Grotesque dance

In 16th and 17th centuries grotesque dances were often presented as an anti-masque, performed between the acts of more serious courtly entertainments.

Likewise, the 17th century entrée de ballet (a series of loosely connected tableaux rather than a continuous dramatic narrative) sometimes contained grotesque sequences, most notably those devised by the Duke of Nemours for the court of Louis XIII.

Some of the grotesque performers were physically deformed, but the Italian tradition of ballo grottesco, typified by the dancer and choreographer Gennaro Magri whose career was at its apex in the 1760s, involved a high degree of virtuosity and athleticism.

Dancers who excelled in the grotesque genre besides Magri included Margrethe Schall and John D'Auban.

One interesting such airborne step, salto dell'impiccato (translated as: hangman's jump) requires great elevation in order to create contrast between the trunk and the falling arms, and then a one-foot landing with the second leg detached into the air as much as possible.