John Essex (born c.1680 - died 1744,

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

) was an English dancer,

choreographer Choreography is the art or practice of designing sequences of movements of physical bodies (or their depictions) in which motion or form or both are specified. ''Choreography'' may also refer to the design itself. A choreographer is one who cr ...

and author who promoted the recording of dance steps through notation as well as performing in London theatre. In 1728 he published his major work ''The Dancing-Master, or, The Art of Dancing Explained'', a translation of

Pierre Rameau Pierre Rameau (1674 – 26 January 1748), was the French dancing master to Elisabetta Farnese, and the author of two books that now provide us with valuable information about Baroque dance. Rameau's first book, ''Le Maître à Danser'' (1725, Par ...

's ''Le maître à danser'' (1725).

Life

He is first mentioned in record in 1702 as a dancer at

Drury Lane Theatre The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, commonly known as Drury Lane, is a West End theatre and Grade I listed building in Covent Garden, London, England. The building faces Catherine Street (earlier named Bridges or Brydges Street) and backs onto Drur ...

, performing serious and comic dances. In 1703 he left after a dispute with the manager, Christopher Rich. He set up as an independent dance teacher and teacher of music in Rood Lane (off Fenchurch Street) in the parish of

St Dionis Backchurch St Dionis Backchurch was a parish church in the Langbourn ward of the City of London. Of medieval origin, it was rebuilt after the Great Fire of London to the designs of Christopher Wren and demolished in 1878. Early history The church of St D ...

in the

City of London The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London fr ...

.BDA Vol 5 He became part of a group of dance teachers who sought to modernise and improve the teaching and recording of dancing. These included a Mr Isaac, Thomas Caverley, and John Weaver.Goff in ODNB Essex was involved in several publications in the early 1700s which brought to England and explained the dance notations of the French dance masters

Raoul Auger Feuillet Raoul Auger (or Anger) Feuillet (c.1660–1710) was a French dance notator, publisher and choreographer most well-known today for his ''Chorégraphie, ou l'art de décrire la danse'' (Paris, 1700) which described Beauchamp–Feuillet notation, ...

and

. Essex translated the introduction to Feuillet's ''Recueil de contredances'' (1706), and was the author of a treatise on the notation of country dances entitled, ''For the Further Improvement of Dancing'' (1710). In 1715 a second edition was printed containing 4 additional country dances to supplement the original 10 and "The Princess's Passpied", his only surviving ball dance.Goff in "The Art of Dancing..." p14. The Princess was

Caroline of Ansbach , father = John Frederick, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach , mother = Princess Eleonore Erdmuthe of Saxe-Eisenach , birth_date = , birth_place = Ansbach, Principality of Ansbach, Holy Roman Empire , death_date = , death_place = St James's Pala ...

, Princess of Wales at that time. A passpied uses Minuet steps but in 3/8 time. His most important book appeared in 1728 ''The Dancing-Master, or, The Art of Dancing Explained'', which was a translation with diagrams of Rameau's ''Le maître à danser'' (1725). This ran to a second edition in 1731 and a third about 1733 which included new illustrations by

George Bickham the Younger George Bickham the Younger (c. 1706–1771) was an English etcher and engraver, a printseller, and one of the first English caricaturists. He produced didactic publications, political caricatures, and pornographical prints. He was the son of the ...

. A fourth edition appeared in 1744, the year of his death. In 1721 he authored ''The Young Ladies Conduct, or, Rules for Education'', for its day an orthodox treatise on female education, apart from the emphasis it puts on the usefulness of dancing. In 1724 he returned to performance, appearing at Drury Lane and later at The Haymarket Theatre. With his wife Catherine (née Hawtayne) (d. 1721), he had six children of whom three died in infancy, all are recorded in the

parish register A parish register in an ecclesiastical parish is a handwritten volume, normally kept in the parish church in which certain details of religious ceremonies marking major events such as baptisms (together with the dates and names of the parents), ma ...

of St Dionis Backchurch.

Notes

References

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External links

HTML version of John Essex's dancing manual ''The Dancing-Master''
at baroquedance.info, Accessed December 2009
'For the Further Improvement of Dancing''
details at An American Ballroom Companion: Dance Instruction Manuals. Accessed December 2009 {{DEFAULTSORT:Essex, John Year of birth unknown 1744 deaths English male dancers Year of birth uncertain 18th-century British dancers 17th-century births