Timeline: his stay in Italy
- December • set out for Italy to join his brother Nathaniel in Florence
- April • met Robert Mylne (on his return) in Florence. Headed out for Rome.
- May • Arrived in Rome, where he lived at no. 77, Strada Felice until 1763
- October • First mention of his teacher, Nicolò Giansimone
- November • Joined Piranesi to climb the scaffolding on Temple of Jupiter
- October • met Thomas Pitt, later Lord Camelford, for whom he drew the Galleria Colonna
- Spring • went to Porto Antio, where he met the elderly Cardinal Corsini and his two nephews, Cardinal Corsini and Prince Corsini, Grand Prior of Malta
- Autumn • went to Tivoli, to draw the temple of Vesta
- April • sent a winning design for a public gallery to Parma
- June • went to Naples
- Autumn • elected member of the Academy of St. Luke and the Arcadian College
- February • departed for England
Dance was apprenticed in his father’s office from 1756 onwards. Here, he learned the practical skills concerning the building craft, and within two years he set out on his Grand Tour to Italy, where he stayed until the spring of 1765. Dance found himself in the relatively luxury position that his father was able to finance the tour, although he still repeatedly had to call onto him for extra financial support. This undoubtedly also set a moral obligation towards his father to spend his time and his father’s money well.
Competitions
Gallery design made by Dance for the Accademia di Parma
Dance did not only spend his time on copying the past, though. He invested an important part of his study in Italy in competing with other students through the many competitions or concorsi organized by the Academies of Rome. The competitions allowed the students to express their own ideas about architecture, and prize-winners were greatly lauded in Britain. The competitions provided a good opportunity for the students to show their design skills, and it is this inclination that partly explains the megalomaniacal scale of most of the projects. Moreover, the designs could trigger the interest of patrons.