B8700 - Choreutic Writing (1) (LM)

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course the student: - acquires basic information on choreographic notations; - learns a scientific method for the reconstruction of choreographies from the past; - knows how to connect, in a general way, choreographic and musical dictation thanks to the correlation between the skills acquired in modules I and II; - acquires the fundamental notions for producing a critical choreographic edition accompanied by musical dictation. This knowledge provides the student with: - basic skills to study choreographic witnesses; - basic skills to philologically reconstruct choreographies of the past on paper and to identify their relationship with the musical text; - sufficient skills to set up a critical choreographic edition, accompanied by music, useful for a possible staging.

Course contents

The course will examine the language of pantomime in ballet from the second half of the 18th century to the second half of the 19th century, focusing in particular on its relationship with dance stricto sensu and with music.

Initially, the subject will be studied from a historical and theoretical perspective; students will then explore the relationship between music and pantomime, comparing the stage directions of an annotated répétiteur – that is, a musical score on which the pantomimic actions are described – with the choreography score, which sets out the gestural text of the same ballet.

Examples to be studied will include Giselle by Coralli and Perrot, Il risveglio di Flora, Arlequinade and Raymonda by Marius Petipa.

Students will also acquire basic introductory knowledge of certain 19th-century choreographic notations.

Integration with the course ‘Education in Musical Understanding’ will be essential in order to acquire the minimum musicological skills required to relate the musical notation to the choreographic notation.

Readings/Bibliography

Attending students:

• Lecture notes.

• Stefania Onesti, Di passi, di storie e di passioni, Academia University Press, Torino, pp. 28-56.

• Stefania Onesti, Introduzione, in Stefania Onesti, Gasparo Angiolini tra Vienna e l'Italia. Antologia di libretti, Kinetès, Benevento, 2022, pp. 7-26.

• Stefania Onesti, «Je lui dictois par les gestes, et elle écrivoit»: riflessioni per uno studio sul rapporto tra danza e musica nel ballo pantomimo del Settecento, in «Danza e ricerca», n. 18, 2025, pp. 65-89.

• Inés Turmo Moreno, Music of Pantomime Ballets in Spain (1787-1799), in «Danza e ricerca», n. 18, 2025, pp. 91-118.

• Matilda Ann Butkas Ertz, Aspects of Style, Gesture, Form, and Culture in the Music of Nineteenth-century Ballets, in «Danza e ricerca», n. 18, 2025, pp. 165-186.

• Elena Randi, La grande stagione del balletto russo, Dino Audino, Roma, 2022, pp. 21-51.

• Elena Randi, Per un’edizione critica della danza: riflessioni metodologiche e applicative, in «Danza e Ricerca. Laboratorio di studi, scritture, visioni», n. 14, dicembre 2022, pp. 145-159, online: https://danzaericerca.unibo.it/article/view/16068/15230.

For students with no prior knowledge of the history of ballet in the 18th and 19th centuries, it is essential to study one of the following textbooks:

• Valeria Morselli, La danza e la sua storia, Dino Audino, Roma, 2018, vol II;
• O. Di Tondo, F. Pappacena, A. Pontremoli, Storia della danza e del balletto, Gremese, Roma, 2019, pp. 145-272.

For further information on dance notation, we recommend:

• Elena Randi, Scrivere la danza. La notazione coreica nella prima metà dell’Ottocento, in «Romanticismi. La rivista del C.R.I.E.R.», anno VI, 2021, pp. 213-232.

Non-attending students:

In lieu of lecture notes, non-attending students are required to study:

• Elena Randi, La storia di Giselle: due secoli di metamorfosi, Kinètes, Benevento, 2025, pp. 9-108, 127-152 and, furthermore, a chapter to choose among those ones by: Chiara Rampazzo, Elena Cervellati, Marco Argentina, Annamaria Corea and Lester Tomé.
  

and all publications recommended for attending students.

Teaching methods

The course comprises lectures and practical sessions exploring the relationship between music and pantomime, comparing the stage directions in an annotated répétiteur’s copy with the notated choreography for the same ballet.

Assessment methods

The level of learning will be assessed through an oral exam that will focus on the topics covered during the course and the texts indicated in the exam syllabus.

Achieving a comprehensive understanding of the topics covered, mastering expressive skills and specific language, and familiarity with the analytical tools of dance philology will be assessed with excellent marks. A predominantly rote or rote knowledge of the subject matter, an incomplete ability to synthesize and analyze, or correct but inappropriate language will result in a fair grade. Occasional gaps in mastery of the subject matter, poor ability to synthesize and analyze, and inappropriate language will result in a passing grade. Significant gaps in learning, inappropriate language, or an inability to analyze the fundamentals of dance philology will result in a failing grade.

Students with learning disabilities (LD) or temporary or permanent disabilities: please contact the relevant University office promptly (https://site.unibo.it/studenti-con-disabilita-e-dsa/it). They will be responsible for suggesting any accommodations to the students concerned. These accommodations must be submitted to the instructor for approval 15 days in advance, who will evaluate their suitability, also taking into account the course's learning objectives.

Teaching tools

Viewing videos and illustrations, reading text sources; if possible, watching performance rehearsals and listening to oral histories from dancers/choreographers/ballet masters.

Office hours

See the website of Elena Randi