Although Elizabethan masques were generally occasions of delightful spectacular theatre and sociable dancing, the season of Shrovetide 1560 included one based on the death of Actaeon and another mysteriously identified as the masque of Nusquams. Drawing on the surviving sources for the two masques, this paper will outline a proposed reconstruction of each masque, leading to an understanding of the motivation for presenting such disturbing themes.
A leading issue of 1560 was the question of marriage for Elizabeth I, with a number of highly qualified, highly born and persistent suitors pressing their claims in person and by proxy. Among them was the King-Elect of Sweden, whose suit was particularly prominent at that time. Discussion of the masques of 1560 enables better understanding of nuptial diplomacy, the gender issues of the day, complicated by being a queen. Although a firm and unequivocal message was conveyed in these masques, really quite offensive to the chief recipient, nevertheless a further attempt was made to woo the queen. This time, the proxy was a woman, a more agreeable intermediary to the queen. Although unsuccessful, this Swedish emissary enjoyed Elizabeth’s favour, her visit memorialized in a dance.
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Anne Daye pursues documentary research and practical reconstruction of dances and dancing of the past, with specialist study of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Her doctoral thesis examined the antimasque of the Stuart masque, exploring its development as a political and artistic concept, alongside the emergence of the professional dancer in England. Post-doctoral research is centred on the dance theatre of the Jacobean court.
Recent publications include: ‘The Revellers Are Entering: Shakespeare and Masquing Practice in Tudor and Stuart England’ in The Oxford Handbook of Shakespeare and Dance (OUP 2019); ‘Dancing at Court: ‘the art that all Arts doe approve’ in Performances at Court in the Age of Shakespeare (Cambridge 2019); ‘Terpsichore and diplomacy in early modern Europe’ in Women’s History Review vol 30/5, 2021; ‘Morris dancers from Germany’ in The Museum of Renaissance Music (Brepols 2022); ‘Measure: moving in and out of time’ in Tanz und Musik (Basel 2024).