Ballets de cour
Encyclopedia
Ballets de cour is the name given to ballet
s performed in the 16th and 17th centuries at court. Jean-Baptiste Lully
is considered the most important composer of music for ballets de cour and was instrumental to the development of the form. During his employment by Louis XIV
as director of the Académie Royale de Music he worked with Pierre Beauchamp
, Molière
, Philippe Quinault
and Mademoiselle De Lafontaine
, (the first professional female dancer and Premiere danseuse of the Paris Opera Ballet
) to develop ballet as an art form equal to that of the accompanying music.
Beauchamp, superintendent of the ballet and director of the Académie Royale de Danse
codified the five positions based on the foundations set down by Thoinot Arbeau
in his 1588 Orchesographie. Emphasising the technical aspects of dance Beauchamp set out the first rules of ballet technique. The emphasis on turned out legs, light costumes, female dancers and long dance sequences (all first seen in L'Europe galante
(1697)) with light, flexible footwear was a turning point in ballet practice that lead to Pre romantic ballet era. Pierre Rameau
expanded on Beauchamp's work in Dancing master
1725 further detailing carriage of the body, steps and positions.
The ballets de cour developed into the comédie-ballet
and then the opéra-ballet
during the course of the 18th century. This was a fully operatic form that included ballet as a prominent feature of the performance. Jean-Philippe Rameau
's Les Indes galantes
(1735) is considered to be the work that signaled the divergence of social (ballroom) dance and ballet.
Ballet
Ballet is a type of performance dance, that originated in the Italian Renaissance courts of the 15th century, and which was further developed in France and Russia as a concert dance form. The early portions preceded the invention of the proscenium stage and were presented in large chambers with...
s performed in the 16th and 17th centuries at court. Jean-Baptiste Lully
Jean-Baptiste Lully
Jean-Baptiste de Lully was an Italian-born French composer who spent most of his life working in the court of Louis XIV of France. He is considered the chief master of the French Baroque style. Lully disavowed any Italian influence in French music of the period. He became a French subject in...
is considered the most important composer of music for ballets de cour and was instrumental to the development of the form. During his employment by Louis XIV
Louis XIV of France
Louis XIV , known as Louis the Great or the Sun King , was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and Navarre. His reign, from 1643 to his death in 1715, began at the age of four and lasted seventy-two years, three months, and eighteen days...
as director of the Académie Royale de Music he worked with Pierre Beauchamp
Pierre Beauchamp
Pierre Beauchamp was a French choreographer, dancer and composer, and the probable inventor of Beauchamp-Feuillet notation.-Biography:...
, Molière
Molière
Jean-Baptiste Poquelin, known by his stage name Molière, was a French playwright and actor who is considered to be one of the greatest masters of comedy in Western literature...
, Philippe Quinault
Philippe Quinault
Philippe Quinault , French dramatist and librettist, was born in Paris.- Biography :Quinault was educated by the liberality of François Tristan l'Hermite, the author of Marianne. Quinault's first play was produced at the Hôtel de Bourgogne in 1653, when he was only eighteen...
and Mademoiselle De Lafontaine
De Lafontaine
De Lafontaine was a French ballerina and the first professional female dancer, the premiere danseuse of the Paris Opéra. Together with Jean-Baptiste Lully and others, De Lafontaine contributed to the development of Opera ballet....
, (the first professional female dancer and Premiere danseuse of the Paris Opera Ballet
Paris Opera Ballet
The Paris Opera Ballet is the oldest national ballet company in the world, and many European and international ballet companies can trace their origins to it...
) to develop ballet as an art form equal to that of the accompanying music.
Beauchamp, superintendent of the ballet and director of the Académie Royale de Danse
Académie Royale de Danse
The Académie Royale de Danse, founded by letters patent on the initiative of King Louis XIV of France in March 1661, was the first dance institution established in the Western world...
codified the five positions based on the foundations set down by Thoinot Arbeau
Thoinot Arbeau
Thoinot Arbeau is the anagrammatic pen name of French cleric Jehan Tabourot . Tabourot is most famous for his Orchésographie, a study of late sixteenth-century French Renaissance social dance...
in his 1588 Orchesographie. Emphasising the technical aspects of dance Beauchamp set out the first rules of ballet technique. The emphasis on turned out legs, light costumes, female dancers and long dance sequences (all first seen in L'Europe galante
L'Europe galante
L'Europe galante is an opéra-ballet in a prologue and four entrées by André Campra, The French text was by Antoine Houdar de la Motte....
(1697)) with light, flexible footwear was a turning point in ballet practice that lead to Pre romantic ballet era. Pierre Rameau
Pierre Rameau
Pierre Rameau , was the French dancing master to Elisabetta Farnese, and the author of two books that now provide us with valuable information about Baroque dance....
expanded on Beauchamp's work in Dancing master
Dancing master
Dancing master may refer to:* The Dancing Master, a dance manual, first published by John Playford in 1651* Dancing master, an early term for a dance teacher, or perhaps a choreographer...
1725 further detailing carriage of the body, steps and positions.
The ballets de cour developed into the comédie-ballet
Comédie-ballet
Comédie-ballet is a genre of French drama which mixes a spoken play with interludes containing music and dance.-History:The first example of the genre is considered to be Les fâcheux, with words by Molière, performed in honour of Louis XIV at Vaux-le-Vicomte, the residence of Nicolas Fouquet, in...
and then the opéra-ballet
Opéra-ballet
Opéra-ballet was a popular genre of French Baroque opera, "that grew out of the ballets à entrées of the early seventeeth century". It differed from the more elevated tragédie en musique as practised by Jean-Baptiste Lully in several ways...
during the course of the 18th century. This was a fully operatic form that included ballet as a prominent feature of the performance. Jean-Philippe Rameau
Jean-Philippe Rameau
Jean-Philippe Rameau was one of the most important French composers and music theorists of the Baroque era. He replaced Jean-Baptiste Lully as the dominant composer of French opera and is also considered the leading French composer for the harpsichord of his time, alongside François...
's Les Indes galantes
Les Indes galantes
Les Indes galantes is an opéra-ballet consisting of a prologue and four entrées by Jean-Philippe Rameau with libretto by Louis Fuzelier...
(1735) is considered to be the work that signaled the divergence of social (ballroom) dance and ballet.
See also
- Ballet Comique de la ReineBallet Comique de la ReineThe Ballet Comique de la Reine was a court entertainment, now considered to be the first ballet de cour. It was staged in Paris, France, in 1581 for the court of Catherine de' Medici. It was produced and choreographed by Balthasar de Beaujoyeulx and danced by Queen Louise and the women of the court...
- Ballet timelineBallet timelineA timeline of the history of ballet:* 14th century**Medieval dance* 15th century* 16th century**Renaissance dance** Intermedio - Italian court spectaculars with dance** baletti**Ballet Comique de la Reine - sometimes called the "first ballet"* 17th century...
- Baroque danceBaroque danceBaroque dance is dance of the Baroque era , closely linked with Baroque music, theatre and opera.- English country dance :...
- History of balletHistory of balletBallet is a formalized form of dance with its origins in the Italian Renaissance courts of the 15th and 16th centuries. It quickly spread to the French court of Catherine de' Medici where it was developed even further...
- History of danceHistory of danceDance does not often leave behind clearly identifiable physical artifacts that last over millennia, such as stone tools, hunting implements or cave paintings...