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The Masque, A Courtly Entertainment, Kenneth Bailey Blanks

Master's Theses

In tho Courts of the Tudors and the Stuarts flourished a form of entertainment known as the masque . This exclusive pastime was characterized by gorgeous costumes, ingenious sets, imaginative scenery, music, dialogue, and dancing. Dancing was the most important element. It is said that "from the beginning to the end of its history, the essence of the masque was the arrival of certain persons visored and disguised to dance a dance or present an offering," often in the form of a compliment to the monarch. Dancing established a close intimacy between the masquers -- the disguised performers in the …