dance in the plays
dance in the plays.In Shakespeare's time dancing formed a part of people's lives at all levels of society in a way that we can scarcely conceive now, and the ability to dance proficiently was an expected social accomplishment for the gentry and nobility. Not surprisingly then, the plays contain numerous allusions to dance, using terms that would have been as immediate and striking in their imagery to audiences then as they are obscure today, and providing Shakespeare with ample scope for playing on words (brawl, measure, cinquepace, etc.).
Actual dancing is always linked in some way to the action of the play. Shakespeare used it to accompany, illustrate, and emphasize a change of mental or physical state, most obviously that of awakening love between a couple (Romeo and Juliet, Pericles and Thaisa, Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn). It plays a similar role in underlining the King's recovery in All's Well That Ends Well, and Katherine's illness in...
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