Sajun.org
'''Opera Ballet''' (''ballets de cour'') is the name given to
ballets performed in the
17th century that occurred within an
Opera.
Jean-Baptiste Lully is considered the most important composer music for Opera Ballet and instrumental to the development of the form. During his employment by
Louis XIV as director of the
Academie Royale de Music he worked with
Pierre Beauchamp,
Molire,
Philippe Quinault and Mademoiselle
De Lafontaine, (the first professional female dancer and
Premiere danseuse of the
Paris Opera) to develop ballet as an art form equal to that of the accompanying music.
Beauchamp, ''superintendent'' of the ballet and director of the
Academie Royale de Danse codified the ''five positions'' based on the foundations set down by
Thornot Arbeau in his
1588 ''
Orchesographie''. Emphasising the technical aspects of dance Beauchamp set out the first ''rules'' of ballet technique.
Pierre Rameau expanded on Beauchamp's work in ''
Dancing Master''
1725 further detailing carriage of the body, steps and positions. Rameau's
Les Indes Galantes (
1735) is considered to be the work that signaled the divergence of social (ballroom) dance and ballet. 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.
''see also'':
History of ballet |
Ballet timeline
