Leach Glover, ‘Dancing Master to the Royal Family’, Part Two: Teachers of Dancing

Abstract

In 1738, Leach Glover (1697–1763) was appointed as a dancing master to Britain’s royal family. He had been a leading dancer in John Rich’s company for some twenty years, first at Lincoln’s Inn Fields and then at Covent Garden, and would retire from the stage in 1741. This article focusses on Glover’s work as a teacher of dancing, beginning with his training by the French dancer and member of the Paris Académie Royal de Danse Romain Dumirail, and revealing Glover’s later close relationship with him. The article investigates the role of a royal dancing master and discusses the context for Glover’s own appointment. As part of his duties, Glover created the ballroom dance The Princess of Hesse for the marriage of Princess Mary in 1740. The dance was published in notation and is analysed here as a late example of a surviving choreography to celebrate a royal occasion. Glover’s later life and his family connections are also considered for what they can tell us about his status within the society of his time.