Geometric, or Horizontal dances were usually reserved for the final or grand ballet of the court spectacle. Spectators sat in galleries or tiered seats on three sides of the room, surrounding the dance floor, and viewed the dances from above. Geometric dances emphasized the number of dancers and the elaborate patterns traced on the dancing floor, as much as the gestures and shapes of the individuals' performing (Foster,p.107).
The choreographic elements of the geometric dances were called "figures". Renaissance writers have used the term figure to describe both the static formations and mobile sequences of a particular choreographic pattern (Marko,1993,p.15).
The most extensive description of a sixteenth century geometric dance is found in the libretto to the Balet des Polonais , written in Latin verse by Jean Dorat, and printed in Magnificentissimi spectaculi in 1573 (21).
In the libretto to Le Balet Comique de la Reine, Beaujoyeulx is praised by Billard for reviving the ancient Greek art of dance, "you who first bring back from the ashes of Greece the plan and accomplishments of the ballet..." (MacClintock,p.30). In actuality, the choreography used in Le Balet Comique de la Reine and in other Renaissance spectacles was not modeled after ancient Greek dances, of which very little is known. Dance is an ephemeral art form. Without notation, or explicit written or pictorial documentation we can only speculate as to the characteristics and performance of ancient Greek dances. Renaissance humanists, therefore, could not be expected to imitate an art form for which there was no extant evidence.
The basic choreographic material for the geometric dances was borrowed from the Renaissance courtly social dances such as the branle, the gailliard, the basse dance, the courante, the gavotte, the pavane, and the allemande. The choreographer's creativity lay in his ability to construct diverse and interesting spatial arrangements for each of the ballet entrées that were not only visually spectacular, but symbolic as well.
It was common practice for Renaissance painters and poets to represent, my means of symbolism, certain moral, philosophical and spiritual truths in their work. Their artistic inventions were frequently informed by compendiums of mythological and iconographic learning, such as Natale Conti's Mythologiae, Cesare Ripa's Iconologia, and Pierio Valeriano's Hieroglyphica..
In a similar vein, sixteenth century choreographers, inspired by strong humanist ideals, used choreographic "figures" to instill the ballet entrées with a depth of meaning. Every component of these dances - the choreographic patterns and tableaux vivant, the meter, stresses and instrumentation of the music, the number of performers, the design and color of the performers' costumes, and the iconographical attributes worn or held by the dancers, was potentially pregnant with a hermetic symbolism.
With this in mind, it seems highly probable that Renaissance court spectators, educated in classical mythology, Aristotelian science and Platonic theories on cosmology, would have taken great delight in trying to decipher the layers of meaning underlying the intricate interlacing patterns and geometric shapes being described by the dancers.
It was thought that the geometric designs of the dancer's paths through space directly corresponded to the diverse movements of the stars and planets in the heavens. The ordered and harmonious actions of the dancers were understood to be an imitation of the cosmic dance of the universe. By reenacting this cosmic dance, the performers were recreating, on earth, a microcosm of the order, reason and harmony of the heavens.
The dances were thought to have a moral and edifying impact on both the viewers and participants. If the dances were well formed, well proportioned and perfectly executed they could exert a powerful restorative effect on the body politique. These attitudes toward dance are repeatedly voiced in Renaissance dancing manuals, as well as, humanist discourses on education and the arts.
In some cases, the choreographed patterns and dancing bodies were read by the audience as text on a page. A lovely example of this is preserved in a description of Le Ballet de Monsieur de Vandosme . In this ballet, symbolic messages were encoded in the geometric shapes of the court ballets. These could be read as spontaneous hieroglyphs that continually formed and dissolved as the dancers moved out of one spatial arrangement and into another. Members of the audience were able to derive the meaning of the shapes by reading a libretto, passed out prior to the performance (Ibid,p.18).
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