2 3 Throwback Thursday and the First Ballet | Ballet Webb

Thursday, November 7, 2013

Throwback Thursday and the First Ballet


Throwback Thursday and the First Ballet

What was the world’s first ballet?  The answer is: Ballet Comique de la Reine, choreographed in 1581 and performed in the court of Catherine de Medici.  It was an extravagant spectacle and cost more than a million ecue.  Balthazar de Beaujoyeux, the director of court festivals, conceived and staged the ballet.

It is considered to be the first ballet because it was the first known work to combine dance, verse, and music into a coherent whole.  It is also unique in that a complete libretto of the ballet exists, and thus we could recreate it today.  However, with the attention span of the average audience member now, I doubt that Ballet Comique de la Reine would be very well received.  It lasted from ten in the evening until three o’clock in the morning.

From the Big Blue Book of Ballet Secrets:

Dance History Factoid #5:

The world’s first ballet was Ballet Comique de la Reine, performed in 1581 in the court of
Catherine de Medici.

 

                Link of the Day:
                http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KcCj0xfO3H8

Quote of the Day:

“Strength doesn’t come from what you can do.  It comes from overcoming the things you once thought you couldn’t.”

-Rikki Rogers”

 

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