Shakespeare's plays are to be seen all over the world in any major
repertory company. While much has been written on every aspect of the
staging of his plays by Shakespearean scholars, actors and directors,
the dancing has over time become less and less important almost to the
point of obsolescence. While this trend is certainly not acceptable to
me (and probably would not be to Mr. Shakespeare either were he alive
today), directors when asked about the reason for there being no dance
in the play lamely point to a lack of clear guidance from Shakespeare in
his scripts as well as to rehearsal time constraints to teach the
required period dances. My thesis will endeavor to show that a lack of
dance in Shakespeare's plays is not only historically incorrect but also
robs the modern day audience of the full spectacle of the occasion that
defined that historical period. There are many resources available to
directors should they be willing to commit to a wholly accurate reading
of the play because a Shakespearean drama without the dance is, to my
mind, hardly Shakespeare at all.