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“Mobile statuary”: Refractions of pantomime dancing from Callistratus to Emma Hamilton and Andrew Ducrow

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Abstract

In this article I look at the European legacy of Graeco-Roman pantomime dancing through the prism of statuary. Starting from the late antiqueDescriptiones of the sophist and art critic Callistratus, a text which, as I argue, is mediated by the aesthetic experience and performance practice of the pantomime stage, I consider some fascinating early modern ways of coupling theatricalmimesis with the plastic arts, namely, the so-called “Attitudes” of Lady Emma Hamilton and the equestrian pantomimes of Andrew Ducrow. What they share with ancient pantomime is the art of building character and passion through mute corporeal eloquence as well as the thrilling experience of bridging the statuesqueness of the plastic arts and the unfolding narrative of the dramatic stage, a blend which was a distinctive feature of ancient pantomime dancing.

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  1. Department of Classics, King’s College London, WC2R 2LS, Strand, UK

    Ismene Lada-Richards

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Lada-Richards, I. “Mobile statuary”: Refractions of pantomime dancing from Callistratus to Emma Hamilton and Andrew Ducrow. Int class trad 10, 3–37 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02689169

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