Tumbling images: Carlo Antonio Delpini at work

Journal article

One of the more colourful performers on the 18th-century London stage was the Rome-born Italian dancer, singer, actor, and choreographer, Carlo Antonio Delpini (d. 1828). He is recorded in London from about 1774; he was engaged by Garrick for Drury Lane, then at Covent Garden, and the Haymarket the playing in pantomimes such as Robinson Crusoe, Don Juan, and The Deserter of Naples. He was difficult and quarrelsome, features which only added to his formidable reputation.

But Delpini’s career also shows the difficulties performers had when they experienced physical reverses. While playing in the serious ballet pantomime spectacular, The Death of Captain Cook, in 1789, he was seriously hurt, and was unable to play with his previous gusto. He remained in the theatre, eking out a living as a manager and promoter. Successes such as La Fiera di Venezia, a grand masquerade at the Pantheon and the patronage of George IV, were balanced with financial disasters and crankiness, so that he descended into poverty and left his widow in a state of destitution.

This paper will focus on a small number of images which represented the dancer in his prime, and contributed to his celebrity.

Authors: Burden, M

• Publication status: Not published
• Peer review status: Not peer reviewed
• Edition: Author's Original
• Language: English
• Keywords: Delpini; portraiture; images; clown
• Subjects: Dramatic arts; Dance music; 18th Century music