George Dance the Younger
b. London, 1741;
d. London, 1825.

English Neo-Classical architect, Dance absorbed the rudiments of architecture from his father, George Dance the Elder, who was Clerk of Works in the City of London. He studied in Rome and imbibed the principles of European Neo-Classicism. On returning to London he became his father’s assistant and shortly after won a competition for the rebuilding of All Hallows Church, where his innovative and radical simplifying of the classical orders shocked contemporary critics. He became Clerk of Works on the death of his father (1768). In one of his first development projects, for a site near the Minories, Dance was responsible for introducing to London the crescent and circus - urban forms which John Wood had adapted from Roman amphitheatres and applied in Bath. Dance’s most famous building was probably Newgate Gaol, which was widely imitated in England. However, because of the demanding nature of his position (from which he retired in 1815) Dance had little time for work outside the city and there is little evidence for any wider international impact of his work. His most important influence was undoubtedly on Soane, who was his pupil for two years and who later acquired all his architectural drawings.

List of major buildings / works
All Hallows Church, London, 1765-7.
Crescent, Circle and Square, Minories, London, 1767-8.
Newgate Gaol, London, 1768-85.
Giltspur Street Compter, London, 1787-9.
Guildhall, London (façade), 1788-9.
St Bartholomew-the-Less, London, 1789.
Alterations to Mansion House, London, 1795.

Bibliography
D. Stroud, George Dance, Architect: 1741.182S, London, 1971.