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This volume presents the first reproduction and transcription of the manuscript treatise Kurtzer Entwurff von der Zuläßigkeit des sowol natürlichen als künstlichen Tantz-Exercitii by Gottfried Taubert. Completely unknown until its discovery by Tatiana Shabalina, the manuscript is the only surviving autograph by the renowned dancing master from his Zerbst period. Written with numerous corrections, additions, and detailed specifications, it offers invaluable insight into Taubert’s views on the origins of dance, as well as his philosophical, theological, ethical, and aesthetic reflections on the art and purpose of dance. Through polemics against the “enemies of dance,” Taubert defends the permissibility of dancing and argues for its essential role in human life. Like his 1727 printed manual—published in the previous volume of the tanz | dokumente series—this manuscript is a significant contribution to the body of 18th-century European dance literature.
