated dances of the 18th century as an integral part of her research work.
