Uno sguardo alle partiture coreiche di August Bournonville

Abstract

Starting with a brief overview of the choreographic and theatrical heritage of Danish artist August Bournonville (1805-1879), the article deals with approaches to the reconstruction on paper of Bournonville's choreographies published to date and introduces a historical and analytical research methodology in the field of dance philology. Important insights come from Knud Arne Jürgensen's proposal to collate several choreographic scores, where they exist, by Bournonville and his students. Through the analysis of two mimic and choreographic notations relating to the ballet The Sleepwalker (1829), staged by Bournonville in Copenhagen after dancing it in Paris, the methodology, sources and tools useful for the development of a dance critical edition are presented.