The New York Baroque Dance Co.

The Dancing Master, Josiah Priest, or Preist as his name was sometimes spelled, and his wife, Frances,  directed an academy for young ladies at Gorge’s House in Chelsea.  According to Jennifer Thorp, we are not certain this is the same Priest, but there is documentation  of a performer in London  by the name of Priest who is sometimes connected with the Stuart Court, “for in April 1673 a dancer named Isaac was one of several dancers (along with Mr. Priest) who performed as Venetians, a Spaniard, a Conjuror, Devils, and Shepherds, in a masquerade for King Charles II’s illegitimate son, the Duke of Monmouth (see Fig. 1). Mr. Isaac received ‘A Rich flowerd Venetian suite with all furnitures’ costing £28 17s 6d, and ‘A Spanish habitt’ costing £8 6s 2d, and either he or another Mr. Isaac and three others (Messrs Priest, Hazzard and Laine) each received a ‘bask habitt’, at 11 guineas per outfit. Two years later, in February 1675, Mr. Isaac was paid for his part in the Whitehall production of the masque Calisto, in which members of the royal family and the court performed alongside French and English professional dancers. Although he never held an official post at Court, it is known that he taught Princess Anne…”  Please visit this site for the sale of the Dance Journal Research issue which contains this fascinating article by Thorp: http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/dar/summary/v024/24.2thorp.html.

This free workshop offers an extraordinary opportunity to delve into the beginnings of ballet and to be introduced to the social connections at court which helped to support and develop the art form. The performing experience in joining The New York Baroque Dance Company on stage as a prelude to their concert with the Dallas Bach Society, Chamber Music and Dance from Versailles and London, will be a unique event in any child’s education as a young dancer.