Dancing queen, Elizabeth I and Anna of Denmark: Dance, masques, and the queen's role (Samuel Daniel, Ben Jonson)

Elizabeth I, perhaps the most well known royal and Anna of Denmark, one of the most obscure would seem to have little in common but both are known as dancers. Indeed, for the entire period that is considered England's "golden age" of drama, the country contained a dancing queen. In England, the political uses of the masque and the inherently gendering nature of dance; the self-conscious construction of political role and the naturalized (unconscious) agency of gender, intersected in complex and pleasurably patterned ways when queens danced. In addition, such dancing offered an unironic performance of powerful women by women who were powerful. This pairing offers an interesting study of the differing ways dance was employed by queens regnant then consort. The story of Elizabeth and Anna's succession as Queen of England on the masquing stage also provides some intriguing insights into the transmission of masque artistry by the Ladies in Waiting of their courts. There is a distinct train of influence running from the dance personas of Elizabeth's maidenly "virgin" queens through to Anna's masquing matriarchs of "Good Fame."; Finally, dance was an important medium through which the players and courtiers interacted artistically. Elizabeth's highly active, creative interpretation of her role as chief audience for masques did much to foster the form's developing theatricality. Aside from the influences Queen Anna's patronage had on the work of Samuel Daniel and Ben Jonson, Shakespearean influences can be definitely traced in the spectacular theater of her masques, making her amongst his most important audience members for us. My project explores the role that these two women played in the development of the masque in England and the influences between royal productions and some contemporaneous works.