Živá hudba

Abstrakt:
The paper is entitled “Dance as a subject of the literary debate in Bohemia at the end of the 18th century. On the treatise Ueber Anstand, Schönheit und Grazie im Tanz.” It deals with the analysis of a text of Czech origin published in 1789. Its author, an educated Prague jurist Bernard Specht, reflected the dance culture of his time especially from the point of view of ethics, morals, ideas of equality of people and national character in the text. He provides the characteristics of the most popular dances such as minuet, Strassburger Tanz (Alle‑ mande), Deutscher Tanz (Walzer, waltz), Polonaise, Englischer Tanz (Anglais) and Cadrille, he explains the beneficial effects, harmful‑ ness and power of dance. Some chapters are also dedicated to commentaries about the dance literature and the origin of dance. The way of thinking showed by Specht is connected with the ideas of the Enlightenment and the Sturm und Drang movement. His authorities of these movements are among others J. J. Rousseau, G. E. Lessing, Ch. M. Wieland, M. Mendelssohn, J. G. Noverre and most importantly J. G. Sulzer and his encyclopaedia Allgemeine Theorie der schönen Künste. The paper points out Specht’s under‑ standing of dance as a natural part of the “raisonnement”, rational thinking of educated people and also his opinion that in dance many qualities such as national and moral character and personal spiritual qualities are mirrored. Specht puts special emphasis on the qualities of delight, joy and pleasure mediated through dancing in community. This idea of human right to pleasure belongs to sometimes neglected aspects of the Enlightenment utopia of new arrangement of human life.

Citace:
Dorota Gremlicová. Dance as the subject to literary debates in the Czech Lands at the end of the 18the centruy. To the treatise Ueber Anstand, Schönheit und Grazie im Tanz. Živá hudba 2014/5. On-line <https://ziva-hudba.info/dance-as-the-subject-to-literary-debates-in-the-czech-lands-at-the-end-of-the-18the-centruy-to-the-treatise-ueber-anstand-schonheit-und-grazie-im-tanz/> [18. 11. 2025].
Kopírovat Dorota Gremlicová. Dance as the subject to literary debates in the Czech Lands at the end of the 18the centruy. To the treatise Ueber Anstand, Schönheit und Grazie im Tanz. Živá hudba 2014/5. On-line <https://ziva-hudba.info/dance-as-the-subject-to-literary-debates-in-the-czech-lands-at-the-end-of-the-18the-centruy-to-the-treatise-ueber-anstand-schonheit-und-grazie-im-tanz/> [18. 11. 2025].