The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2001-07.
Dance, George
the elder, 1695–1768, English architect. Among his public buildings in London, the most important is the Mansion House (1739–52), an example of the neo-Palladian style. He built the churches of St. Botolph, Aldgate, and St. Leonard, Shoreditch. His son, George Dance, the younger, 1741–1825, also an architect, studied in Italy. In 1768 he became one of the four original members of the Royal Academy. He was a powerful and inventive designer, as evidenced in his renowned Newgate Prison (1770–78). Among his many other London works were designs for Finsbury Square and for Alfred Place and Crescent. Sir John Soane was his pupil.
