Dancing Through Gardens

Question: What is the connection, and what are the similarities, between Renaissance gardens and dance?

It’s well known that politics, history, and religion have strongly influenced garden culture throughout the ages. Art, too, closely overlaps with garden design and there are important connections between art and gardens. However, when we talk about “art,” we usually limit ourselves to the sculptures and murals found throughout Renaissance gardens. In essence, we limit our analysis to the visual arts, never stopping to consider the connection between gardens and the performing arts. There is something inexplicable beautiful and graceful about gardens and performance, yet the connection between the two is, I believe, highly underdeveloped. In particular, there are many similarities between gardens and dance during the Renaissance times, and some garden features may have been drawn directly from changes and developments in choreography.

One section of garden at Villa L'Ambrogiana; note how this garden features several axes and geometric figures, similar to many Renaissance dance pieces

"Square Circles"

The pattern of both gardens and dance are surprisingly similar, and since many of the finest works of European Renaissance dance were being performed while the demand for gardens skyrocketed, it is possible that choreography had some influence in garden design. In particular, the renewed interest in geometric design may have been influenced by dance. Many of the newly designed pieces during the Renaissance time placed a specific influence on geometric movement and formations, which did not play a role in previous centuries. The new desire to have symmetry and central axes, seen in both gardens and dance, were part of this new interest in geometry. But looking beyond these simple features, more complex gardens, such as the gardens at Padua, was designed to have square gardens within concentric circles, with each bed further divided with plants and flowers of different colors or shapes. Square formations that descend into circles is a classical ballet combination, and many dance styles frequently use ornate costuming to provide color and visual interest; some dance pieces from this time, like Dolce Amoroso Foco, showed this type of choreography. Others, like the gardens at L’Ambrogiana (Florence), also have sections that closely mimic the formation used in this dance piece. Renaissance dance made several formations quite famous, such as the “square circle” which is seen reflected in gardens, such as the ones at Villa Petraia (Florence). If you stop to consider one small section of a formal garden, it is not hard to imagine dancers moving down the central axes and then moving gracefully outward in all directions, perhaps pirouetting around circular beds or moving down linear pathways to the ends of the stage.

            During both the 15^th and 16^th centuries, there were major changes in art throughout Europe, and this can easily be seen in both gardens and choreography. In principle, both share a unique desire to control. Renaissance gardens, especially formal gardens, were masterpieces of design, with carefully designed knot gardens and artistic water features that showed man’s supreme dominance over nature. Dance too is a way to control, to force the human body to assume dramatic poses and unnaturally graceful movement. Like formal Renaissance gardens, dance is a carefully designed pattern that is designed to show beauty and creativity, as well as a complete mastery over nature, in this case, the human body.

Villa d'Este from above

Both gardens and dance are designed to be viewed from above. Consider an Italian Renaissance garden like Villa d’Este, where the house is intentionally built above the garden, so one can look out above the entire garden, seeing the intricate pattern and design that makes the garden so beautiful. While the garden can certainly be appreciated from ground level, the pure magnificence of the entire production is seen from above. Similarly, most dance performances are meant to be seen from above (don’t buy those front row seats), so you can appreciate the pattern that the entire troupe forms as a whole. In Renaissance times, it was not unusual for a dance piece to be performed outside of the castle, with nobles and distinguished guests viewing the performance from the highest windows of the castle, or perhaps even from a raised garden or a mound garden.

Finally, perhaps the most obvious connection between these two forms of art is extravagance. Gardens were made with the express desire to show off immeasurable wealth, with huge terraces, beautiful statues, and ornate water features. Only the richest aristocracy during this time could commission dance pieces, usually ballets, which were performed during special occasions and holidays. Naturally, hiring and training an entire dance troupe is extremely expensive, but one that would impress guests and win over hearts. Both gardens and dance showed the splendor and magnificence of the time, and each is equally awe-inspiring, both in Renaissance times and in modern society.

Sources

http://rostik.1gb.ru/dance/Jennifer%20Nevile,%20Dance%20and%20the%20Garden%20Moving%20and%20Static%20Choreography%20in%20Renaissance%20Europe%20(1999).pdf 

http://www.jstor.org/stable/880087 (JSTOR subscription required)