"The Styles of Eighteenth-Century Ballet explodes this false view of ballet history, showing that there were in fact a variety of different styles of dance cultivated in this era - from the simple to the remarkably difficult, from the dignified earthbound to the spirited airborne, from the gravely serious to the grotesquely ridiculous." "This is an exploration of the various styles of eighteenth-century dance, including ballroom and ballet; the four traditional styles of theatrical dance; regional preferences for given styles; dance according to gender; the overall voluptuous nature of stage dancing; and finally, dance notation and costume. Fairfax takes the reader on an in-depth journey through the world of ballet from the age of Mozart, Boucher, and Casanova."--BOOK JACKET.