2.4: Refinement in France (1700s)

King Louis XIV (1638-1715)

Known as the Sun King, Louis XIV is a force for change in France and across Europe, using ballet as one of his means of consolidating power. A believer in rule by divine right, Louis knows his place as monarch to be ensured by God. His rule is tyrannical and absolute. Art imitating life: Louis performs in a number of ballets as the starring figure… no doubt mirroring his real life as king with everyone revolving around the monarch.

Power Through Ballet

Adopting his great-grandmother Catherine de’ Medici’s affection for ballet, Louis establishes the first system of codification and dancing school; and ushers in professional ballet for public audiences. Developing and using ballet as a tool also runs in the family. King Louis XIV wields ballet as a means of restructuring his royal court, the performers’ guild within his court, and in a huge power-move disseminating French culture across Europe.

There is power in ballet. In a move to harness ballet’s influential reach, Louis XIV sets to work on building ballet’s infrastructure. First up, transmitting ballet across Europe. This is not a new idea, eighty years previously Beaujoyeux’s Ballet Comique de la Reine is such a success that Beaujoyeax publishes the ballet’s libretto, description, notes on choreography, and copies of the music. This instruction manual is sent to every court across Europe; in no time recreations span the continent and the manual becomes the basis of ballet de cour (Cass, 1993). In this new endeavor, however, Louis XIV knows a codified technique needs to be formed as well as a means to notate said technique for dispatch. With this new codified manuscript in hand, dance masters across Europe are now able to educate courtiers in practices and protocols in Louis XIV’s court. Pierre Beauchamp, the king’s dance master, wins the distinction of both notating and codifying ballet. See Beauchamp entry below.

In 1661 Louis inaugurates the Royal Academy of Dance. The establishing of visual and performing art academies are prevelent during this time. With dance studies suplemental to fencing schools and considered a complementary soldierly art, the king inserts himself as gatekeeper to the newly formed academies, admitting students as king’s privilege. Dance and code of conduct at court are intrinsically linked, with Renaissance era dance manuals teeming with instruction on bearing and manner (Homans 2010). And now Louis controls who has access to newly formed Royal Academy of Dance, meaning he controls who ascends within his court and who falls by the wayside. Louis’ powerplay works. Not everyone is pleased with king’s new world order.

Deep Dive #1: Etiquette at Louis' Court

Joan Cass describes the level of detail and instruction permeating life at this time:

Etiquette for every situation was strictly prescribes. The French language was codified. Words and expressions considered proper were listed in a dictionary that took fifty-six years to prepare. The board of academy of painting and sculpture decided how these arts should be taught and applied; which artists were worthy of receiving commissions and prizes; and even whose work would be exhibited... Incidentally, while artists usually hate to be told what to do, and work badly when they are, at this time the authoritarian supervision was quite successful. Beautiful, expressive, interesting works were produced in all fields. (1993, p. 77-78)

The guild of Confrérie de Saint-Julien des Ménestries repersenting dancers, musicians, jugglers, and acrobats are none too thrilled with king’s new academy system. Besides being a royal pasttime, dance (amongst other courtly entertainments) is a deep-seated vocation with the guild granting credentials necessary for employment at court. This all changes when the king renders the guild powerless. The second concern of the guild: the separation of dance and music. Dance masters are musicians in their own right and assert dance is a visual representaion of music. Those agreeing with the king purport dance has outgrown music, with music surving in an accompaniment role (Homans, 2010). As previously mentioned, access to the Royal Academy of Dance affords upward mobility within the court. A lack of training can end your time at court (there are anicdotal recounts of courtiers’ dancing faux pas in front of Louis XIV causing their dismissal from court). Many are displeased with the promotion of elite dance masters to courtier status. While acceptable to be under the tutelage of dance masters and dance along side guild members, it is something else entirely to have people of inferior birth with noble attribues outrank the nobility.

All of Louis’ internal restructuring in France consolidates his power– setting him up to be a European leader. These academies are used to “centralize French culture under royal authority… and replace the old Latin-based humanist civilization of Europe with French language, art, architecture, music and dance- to extend French influence in artistic and intellectual matters as well as military affairs” (Homans, 2010, p. 18). Through Louis’ push for power we see ballet pulled along for the ride. Ballet now has a codified set of rules, a school to disseminate technique, and a means of notation. In the years following Louis XIV’s death ballet reaffirms its partnership with music and takes its place on the theatrical stage.

• 1653 French King Louis XIV, known as the Sun King. Seen left at age 15 performing the role of Apollo in Le Ballet de la Nuit (The Ballet of the Night).
• 1661 The Royal Academy of Dancing is founded by Louis XIV with Pierre Beauchamp as lead instructor.
• 1670s Louis XIV demands the Notation (seen right) of two courtly art forms: fencing and dancing. Written notes are now sent abroad disseminating French culture.
• 1681 Mademoiselle de la Fontaine- first woman to perform ballet professionally.

Figure 2.7 Depiction of Louis XIV, nicknamed the Sun King (https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Louis_XIV_en_soleil_(ballet_de_la_nuit).jpeg&oldid=711338888.)

Figure 2.8 Feuillet’s Notation (https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Feuillet_1700.jpg&oldid=762497659.)

Pierre Beauchamp (1631-1705)

A musician, dancer, choreographer, and dance master Pierre Beauchamp’s most enduring contribution to ballet is the codification of the artform– most notably the five classical foot positions of ballet. 1661 sees Beauchamp named dancing master of King Louis XIV’s court and in 1671 is appointed head of the newly formed L’Académie Royale de Danse. Though his writings on dance are lost to time, Beauchamp establishes the rules which form the basis of technical mastery (Mara, 1987).

Deep Dive #2:The Kinship Between Music and Dance

Before Louis XIV established the Royal Academy of Dance, connectivity between music and dance during the Renaissance is reflected in the role of dancing master. Homans describes dance masters as having "long been trained as violinists, expected to accompany themselves and in many cases to compose airs, and their art had been taken to be a branch of music" (2010, p. 17).

Women Dancing, Part I

With Louis on the throne, dancing and ballet are distinctly masculine. That being said, the Renaissance sees women dancing within the prescribed realms of social balls and the queen’s ballets. Cass (1993) provides further insights as women “occasionally… agreed to appear in a production, but they would be in scenes with all women, or at least they would pretend to conceal their identity behind a mask” (p.81). Women in this time display a mastery of technique and their ability as dancers garner attention (Homans, 2010). Dances under the umbrella of la belle danse (the French noble style) incorporate steps adorned with exacting technical prowess and elegance. Acrobatic jumps and turns are absent from this noble style.

The Royal Academy of Music (what we now know as the Paris Opéra) founded in 1669 acts as an extension of Louis’ court, a royally approved venue for spectacles and ballets presented away from court. Early on, ballets performed at Versailles are restaged at the Paris Opéra with courtiers reprising their roles. This practice of courtiers and profession dancers performing on stage together quickly becomes a thing of the past. The restaged performances of Le Triomphe de l’Amour (1681) sees Mademoiselle de La Fontaine as the first professional female dancer. Oddly enough, there is very little fanfare for the addition of female dancers. With courtiers limiting their performances to the courts, women are admitted to fill the vacant roles in what Jennifer Homans calls a “promotion by demotion” (2010, p. 40).

Figure 2.9 Mademoiselle de La Fontaine in Le Triumphe de l’Amour

Deep Dive #3: Notable Names of the Renaissance

Check out other major players Jean-Baptiste Lully, Feuillet, and Molière to delve into the intrinsic link between music and ballet.

Takeaways:

• Ballet grows out of etiquette from the courts.
• Louis XIV cultivates ballet to be an extension of his court/power.
• Codification and founding of the Paris Opera Ballet moves ballet out of the courts.

Can you think of another artform originating with one group of people which goes on to evolve and flourish with another group of people?

Teaching Exercise

Come up with a theme for a ballet to be performed at Louis' court. Plan a meal, pick a song, design costuming, a poem, and any other components you'd like to use to highlight your theme.

Professional Ballet in a Theatrical Setting: Louis XIV Through the French Revolution

The Renaissance era’s lookback at ancient Greece and Rome brings about the readmittance of theatrical stages. “…During the Middle Ages [theatres] disappeared. Churches became the theatres for morality plays that presented scenes from the Bible” (Cass, 1993, p. 79). These practices are carried through to today with Christmas and Easter pagents. Without this resurgence in classical studies and corresponding cultural practices who knows where ballet and other performative/theatrical arts would have ended up.

While many of Louis XIV’s efforts lead to ballet’s transition to the theatrical stage (codification, the Royal Academy of Dance, and the Paris Opéra), it takes the tiny microcosms of right people, right place, and right time to propel ballet onto the stage. To gain the favor of French audiences, operatic presentations stitch ballet divertissments into the performances. At the same time Jean-Baptiste Molière, Jean-Baptiste Lully, and Pierre Beauchamp’s camédie-ballet are:

…a succinct and tightly crafted satirical genre that mixed drama and music with ballets “sewn” (as Molière put it) into the plot. The dances were never gratuitous divertissements but grew instead out of the plot–they were part of the action. (Homans, 2010, p. 35)

The camédie-ballet begins as a component of ballet de cour, overtime the court ballet is completely usurped by this newly streamlined ballet with a plot. A practical side bonus of this new format: weaving of music, story, and dance allows for costume changes and set up of theatrical components (Homans, 2010). The next leap closer to modern-day ballet is taken by the French ballet master Jean-Georges Noverre (1727-1810). Ballet d’action, with its inclusion of naturalistic pantomime; and stripping away of courtly manners and dress brings ballet to the fore as a standalone artform.

Definition: Divertissments

Akin to character/folk dances, divertissments are dances that are enjoyable to watch but don't always further the plot.

Jean-Georges Noverre (1727-1810)

Composing eighty ballets and twenty-four opéra-ballets, ballet master, and author of Lettres sur la danse et sur les ballets Noverre is a self-appointed evaluator of dancing. Similar to the paring down of sets and costumes to be seen in the Neoclassical era of ballet, Noverre takes a bold stance of moving away from satisfying the superfluous whims of the aristocracy and move toward exploring misfortune and quagmires (Homans, 2010, p.73). Though unable to untangle himself from ballet steps and poses reflecting royal etiquette, Noverre does push ballet to stand apart from song, theatre, and music and embrace visual cues understood at our human core. Ballet d’action pulls from ballet, pantomime, and living tableaux (a slide show of images) to communicate complex storylines.

Women Dancing, Part II

Françoise Prévost (1680-1741)

Figure 2.10 Françoise Prévost as a Bacchante

(https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Jean_Raoux_-_Mademoiselle_Pr%C3%A9vost_as_a_Bacchante.jpg&oldid=767666881)

On the heels of Mademoiselle de La Fontaine, Prèvost is an outstanding ballerina, dancing with the Paris Opéra for thirty years. Cass (1993) describes Prèvost as “the foremost prima ballerina of her day, widely admired for lightness and expressive elegance” (p. 85). Homans adds details of Prèvost’s daring skill and ability to move audiences with her pantomime “… her naked face and expressive gestures apparently brought a shocking intimacy and emotional depth to her otherwise formal presentation” (2010, p. 61). Prévost goes on to instruct many of the up-and-coming ballerinas of the 1700s.

Marie Sallé (1707-1756)

Figure 2.11 Marie Sallé foreground in ballet scene

(https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Mlle._Sall%C3%A9_(NYPL_b12145893-ps_dan_974).jpg&oldid=282431344)

One of the two Maries, Sallé is often pitted against Marie Camargo. These two women, with differing approaches and skills set ballet on course to the cult of the ballerina of the 1800s. Sallé, born to a theatrical family, studies under Prévost and Jean Balon as a teen. Marie Sallé’s style is emotionally expressive and sensual, moving ballet away from the traditionally weighted macho forms of the past (Homans, 2010, p.62). Sallé causes quite the stir when she abandons formal court attire (masks and corseted floor-length gowns) for flowing Grecian dresses cut to the ankle. The less restrictive costuming allows Sallé to dance freely and portray emotions naturally. The personal lives of ballerinas are fair game to the press and gossipmongers alike. Though naturally a private person, Sallé’s relationship with Rebecca Wick leaves the public whispering about her unorthodox private life (Cass, 1993, p. 88).

Marie Camargo (1710-1770)

Figure 2.12 Marie Camargo in règne de Louis XV, d'après Lancret 1730

(https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mlle._Camargo,_r%C3%A8gne_de_Louis_XV,_d%27apr%C3%A8s_Lancret_1730_(NYPL_b12147532-1532695).jpg)

The other half of the two Maries, Camargo is born to an Italian music-master father and Spanish mother. Camargo’s international parentage imbues her with an alluring stage quality (Cass, 1993). Similar to Sallé, Camargo makes her professional debut before the age of 10 and as a teen studies under Prévost. Though both Sallé and Camargo push to shorten hemlines, Camargo’s insistence is purely driven in pursuit of technical expertise. Previous generations perceive virtuosic skills such as jumps and beats (beating the thighs together multiple times mid-jump) as a male specialty. Drawing on her gifts of musicality and athleticism, Marie Camargo pushes the envelope in jumping as a skill for women as well as what was humanly possible– performing the first entrechat quatre. As you might imagine, this abbreviated costuming intrigues audiences but brings into question the modesty of ballerinas.

Deep Dive #4: Tights and Shoes

According to Michelle Dursun:

In classical ballet the wearing of tights has origins dating back to the 18 th century. The invention of tights is commonly attributed to a costume designer named Maillot who worked for the Paris Opera Ballet. His invention, though scandalous at the time, liberated dancers' bodies from their traditional heavy and cumbersome costuming. The resulting freedom of movement helped to pave the way for the development and evolution of dance technique, with a growing focus on the intricacies of foot movement and batterie and the increasing athleticism of dancers.

For women, it is believed the first to wear tights was Marie-Anne de Cupis de Camargo in the mid 1700s. Scandalously, Camargo was the first woman to remove the heels from her dance shoes and to raise her skirts from ankle to calf-length. She wore tights to preserve her modesty. (Sourced from: Dance Australia, May 5, 2014).

Setting Up Ballet’s Next Era

The people of France make clear their feelings on Louis XVI’s reign by sending him to the guillotine. French institutions and conventions are in a state of reevaluation: evolve away from royal ties or be left to history. The artform of ballet is in a state of reconstruction, mirroring the condition of post Revolution France. With courtly etiquette and spectacle figuring so heavily into ballet’s DNA, a rebranding– mainly consisting of a distancing from ballet’s royal origin story is necessary for ballet to remain a major form of French entertainment and identity. Post-war audiences are ready for change. Courtly affect and the bombastic dancing of men gives way to female performers. With powerful and nuanced performances women prove they can play protagonists in full length productions.

Deep Dive #5: Oldest Ballet in Performance

While Beaujoyeux's Ballet Comique de la Reine (1581) is considered the first real ballet, ballet master Jean Dauberval's (1742-1806) La Fille Mal Gardée (1789) is considered the oldest ballet still in performance.

Takeaway:

Ballet needs to remain porous to not only stay relevant but to evolve for future generations. Though ballet is already pivoting away from the royal courts, this artform needs to find a new identity away from kings and queens. The format of ballet also changes, with ballet assisting in moving forward the plot of narrative stories.

Teaching Exercise

Create an 8-16 count piece of choreography limiting the footwork to ankle-height. Then repeat the choreography up at knee height. Examine the challenges of both versions. Maybe even incorporate a floor-length skirt to fully appreciate the raising of hemlines.