One of the lasting clichés about Debussy’s music is that it exemplifies a newly ‘static’ approach to musical time. However understandable this trope might seem in light of the post-tonal syntax and gamelan-inspired textures found in many of his major works, it overlooks his consistent, inventive engagement with quite opposite tendencies, notably the energetic, propulsive, and infectious rhythms of the dance. In this chapter, I offer a diagnostic overview and survey of dance tropes as they are deployed from Debussy’s earliest works (e.g. Danse bohémienne, 1880) to his last (Sonate pour violon et piano, 1917).

I propose a preliminary categorisation of Debussy’s oeuvre according to dance type. Such a broad survey can shed new light on the subtle evolutions within his lifelong exploration metrically hybrid dances. I illustrate how Debussy deployed a whole panoply of rhythmic characters to impart energy to an art he once defined as ‘de temps et de couleurs rythmés’.