Mastro da Ballo

Santucci Perugino, ErcoleProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.2

Word count: 503K words
Chapters: 51

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Mastro da Ballo by Ercole Santucci PeruginoAuthor: Santucci Perugino, Ercole,Language: Italian, Class: GV: Geography, Anthropology, Recreation: Recreation, Leisure, Release Date: Jan 10, 2018

Editor's review

This is an electronic edition of a seventeenth-century Italian dance instruction text, in which the author, Ercole Santucci Perugino, records the techniques and etiquette of courtly and social dance of his time from the standpoint of a dancing master. As a free Project Gutenberg eBook, its main value lies in the accessibility of the original text: readers can engage directly with the terminology, steps, and choreographic logic of an early dance manual rather than a second-hand summary. The content is primary material for the study of historical dance and is best read alongside the music and court culture of the Renaissance to Baroque period. Note that the book is in Italian and, given its age, its terminology and prose pose a certain barrier for modern readers; the electronic edition is not a modern translation with commentary and lacks detailed collation and annotation. It should be treated as a historical source rather than a popular introduction, and background knowledge of dance or music history is needed to understand the bodily concepts and social norms behind the movement descriptions. For readers studying early dance, performance practice, or book history, this is a free primary source worth close reading.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Scholars and students of dance history from the Renaissance to the Baroque
Readers interested in early European court etiquette and social culture
Those with Italian reading ability who wish to engage with primary dance manuals
Professionals in historical dance reconstruction or performance practice

Not a good fit for

Beginners seeking a modern introductory dance manual
General readers without Italian and without a translation to assist them
Scholars expecting a systematically annotated and collated edition

Reading tips

First familiarize yourself with basic seventeenth-century Italian dance terminology and notation before entering the main text.
Read alongside period court music and etiquette sources to understand the social context of the movements.
Excerpt step and choreography descriptions chapter by chapter and build your own terminology concordance.
For research purposes, compare it with other editions of early dance manuals.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Is this book a dance tutorial for beginners?

No. It is a seventeenth-century Italian dance instruction text and a historical source; its terminology and prose pose a barrier for modern readers and it suits readers with a background in dance history or Italian rather than complete beginners.

Does the electronic edition include a modern translation or collation?

According to the information available, the book is a free eBook released by Project Gutenberg in Italian, an electronic presentation of the original text; it is not stated to include a modern translation, detailed annotation, or collation, so readers must supply background knowledge themselves.

What background knowledge is needed to read this book?

Italian reading ability is recommended, along with familiarity with the basic terminology, notation, and social etiquette of Renaissance to Baroque court dance. Reading it together with dance-history and music-history materials will make the movement descriptions and choreographic logic easier to understand.

Comments

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About the author

Santucci Perugino, Ercole Author

Santucci Perugino, Ercole is an author about whom very limited public information is currently available; his life, nationality, and dates of birth and death have not been clearly recorded. The library holds only one work by him, Mastro da Ballo. Judging from the title, the book should deal with dance instruction or the art of dance, as Mastro da Ballo means "dance master" in Italian, suggesting that the author may have been familiar with Italian dance traditions and teaching practice. Because more background information is lacking, it is still difficult to judge the full range of his writing style, but works of this kind usually focus on explaining movement essentials, steps, and etiquette, and have some reference value for understanding the forms of dance education of the period. Overall, the research value of Ercole Santucci Perugino centers mainly on this dance work and awaits further material for supplementation.