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Pierre Beauchamps
Pierre Beauchamp or Beauchamps (; 30 October 1631 – February 1705) was a French choreographer, dancer and composer, and the probable inventor of Beauchamp–Feuillet notation. His grand-father was called Christophe (a musician) and his father, a violinist of the king's chamber, was simply called Louis. Following a custom of the time, Pierre Beauchamp was named Pierre after his godfather Pierre Vacherot, tailor of the queen's pages and a relative of the Beauchamps family. Biography Beauchamp was born at Versailles (Yvelines), into a family of French "dance masters" (). He débuted at the court of Louis XIV at age 12, in 1648, in the ''Ballet du dérèglement des passions''. He was made director of the Académie Royale de Danse in 1671 (although he was not a founding member of the Académie as is often claimed). Beauchamp was principal choreographer to Molière's acting company (the Troupe du Roy) during 1664-1673, as well as ballet master at the Académie Royale de Musique ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pierre-François Godard De Beauchamps
Pierre-François Godard de Beauchamps, born in 1689 in Paris, where he died on March 12, 1761, was a playwright, theater historian, libertine novelist and French translator. In his youth he was the secretary of François de Neufville, duc de Villeroi, who became governor of the child King Louis XV of France. His most famous works are ''Arlequin amoureux par enchantement (Harlequin in love by magic)'' and ''Les Amans réunis (The lovers of reunion)''. Beauchamps worked for different theatres of the French capital. In 1721, he directed the performance of the play ''Soubrette'', a comedy in one act, which was a success, and within ten years, he directed successively the plays: ''le Jaloux (the Jealous One)''; ''Arlequin amoureux par enchantement (Arlequin in love by spell)''; ''le Portrait (the Portrait)''; ''le Parvenu (the Upstart)''; ''le Mariage rompu (the Broken Marriage)''; ''les Effets du dépit (the Effects of Vexation)''; ''les Amants réunis'' (the Reunited Lovers); ''le B ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Positions Of The Feet In Ballet
The positions of the feet in ballet is a fundamental part of classical ballet technique that defines standard placements of feet on the floor. There are five basic positions in modern-day classical ballet, known as the first through fifth positions. In 1725, dancing master Pierre Rameau credited the codification of these five positions to choreographer Pierre Beauchamp. Two additional positions, known as the sixth and seventh positions, were codified by Serge Lifar in the 1930s while serving as Ballet Master at the Paris Opéra Ballet, though their use is limited to Lifar's choreographies. The sixth and seventh positions were not Lifar's inventions, but revivals of positions that already existed in the eighteenth century, when there were ten positions of the feet in classical ballet. Five basic positions The first basic position requires the feet to be flat on the floor and turned out (pointing in opposite directions as a result of rotating the legs at the hips). First posi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
An American Ballroom Companion
An American Ballroom Companion is an online collection of over two hundred social dance manuals at the Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ... related to the period of cca. 1490--1920. Along with social dance instruction manuals, this online presentation also includes a significant number of antidance manuals, histories, treatises on etiquette, information about theatrical dance. The collection presents dance materials from various locations of the Library: General Collections, the Music Division, and the Rare Book and Special Collections Division. The collection also presents a number of videoclips to illustrate the materials. The clips were recorded on several Library of Congress events starting from the 100th anniversary of the Library's Jefferson ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Atys (Lully)
''Atys'' ('' Attis'') is a 1675 ''tragédie en musique'' — described in a 1708 revival as a ''tragédie mise en musique'' and today considered a ''tragédie lyrique'', a French form of opera — in a prologue and five acts by Jean-Baptiste Lully to a libretto by Philippe Quinault after Ovid's '' Fasti''. It was premiered for the royal court on 10 January the following year by Lully's Académie Royale de Musique (Paris Opera) at the Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye. The first public performance took place in April 1676 at the Théâtre du Palais-Royal. Although ''Atys'' was met with indifference by Paris audiences, it became known as "the king's opera" because of Louis XIV's fondness for it; it was repeated for him in 1678, 1682 and 1708. Roles Plot and music outline The French style of opera, established in the 1670s by Lully, was in five acts with a prologue. Prologue Lully's prologues normally served to comment on current events at the court of Louis XIV in a way tha ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alceste (Lully)
''Alceste, ou Le triomphe d'Alcide'' is a ''tragédie en musique'' in a prologue and five acts by Jean-Baptiste Lully. The French-language libretto is by Philippe Quinault, after Euripides' ''Alcestis''. It was first performed on 19 January 1674 at the Théâtre du Palais-Royal by the Paris Opera. The opera was presented in celebration of King Louis XIV's victory against Franche-Comté, and the prologue features nymphs longing for his return from battle. The opera itself concerns Alceste, princess of Iolcos and queen of Thessaly, who in the first act is abducted by Licomède (Lycomedes), king of Scyros, with the aid of his sister Thetis, a sea nymph; Aeolus, the god of the winds; and other supernatural forces. In the battle to rescue her, Alcide (Hercules) is triumphant, but Alceste's husband, Admète (Admetus), suffers a mortal wound. Apollo agrees to let Admète live if someone will die in his place. Alceste stabs herself to fulfill this requirement, but is rescued from the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pomone (opera)
''Pomone'' ('' Pomona'') is a pastoral opera in a prologue and five acts by Robert Cambert with a libretto by Pierre Perrin. It has been described as "effectively the first French opera."Sadler 2001, p.180. Bashford 1992, p. 697: "Considered by modern scholars to be the first true French opera..." It was first performed in Paris at the Jeu de Paume de la Bouteille theatre belonging to Cambert and Perrin's Académie d'Opéra on 3 March 1671. The production had ballets choreographed by Des Brosses and sets and machinery designed by Alexandre de Rieux, marquis de Sourdéac.Jean-Claude Brenac. The novelty of the work drew large audiences and the opera enjoyed 146 performances over the eight months of its run. The score of ''Pomone'' has only partially survived. Background and performance history Attempts had been made to introduce Italian opera to France in the mid-17th century but French audiences had disliked the genre, preferring their own form of stage music drama, the ''ballet ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Le Malade Imaginaire
''The Imaginary Invalid'', ''The Hypochondriac'', or ''The Would-Be Invalid'' ( French title ''Le Malade imaginaire'', ) is a three- act ''comédie-ballet'' by the French playwright Molière with dance sequences and musical interludes (H.495, H.495 a, H.495 b) by Marc-Antoine Charpentier. It premiered on 10 February 1673 at the Théâtre du Palais-Royal in Paris and was originally choreographed by Pierre Beauchamp. Molière had fallen out with the powerful court composer Jean-Baptiste Lully, with whom he had pioneered the ''comédie-ballet'' form a decade earlier, and had opted for the collaboration with Charpentier. ''Le malade imaginaire'' was Molière's last work. He collapsed during his fourth performance as Argan on 17 February and died soon after. Characters * Argan, a severe hypochondriac. * Toinette, witty maid-servant of Argan. * Angélique, daughter of Argan, in love with Cléante. * Béline, second wife of Argan. * Cléante, lover of Angélique. Kind, but not very b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Psyché (play)
''Psyché'' is a five-act '' tragicomédie et ballet'', originally written as a prose text by Molière and versified in collaboration with Pierre Corneille and Philippe Quinault, with music composed by Jean-Baptiste Lully in 1671 and by Marc-Antoine Charpentier in 1684 (music lost). The plot is based on the story of ''Cupid and Psyche'' in ''The Golden Ass'', written in the 2nd century by Apuleius. It was first performed on 17 January 1671 before the royal court of Louis XIV at the Théâtre des Tuileries, with ballets by Pierre Beauchamps, Anthoine des Brosses, and Nicolas Delorge, and spectacular scenery and special effects designed by Carlo Vigarani.Gaines 2002, p. 394; Powell 2008, pp. 123–124. History Molière's play was one of many sumptuous spectacles produced in celebration of the peace of Aix-la-Chapelle. The treaty was signed in 1668 but the festivities continued well into 1671. More specifically, the play was a product of Louis XIV's desire to re-use the Salle des ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme
''Le Bourgeois gentilhomme'' (, translated as ''The Bourgeois Gentleman'', ''The Middle-Class Aristocrat'', or ''The Would-Be Noble'') is a five-act ''comédie-ballet'' – a Play (theatre), play intermingled with music, dance and singing – written by Molière, first presented on 14 October 1670 before the court of Louis XIV at the Château of Chambord by Molière's troupe of actors. Subsequent public performances were given at the Théâtre du Palais-Royal (rue Saint-Honoré), theatre of the Palais-Royal beginning on 23 November 1670. The music was composed by Jean-Baptiste Lully, the choreography was by Pierre Beauchamp, the sets were by Carlo Vigarani and the costumes were done by the Laurent d'Arvieux, chevalier d’Arvieux. ''Le Bourgeois gentilhomme'' satirizes attempts at social climbing and the bourgeois personality, poking fun both at the vulgar, pretentious middle-class and the vain, snobbish aristocracy. The title is meant as an oxymoron: in Molière's France, a "gent ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pirouette
In dance and gymnastics, a turn is a rotation of the body about the vertical axis. It is usually a complete rotation of the body, although quarter (90°) and half (180°) turns are possible for some types of turns. Multiple, consecutive turns are typically named according to the number of 360° rotations (e.g., ''double'' or ''triple'' turn). There are many types of turns, which are differentiated by a number of factors. The performer may be supported by one or both legs or be airborne during a turn. When supported by one leg, that leg is known as the ''supporting'' leg and the other as the ''free'', ''raised'', or ''working'' leg. During airborne turns, the first leg to leave the floor is the ''leading'' leg. Trunk, arm and head positions can vary, and in turns with one supporting leg, the free leg may be straight or bent. Turns can begin in various ways as well. For example, ballet turns may begin by rising to '' relevé'' (supported on the ball of the foot) or by stepping direc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sarabande
The sarabande (from es, zarabanda) is a dance in triple metre, or the music written for such a dance. History The Sarabande evolved from a Spanish dance with Arab influences, danced by a lively double line of couples with castanets. A dance called ''zarabanda'' is first mentioned in 1539 in Central America in the poem ''Vida y tiempo de Maricastaña'', written in Panama by Fernando de Guzmán Mejía. In 1596, Alonso López, "el Pinciano", traces its origins even to the Dionysian cult. The dance seems to have been especially popular in the 16th and 17th centuries, initially in Spain and in the Spanish colonies. The Jesuit priest Juan de Mariana thought it indecent, describing it in his ''Tratato contra los juegos públicos'' (Treatise Against Public Amusements, 1609) as "a dance and song so loose in its words and so ugly in its motions that it is enough to excite bad emotions in even very decent people".Jane Bellingham, "Sarabande", ''The Oxford Companion to Music'', edited by A ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ballroom
A ballroom or ballhall is a large room inside a building, the primary purpose of which is holding large formal parties called balls. Traditionally, most balls were held in private residences; many mansions and palaces, especially historic mansions and palaces, contain one or more ballrooms. In other large houses, a large room such as the main drawing room, long gallery, or hall may double as a ballroom, but a good ballroom should have the right type of flooring, such as hardwood flooring or stone flooring (usually marble or stone). In later times the term ballroom has been used to describe nightclubs where customers dance, the Top Rank Suites in the United Kingdom for example were also often referred to as ballrooms. The phrase "having a ball" has grown to encompass many events where person(s) are having fun, not just dancing. Ballrooms are generally quite large, and may have ceilings higher than other rooms in the same building. The large amount of space for dancing, as well ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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