author
Ercole Santucci Perugino
Little is known about this early 17th-century Italian dance master, but his surviving manual opens a vivid window onto how dance was taught and performed in Renaissance Italy. His work is valued today for its detailed, practical approach to steps, variations, and choreography.
1 Audiobook
Mastro da Ballo
by Ercole Santucci Perugino
About the author
Ercole Santucci Perugino is the author of Mastro da Ballo, a dance manual dated 1614. In the manuscript, he identifies himself as "Perugino," which points to Perugia, but beyond that, reliable biographical details about his life appear to be scarce.
What has survived is remarkably rich. Mastro da Ballo is divided into three treatises and was written as a practical guide that would help a student learn many kinds of dance. Modern descriptions of the work note that it includes step rules, deportment, gagliarda variations, and choreographies, making it an important source for the study of Italian dance.
Although Santucci remains a shadowy figure, his book has given him a lasting place in dance history. The survival and later circulation of Mastro da Ballo—including editions and a Project Gutenberg text—have helped keep his name alive for readers interested in performance, court culture, and everyday teaching in the early 1600s.