Abstract: The most striking scenes of dancing portrayed in Dante's Commedia feature either female protagonists or male characters likened to women in a simile. From the dance of the theological virtues in the earthly paradise to the dance of the theologians in the Heaven of the Sun, as well as the dance of saints Peter, John and James, Dante uses feminine figures as a paragon of choreographic grace, challenging the long-standing tradition that forbade female dancing. This essay proposes to frame the representational boldness of such scenes within the tra...
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