Scotch Jig or Rope Dance?
Choreographic Dramaturgy and Much Ado About Nothing
Abstract
This essay considers the role of dance in Much Ado About Nothing, a play that pairs two large company dances with a sustained verbal discourse about dance. This pairing creates a rich, embodied metaphor that bridges the gap between text and performance and extends to the larger themes of masquerade and mistaken identity that permeate the play. After this brief textual analysis, this essay then looks particularly at the role of dance in Joss Whedon's 2012 film adaptation to argue that Whedon's production makes a curious connection to popular early modern rope dances and acrobatic performances. This production offers a renewed context for the diversity of early modern dance.
Published
2017-05-01
Issue
Section
Articles
How to Cite
Scotch Jig or Rope Dance? Choreographic Dramaturgy and Much Ado About Nothing. (2017). Borrowers and Lenders: The Journal of Shakespeare and Appropriation, 10(2). https://borrowers-ojs-azsu.tdl.org/borrowers/article/view/270