Isaac [Isaack], Mr [Francis? ]

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[Francis? ]

(fl London, 1673–1718; d ?January 1721). English dancing-master and choreographer. Little is known about his life; he may have been related to an earlier dancing-master in Paris, also named Isaac, he was one of a large group of recusant dancing-masters active in London from the 1670s onwards, and he was also closely related to a family of dancing-masters named Thorpe. In 1673 Mr Isaac danced as a Venetian and a Spaniard in a masquerade for the Duke of Monmouth, and in 1675 he danced in John Crowne and Nicholas Staggins's masque Calisto in Whitehall, London, and subsequently retained his connections with the English royal court. He was much sought after as a dancing-master (his pupils included the princesses Mary and Anne) and was respected by fellow dancing-masters as a mentor and patron. 22 of his dances survive in Beauchamp-Feuillet notation: 19 were published from 1706 onwards and reissued, with music by James Paisible, to celebrate Queen Anne's birthdays; one was published by Edmund Pemberton in ...