Life
William Dance was the grandson of the architect George Dance (c.1694–1768). His father was the actor James Dance (1721–1774) and his mother may have been James' wife Elizabeth or the actress Mrs Love.
Dance studied the piano under Theodore Aylward the elder (1730 - 1801) and the violin under K. F. Baumgarten. He later studied with the renowned Felice Giardini.
Dance played violin in the orchestra at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane from 1771 to 1774 and in the King's Theatre orchestra 1775–1793.
He was lead violinist at the Haymarket Theatre during the summer seasons (1784–90) and at the Handel commemoration in Westminster Abbey in 1790. Dance was not regarded as a soloist on the violin, however William Thomas Parke praised his "great taste and execution" on the piano.
Around 1800 he gave up public performances and became a notable teacher of music in London.
In 1813 Dance proposed a meeting that led to the foundation of the Philharmonic Society. He became a director and the treasurer of the society until his death.
Around 1812 he noticed Michael Faraday, then a bright but unknown young assistant at a Southwark bookshop who was interested in self-improvement and science. Dance mentored him by providing tickets for him to attend lectures at the Royal Institution.
Read more about this topic: William Dance
Famous quotes containing the word life:
“We [actors] are indeed a strange lot! There are times we doubt that we have any emotions we can honestly call our own. I have approached every dynamic scene change in my life the same way. When I married Charlie MacArthur, I sat down and wondered how I could play the best wife that ever was.... My love for him was the truest thing in my life; but it was still important that I love him with proper effect, that I act loving him with great style, that I achieve the ultimate in wifedom.”
—Helen Hayes (1900–1993)
“That life protracted is protracted woe.”
—Samuel Johnson (1709–1784)
“Man will become immeasurably stronger, wiser, and subtler; his body will become more harmonious, his movements more rhythmic, his voice more musical. The forms of life will become dynamically dramatic. The average human type will rise to the heights of an Aristotle, a Goethe, or a Marx. And above these heights, new peaks will rise.”
—Leon Trotsky (1879–1940)