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ROBERT DE WARREN’S
DANCE APPRECIATION PROGRAM
From Crinolines and Heels to Tutus on Pointe
An appreciation of 400 years of Ballet
Louis XIV of France
Presented by ROBERT DE WARREN
“Maestro Robert de Warren, is an international ballet director with over 50 years experience;
performing with, and leading major companies; From Britain’s Royal Ballet, The Suttgart Ballet,
The National Ballet of Iran (under the Shah), Northern Ballet Theatre of UK, La Scala Ballet in
Milan, and thirteen years at the head of Sarasota Ballet.
He is a director, choreographer (over 75 works) designer and master-teacher and a specialist in
international ethnic and mystic dance ceremonial. The Recipient of major awards world-wide,
Maestro de Warren remains a humorous and passionate advocate of dance in all its styles. His
memoir Destiny’s Waltz – In Step with Giants covers a fascinating and quite unique life.” From
AEG Publishing, NY (Barnes & Noble, Amazon.com) www.robertdewarren.org
Links: www.robertdewarren.org www.destinyswaltz.com
www.sarasotainternationaldancefestival.org Email: [email protected]
Phone: 941 706 3112 /Messages and Fax
2
"Robert de Warren is a wonderful, charismatic voice from the dance world, who delivers our
history with great style and panache! "
Julie Kent - Principal Dancer, American Ballet Theatre
CONTENT
PROGRAM 1 - of Six Lecture Series
A Fascinating in depth look at how Ballet began and development through 300 years to become
a vibrant expression of the joys and tragedies of daily life.
Discover historical influences, great artists of the dance, in a program including Visuals as Power
Point, Film and occasional demonstrations by young pre-professional dancers.
LECTURE 1 –
Birth of Ballet – 14TH - 16TH - 17tht & 18th Centuries
A - Catherine de Medici – The Italian French Queen
B -The Dancing King
The Court of Louis XIV of France and “First Steps”
How the Royal Academy of Music and Dance became the cradle
Production goals, literary and historical sources.
of classical ballet.
LECTURE 2 –
The 18th Century the Louis of France
The professional dancers and Court entertainment
LECTURE 3 Post French Revolution – Late 1880s to early 1900s
The loss of the court and the birth of people’s dance
La Fille Mal Gardee LECTURE 4 –
Mid- 18th Century - Romantic Ballet
“The Quest for Ideal Love”
Development of the Classical Technique – the creation of Pointe Shoes
How to achieve spiritual lightness in movement. The pointe
shoe.
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LECTURE 5 18TH Century “The Classical Period”
Creation of the masterpieces of the classical repertoire at the
Imperial Russian Ballet – The decadence of European ballet.
LECTURE 6 –
The late 1800s Russian Stars that would conquer Europe
Tamara Karsavina, Michel Fokine, Anna Pavlova, Vaslav Nijinski
A revolution in the wings.
“FROM CRINOLINES and HEELS to TUTUS on POINTE”
INTRODUCTION
This series covers 300 years of dance. Not folk dance or the expressions of ritual, but dance
created by the privileged few whose wealth new no bounds. It is the vision of special
personalities, in the exact place at the right time, who brought about the birth of “ballet”. Join
me in this exploratory journey through three centuries. Allow me to invite you into a world, so
rare and unique and visualize how it all commenced.
THE BIRTH OF BALLET
A Bird’s Eye View
Ballet 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. In the late 17th century Louis XIV founded the Académie Royale de
Musique (the Paris Opera) within which emerged the first professional theatrical ballet
company, the Paris Opera Ballet. The predominance of French in the vocabulary of ballet
reflects this history. Theatrical ballet soon became an independent form of art, although still
frequently maintaining a close association with opera, and spread from the heart of Europe to
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other nations. The Royal Danish Ballet and the Imperial Ballet of the Russian Empire were
founded in the 1740s and began to flourish, especially after about 1850. In 1907 the Russian
ballet in turn moved back to France, where the Ballets Russes of Sergei Diaghilev and its
successors were particularly influential. Soon ballet spread around the world with the
formation of new companies, including London's The Royal Ballet (1931), the San Francisco
Ballet (1933), American Ballet Theatre (1937), The Australian Ballet (1940), the New York City
Ballet (1948), the National Ballet of Canada (1951), and the Delhi Ballet (2002).[1]
LECTURE I
ITALIAN ORIGINS
Renaissance – Italy and France[edit source | edit]
Ballet originated in the Renaissance court as an outgrowth of court pageantry in Italy,[3] where
aristocratic weddings were lavish celebrations. Court musicians and dancers collaborated to
provide elaborate entertainment for them.[4] A ballet of the Renaissance was a far cry from the
form of theatrical entertainment known to audiences today.
Domenico da Piacenza (c. 1400–c. 1470) was one of the first dancing masters. Along with his
students, Antonio Cornazzano and Guglielmo Ebreo, he was trained in dance and responsible for
teaching nobles the art. Da Piacenza left one work: De arte saltandi et choreus ducendi (On the
art of dancing and conducting dances), which was put together by his students.[7]
In 1489 Galeazzo, Duke of Milan, married Isabella of Aragon in Tortona. An elaborate dance
entertainment was arranged for the celebrations by the Italian dance master Bergonzio di Botta.
The dances were linked by a slim narrative concerning Jason and the Argonauts, and each
corresponded to a different course for the dinner. Tristano Calco of Milan wrote about the event,
and it was considered so impressive, that many similar spectacles were organized elsewhere.[4][8]
FRANCE
Ballet was further shaped by the French ballet de cour, which consisted of social dances
performed by the nobility in tandem with music, speech, verse, song, pageant, decor and
costume.[9] When Catherine de' Medici, an Italian aristocrat with an interest in the arts, married
the French crown heir Henry II, she brought her enthusiasm for dance to France and provided
financial support. Catherine's glittering entertainments supported the aims of court politics and
usually were organized around mythological themes.[10] The first ballet de cour was the Ballet de
Polonais. This Ballet was performed in 1573 on the occasion of the visit of the Polish
Ambassador. It was choreographed by Balthasar de Beaujoyeulx and featured an hour long dance
for sixteen women, each representing a French province. Ballet Comique de la Reine (1581),
which was also choreographed and directed by Balthasar de Beaujoyeulx, was commissioned by
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Louise of Lorraine, queen consort of King Henry III, son of Catherine, to celebrate the marriage
of Henry's favorite the Duke de Joyeuse to Marguerite de Lorraine, the sister of Queen Louise.
The ballet lasted for more than five hours and was danced by twenty four dancers: twelve
naiades and twelve pages.[11][12]
In the same year, 1581 the publication of Fabritio Caroso's Il Ballarino, a technical manual on
court dancing, both performance and social, helped to establish Italy as a centre of technical
ballet development.[13]
The French Style
Louis XIV of France (1638–1715, reigned 1643–) was a keen dancer of the so-called Noble
Style, which was developed under his regime and spread throughout Europe. At this time, the
French nobility were expected to be able to dance in the Noble Style at the formal balls, and they
even performed in the court ballets. It seems rather strange now that during the 17th century
dancing had not only a great social importance, but also great political importance – I've heard
tell that some ambassadors were chosen on account of their skill in the ballroom.
The social dances were typically danced by one couple at a time, with all the other guests around
the sides of the room. The people of the highest rank sat at one end of the room, and the dance
was directed towards them. The description of these balls by Pierre Rameau suggests that
everybody danced twice, with different partners. However, since for even average-sized balls
this would have taken a huge amount of time, it seems likely that it was decided in advance who
was going to dance, and they would have a chance to practice. There also seem to have been
opportunities to engage in group dances – either the country dances mentioned above, or branles,
about which we know very little.
The dances of the Noble Style were stepped dances, with the partners moving across the floor,
sometimes separately, sometimes holding one or both hands, often in symmetrical patterns. Each
one (except for simple dances, like ballroom minuets) had to be individually choreographed to a
particular piece of music – this not only ensured that the dance was the same length as the music
(which was useful), but it also meant that the patterns, rhythms and steps of the dance reflected
or enhanced the music.
Theatrical dance
In addition to the social dances, there were also ballets, opera-ballets and other entertainments
performed at court, as well as at theatres such as the Paris Opera. Much of the dancing in these
productions was in the same style as the social dance, and shared the same basic steps. However
as well as partner dances there were also solo dances, and dances for larger groups. The
performers would wear sometimes outlandish costumes and masks, depending on the character
they were portraying – often the fantastic characters of classical mythology, although shepherds
and shepherdesses seemed to turn up rather a lot too.
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The theatrical style built on the ballroom style with the addition of virtuoso steps – like cabrioles
(jumps where you beat your legs together), entrechats (jumps where you cross your legs in the
air several times) and pirouettes on one foot – and more complex combinations of the basic
steps. Also the dancers were meant to portray characters so, while a god would dance in the
Noble Style, more lowly characters like peasants, sailors, drunks or Harlequin would have
characteristically "grotesque" motions.
17th century – France and Court Dance
Ballet developed as a performance-focused art form in France during the reign of Louis XIV,
who was passionate about dance.[ Pierre Beauchamp, the man who codified the five positions of
the feet and arms, was the king's personal dance teacher and favorite partner in ballet de cour in
the 1650s. In 1661 Louis XIV, who was determined to reverse a decline in dance standards that
began in the 17th century, established the Académie Royale de Danse.[14] Beauchamp was
appointed Intendant des ballets du roi and in 1680 became the director of the dance academy, a
position he held until 1687.[15]
Jean-Baptiste Lully, an Italian violinist, dancer, choreographer, and composer, who joined the
court of Louis XIV in 1652,[16] played a significant role in establishing the general direction
ballet would follow for the next century. Supported and admired by King Louis XIV, Lully often
cast the king in his ballets. The title of Sun King for the French monarch, originated in Louis
XIV's role in Lully's Ballet de la Nuit (1653). The fourteen-year-old Louis XIV danced five roles
in this 12-hour ballet.[17] This Ballet was lavish and featured a scene where a set piece of a house
was burned down, included witches, werewolves, gypsies, shepherds, thieves, and the goddesses
Venus and Diana. Lully's main contribution to ballet were his nuanced compositions. His
understanding of movement and dance allowed him to compose specifically for ballet, with
musical phrasings that complemented physical movements.[18] Lully also collaborated with the
French playwright Molière. Together, they took an Italian theatre style, the commedia dell'arte,
and adapted it into their work for a French audience, creating the comédie-ballet. Among their
greatest productions, with Beauchamp as the choreographer,[15] was Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme
(1670).[19]
In 1669 Louis XIV founded the Académie d'Opéra with Pierre Perrin as director.[20] Louix XIV
retired in 1670, largely because of excessive weight gain. Earlier, in 1661 he had founded a
school, the Adacemie Royale de danse. Beauchamp was the first ballet-master of the Opéra and
created the dances for the new company's first production Pomone with music by Robert
Cambert.[15] Later, after Perrin went bankrupt, the king reestablished the Opéra as the Académie
royale de Musique and made Lully the director.[20] Beauchamp was one of the principal
choreographers.[15] In this position Lully, with his librettist Philippe Quinault, created a new
genre, the tragédie en musique, each act of which featured a divertissement that was a miniature
ballet scene.[16] With almost all his important creations Jean-Baptiste Lully brought together
music and drama with Italian and French dance elements. His work created a legacy which
would define the future of ballet.
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Giovanni Battista Lulli was born in Florence, Grand Duchy of Tuscany, to a family of millers.
His general education and his musical training during his youth in Florence remain uncertain, but
his adult handwriting suggests that he manipulated a quill pen with ease. He used to say that a
Franciscan friar gave him his first music lessons and taught him guitar.[1] He also learned to play
the violin. In 1646, dressed as Harlequin during Mardi Gras and amusing bystanders with his
clowning and his violin, the boy attracted the attention of Roger de Lorraine, chevalier de Guise,
son of Charles, Duke of Guise, who was returning to France and was looking for someone to talk
Italian with his niece, Mademoiselle de Montpensier (la Grande Mademoiselle). Guise took the
boy to Paris, where the fourteen year-old entered Mademoiselle's service; from 1647 to 1652 he
served as her "chamber boy" (garçon de chambre).[2] He probably honed his musical skills by
working with Mademoiselle's household musicians and with composers Nicolas Métru, François
Roberday and Nicolas Gigault. The teenager's talents as a guitarist, violinist, and dancer quickly
won him the nicknames "Baptiste", and "le grand baladin" (great street-artist).[3]
When Mademoiselle was exiled to the provinces in 1652 after the rebellion known as the Fronde,
Lully "begged his leave ... because he did not want to live in the country." The princess granted
his request.[4]
By February 1653 Lully had attracted the attention of young Louis XIV, dancing with him in the
Ballet royal de la nuit. By March 16, 1653, Lully had been made royal composer for
instrumental music. His vocal and instrumental music for court ballets gradually made him
indispensable. In 1660 and 1662 he collaborated on court performances of Francesco Cavalli's
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Xerse and Ercole amante.[5] When Louis XIV took over the reins of government in 1661, he
named Lully superintendent of the royal music and music master of the royal family. In
December 1661 the Florentine was granted letters of naturalization. Thus, when he married the
daughter of the renowned singer and composer Michel Lambert in 1662, Giovanni Battista Lulli
declared himself to be "Jean-Baptiste Lully, escuyer [squire], son of "Laurent de Lully,
gentilhomme Florentin [Florentine gentleman]". The latter assertion was an untruth.[6]
The influence of Lully's music produced a radical revolution in the style of the dances of the
court itself. In the place of the slow and stately movements which had prevailed until then, he
introduced lively ballets of rapid rhythm, often based on well-known dance types such as
gavottes, menuets, rigaudons and sarabandes.
From 1661 on, the trios and dances he wrote for the court were promptly published. As early as
1653, Louis XIV made him director of his personal violin orchestra, known as the Petits Violons
("Little Violins"), which was proving to be open to Lully's innovations, as contrasted with the
Twenty-Four Violins or Grands Violons ("Great Violins"), who only slowly were abandoning
the polyphony and divisions of past decades. When he became surintendant de la musique de la
chambre du roi in 1661, the Great Violins also came under Lully's control. He relied mainly on
the Little Violins for court ballets.[7]
His collaboration with playwright Molière began in 1661 when Lully and Pierre Beauchamp
worked on the music and dancing for Les Fâcheux, first performed for Nicolas Fouquet at his
sumptuous chateau of Vaux-le-Vicomte. More theatrical collaborations followed, some of them
conceived for fetes at the royal court, and others taking the form of incidental music (intermèdes)
for plays performed at command performances at court and also in Molière's Parisian theater.
In 1672 Lully broke with Molière, who turned to Marc-Antoine Charpentier. Having acquired
Pierre Perrin's opera privilege, Lully became the director of the Académie Royale de Musique,
that is, the royal opera, which performed in the Palais-Royal. Between 1673 and 1687 he
produced a new opera almost yearly and fiercely protected his monopoly over that new genre.
After Queen Marie-Thérèse's death in 1683 and the king's secret marriage to Mme de Maintenon,
devotion came to the fore at court. The king's enthusiasm for opera dissipated; he was revolted
by Lully's dissolute life and homosexual encounters.[8] In 1686, to show his displeasure, Louis
XIV made a point of not inviting Lully to perform Armide at Versailles. Lully died from
gangrene, having struck his foot with his long conducting staff during a performance of his Te
Deum to celebrate Louis XIV's recovery from surgery.[9] He died in Paris and was buried in the
church of Notre-Dame-des-Victoires, where his tomb with its marble bust can still be seen. All
three of his sons (Louis Lully, Jean-Baptiste Lully fils, and Jean-Louis Lully) had musical
careers as successive surintendants of the King's Music.
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