Cesare Negri (1536-1604), Italian dance master, published the dance manual Le Gratie d'Amore in 1602. It is the most comprehensive and varied primary source on social dancing in Italy in the second half of the sixteenth century.



Cesare Negri served the Spanish governor of Milan until 1599. His clients included the crème de la crème of the Italian aristocracy, as the members of the Visconti, Medici, Gonzaga and d'Este families.



Between 1555 and 1600 he was active as performer or choreographer at official functions: at festivities for princes or important dignitaries; for example for Admiral Andrea Doria during and after his triumph against the Turks in 1560 or Queen Margarete of Spain, who visited Milan in 1598. He accompanied Milanese nobles on official journeys and danced for them on Malta, in Genua, Naples, Florence, Mantua and Saragossa.