Why Does Polly Dance? Caste and the Function of Dance in the Victorian Theatre

Abstract

What is the effect of the dance scene in Tom Robertson's play Caste? Little emphasis has been placed on the contribution of dance to Victorian theatre practice. Yet dance was ubiquitous, featuring prominently in such genres as melodrama and extravaganza, and providing the source material for burlesque. Dance was employed as a component of the mise-en-scène, as a marker of transformation, and to express what could not otherwise be expressed in a censored theatrical environment. In Caste these functions serve to provide a counterweight to, and enable a critique of, the play's prevailing naturalism.