Terpsichore

goddess of ballet and music

Roman statue of Terpsichore from Hadrian's Villa, nowadays at the Prado Museum (Madrid).

Terpsichore, Muse of Music and ballet, an oil on canvas painting by Jean-Marc Nattier (1739).

In Greek mythology, Terpsichore (/tərpˈsɪkəriː/; Τερψιχόρη) "delight in dancing" was one of the nine Muses, ruling over ballet and the dramatic chorus. She lends her name to the word "terpsichorean" which means "of or relating to dance". She is usually depicted sitting down, holding a lyre, accompanying the ballerinas' choirs with her music. Her name comes from the Greek words τέρπω ("delight") and χoρός ("dance").

Historical references

• Terpsichore figures among her sisters in Hesiod's Theogony.
• When The Histories of Herodotus were divided by later editors into nine books, each book was named after a Muse. Terpsichore was the name of the fifth book.

Modern references

• In the Fred Astaire/Ginger Rogers feature film Swing Time (1936), Lucky (Astaire), when asked by Mr. Gordon, why he wishes to learn to dance, answers: "To flirt with terpsichory". He then proceeds to take a dance lesson with Penny (Rogers), culminating in a paired tap routine.
• "Terpsichore" is the title of a large collection of dance tunes collected by Michael Praetorius, some originating with Pierre-Francisque Caroubel.
• In an episode called "Quick-Quick Slow Death" of the UK crime agent series The Avengers, a dance institute is called Terpsichorean Training Techniques Inc.
• The fifth season episode of Xena: Warrior Princess Lyre, Lyre, Hearts on Fire centers around a battle of the bands for Terpsichore's Lyre.
• Terpsichore is also found in François Couperin's "Second Ordre" from the Pièces de clavecin.
• Terpsichore is also found in the third version (HWV 8c) of Handel's opera Il pastor fido (1712). This opera is sometimes referred to as Terpsicore and Il pastor fido.
• The eighteenth century French dancer and courtesan Marie-Madeleine Guimard named the private theater in her private palace (1766) the Temple of Terpsichore.
• British 32-gun frigate HMS Terpsichore (1785) commanded by Captain Bowen participated in the Battle of Santa Cruz de Tenerife (1797).
• In the 1947 film Down To Earth Rita Hayworth plays Terpsichore, who is annoyed and visits Earth to change a musical that depicts her in a bad light.
• T.S. Eliot in the poem 'Jellicle Cats' from Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats (1939), refers to the 'terpsichorean powers' of Jellicle Cats as they dance by the light of the Jellicle Moon.
• In the film McLintock! Drago introduces an exhibition of new dance steps as Terpsichorean.
• Olivia Newton-John plays the muse Terpsichore as Kira in the 1980 film Xanadu.
• Terpsichore in Sneakers is the title of a 1980 study of postmodern dance by dance historian and critic Sally Banes.
• The Russian singer Origa sings a song, "Tersicore".
• The Terpsichorean Muse is referred to by John Cleese in the Cheese Shop sketch of Monty Python's Flying Circus.
• The Jimmy Van Heusen/Sammy Cahn song "Come Dance with Me" (popularized by Frank Sinatra) includes the lyric "what an evening for some Terpsichore." However it is sung as a three-syllable word with the "chore" component pronounced like "core" (to rhyme with "for") rather than "curry".
• Terpsichore is a technique used by the royal guard Neferpitou to "dance past one's limits" in the manga Hunter × Hunter.
• In the Les Luthiers' Unen canto con humor comedy show is referred in a sketch by Daniel Rabinovich and Marcos Mundstock, but Daniel improperly pronounces her name, calling her "Esther Píscore".
• On the album Istoria ~Musa~, J-Pop and World singer Shikata Akiko sings "Terpsichora," a dedication song to the goddess.
• Terpsichore is also the name of a street in New Orleans' historic neighborhoods of Faubourg Lafayette and the Lower Garden District. It runs alongside Euterpe and Melpomene streets, also named for Greek muses.
• Terpsichorean is also the name of the Choreography Society of Hansraj College, University of Delhi, India.
• Terpischore "Choral Dance" is the name of a chapter in Theresa Cha's Dictee.
• Reference "Oh Terpsichore" in Nuala ni Dhomhnaill's poem "Cathleen"

See also

• Muse
• Muses in popular culture

External links

• Media related to Terpsichore at Wikimedia Commons
• Facebook Page for Terpsichore
• Warburg Institute Iconographic Database (ca 40 images of Terpsichore)