John Weaver (baptised 21 July 1673 – 24 September 1760) was an English dancer, dancing master and choreographer, and producer of a number of works on dancing. He is often regarded as the father of English ballet and of English pantomime. Early life Weaver was born in Shrewsbury where he was baptised on 21 July 1673 at the parish church of Holy Cross ie Shrewsbury Abbey Church, son of John Weaver, a dance teacher. He was educated at the local Free School. His father suggested he go to London and become a ballet master. Weaver seems to have left Shrewsbury in 1696 or 1697, although his first recorded performance in London was not until the summer of 1700. Weaver soon became a specialist in comic roles and created the burlesque Tavern Bilkers (1702). By the early 1700s, Weaver was part of a circle of dancing masters who were eager to promote the new French system of dance notation. Weaver translated Feuillet’s Choregraphie (Paris, 1700) into English as Orchesography (London, 1706), to make the treatise more widely accessible. He also notated a collection of six ball dances by Queen Anne’s dancing master Mr Isaac and in 1707 added The Union, created to celebrate not only the Queen's birthday but also the Act of Union between England and Scotland. He must have met Hester Santlow around this time, for she performed The Union before the Queen with the French dancer Desbarques. Weaver left London and returned to Shrewsbury in late 1707 or early 1708. In Shrewsbury, Weaver embarked on a book of his own. In An Essay towards an History of Dancing, published in London in 1712, he admiringly recounts the achievements of the dancers – the mimes and pantomimes – of classical antiquity. He also appraises the stage dancing of his own time, setting down his ideas for its reform. Weaver wanted dancing to have the status of an art so that it could be a worthy rival to drama. He would realise this ambition only when he returned to London in 1717 and created The Loves of Mars and Venus. The Loves of Mars and Venus The Loves of Mars and Venus was first performed at Drury Lane theatre on 2 March 1717. It dealt with themes from classical literature and required a significant number of gestures due to the story not being expressed in any spoken form. Because Weaver