The antimasque,
in addition to its importance as a dramatic innovation, grants
insight into the dance of the witches in Macbeth, performed
before King James I in 1606, just three years before the king
saw The Masque of Queens. In his extensive notes on
the masque, Ben Jonson describes the movement of the witches
in The Masque of Queens:
At
wch, wth a strange and sodayne Musique,
they fell into a magicall Daunce, full
of præposterous change, and gesticulation,
but most applying to theyr property:
who, at theyr meetings, do all thinges
contrary to the custome of Men, dauncing, back
to back, hip to hip, theyr handes
ioyn'd, and making theyr circles
backward, to the left hand, wth strange phantastique
motions of theyr heads, and bodyes.
All wch were excellently imitated
by the Maker of the Daunce, Mr.
Hierome Herne, whose right it is, here to
be nam'd."43
Dancing
back to back and hip to hip with wild motions of the head
characterize the movement of witches in this passage, which
also notes that these are contrary to the customary manner
of dancing. This passage presents an excellent starting point
in choreographing movements for the Macbeth witches.
Similarly, Jonson's antimasque in the masque Oberon provides
a basis for choreography for the satyrs dance in The Winter's
Tale.
Satyrs
were associated with Pan and worshipers of Dionysus
in Greek mythology. Half-man, half-goat they were
known for their licentiousness and lasciviousness.
Christian depictions of the Devil as a goat, also
hearken back to the satyrs' reputed hedonism and
sexual appetite, "Their horns, goats' legs,
tail and cloven hoofs became part of one concept
of Satan."44
The Maenads, women, who like the satyrs worshipped
Dionysus, were known for their orgiastic dances.
Indeed, it was female followers of Dionysus in
the story of Orpheus who tore him apart at the
climax of their drunken, frenzied dancing.
Satyrs
introduce the masque of Oberon (1611) with
a moonlit antimasque: "they came forth, severally,
from divers parts of the rock, leaping and making
antic action and gestures, to the number of ten."45
Although they are classical characters, here satyrs
represent the crude and wanton, though harmless,
desires of men. The satyrs ask what Oberon will
do for them, asking, "Will he give us pretty
toys/ To beguile the girls withal?/ And to make
'em quickly fall?… And to spite the coy nymphs'
scorns,/ Hang upon our stubbéd horns/ Garlands,
ribbons, and fine posies--/ Fresh as when the flower
discloses?" and they make bawdy jokes, "Are
there any nymphs to woo?/ If there be, let me have
two."46
The
satyrs' dancing is similarly unrefined. They scamper
across the stage with wild abandon, expressing
through their movements a lack of restraint and
dignity. This dancing suits their characters for
two reasons. The first is that according to mythology,
the satyrs have a history of dancing for pleasure
in the woods either with nymphs, or with Pan and
his pipes. In the antimasque, they wonder if Oberon
will "Trap our shaggy thighs with bells/ That
as we do strike a time/ In our dance shall make
a chime/ Louder than the rattling pipes/ Of the
wood-gods, or the stripes/ Of the tabor when we
carry/ Bacchus up, his pomp to vary."47
Secondly, since their parts, as antimasque characters,
are rough and erratic, it makes sense that their
dancing would reflect values contrary to the general
court's.
After
the first antimasque, "the whole scene opened,
and within was discovered the frontispiece of a
bright and glorious palace, whose gates and walls
were transparent."48
The satyrs taunt and eventually wake two sleeping
palace guards with a song. They respond peevishly,
"Satyrs, leave your petulance,/ And go frisk
about and dance,/ Or else rail upon the moon;/
Your expectance is too soon."49
The sylvan guard, knowing like the audience that
satyrs commonly pass the time singing, frolicking,
and dancing, expects them to express themselves
through movement. The satyrs then do just that
following their lewd song to Lady Moon with, "an
antic dance full of gesture and swift motion."50
Like the witches in The Masque of Queens,
Jonson casts in the Oberon antimasques, characters
who are supposed to communicate and act through
movement, the same characters who communicate through
movement in Shakespeare's plays.
In
the latter case, there may be even more striking
similarities in the choreography of the satyr dance
in Oberon and that of The Winter's Tale.
The servant in The Winter's Tale comments
in the play that "One three of them, by their
own report, sir, hath danced before the king; and
not the worst of the three but jumps twelve foot
and a half by th' squier."51
As several of The King's Men danced in Oberon,
this could be "just the kind of theatrical
joke that would be written into the script for
the delectation of the actors themselves."52
Regardless, both the dance in the masque and the
dance in the play are dances for twelve satyrs
or men of hair, and both dances function as a disruptive,
discordant force in their respective entertainments.
Remembering
Renaissance dance's dark, medieval roots of dancing
in Europe gives credence to Brissenden's assertion
that the satyr dance provides "a strong contrast
to the sexual purity and innocence which are so
markedly stress by both Florizel and Perdita and
lend[s] weight to the suggestion that the satyrs'
dance in the play has emblematic value signifying
disorder."53
Satyrs "are always associated with disorder
and license, particularly sexual license. They
were disturbers of rural peace and symbols of unruled
passions."54
In one production, "The satyrs were equipped
with huge artificial phalluses with which they
performed an obscene dance."55
While the satyr dance can be physically impressive
and even amusing, the disruptive sexual associations
of satyrs in mythology darken the festive tone
of the sheep-shearing. In The Winter's Tale,
Shakespeare uses dancing to foreshadow Polixenes's
disturbance of a peaceful, pastoral world and turns
on their head, audience assumptions about dancing's
harmonic significance. By adapting movements described
in court masques and learning how to execute the
dances in Renaissance court manuals; directors,
choreographers, and performers can better convey
the social tensions and etiquette of revelry Shakespeare
employs dance to express.
