Scotch Jig or Rope Dance?

Choreographic Dramaturgy and Much Ado About Nothing

Authors

Emma Atwood University of Montevallo

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.

Author Biography

Emma Atwood, University of Montevallo

Emma Atwood is an Assistant Professor of English at the University of Montevallo. Some of her articles have appeared in Comparative Drama, the Journal of Medieval and Early Modern Studies, and the Map of Early Modern London. She is currently working on her first book, which considers the relationship between spatial dramaturgy and early modern domestic architecture.