Places Handel's creative decisions in the wider context of European dance traditions and dance on the London stage, frequently referring to contemporary documents. Answers questions such as how the dissemination of French dances through choreographies or through chamber music might have been reflected in the dance types Handel used in his operas, hence addressing how far the types of dances he employed related to public taste.

• Introduction: Genres of Opera, Styles of DanceHandel's Operas of the 1710sThe Royal Academy OperasHandel and the London Theater, 1729-35Theatrical Dance and Opera in London, 1735-55The French ConnectionPastoral versus Heroic: Handel's Operas with DanceEpilogue: Opera Dance in a Changing MarketplaceAppendix 1: A Study of Handel's Compositional ProcessAppendix 2: Theater and Dance Chronology

Places Handel's creative decisions in the wider context of European dance traditions and dance on the London stage, frequently referring to contemporary documents. Answers questions such as how the dissemination of French dances through choreographies or through chamber music might have been reflected in the dance types Handel used in his operas, hence addressing how far the types of dances he employed related to public taste.

• Introduction: Genres of Opera, Styles of DanceHandel's Operas of the 1710sThe Royal Academy OperasHandel and the London Theater, 1729-35Theatrical Dance and Opera in London, 1735-55The French ConnectionPastoral versus Heroic: Handel's Operas with DanceEpilogue: Opera Dance in a Changing MarketplaceAppendix 1: A Study of Handel's Compositional ProcessAppendix 2: Theater and Dance Chronology