Saturday, February 27, 2010

The Versailles Glide

Author Leslie Carroll discusses how Marie-Antoinette was taught to walk in the manner of ladies of the French court, saying:
In order for Antonia to more seamlessly assimilate into the rarified and sophisticated atmosphere at Versailles, Maria Theresa imported the celebrated choreographer Jean-Georges Noverre from the Duke of Württemburg's court of Stuttgart. Noverre was a world traveler who had been the choreographer at London's Drury Lane Theatre under the management of David Garrick. Both men had very progressive views about Theatre and Dance and each was known for his introduction of "naturalism" (that term being relative, given the "method acting" styles of the 20th century) into his art. Noverre was the first proponent of the "story ballet" and strongly believed that the elements of dance within a theatrical or operatic performance be organically integrated into the whole.
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1 comment:

Julygirl said...

Reading about these innovators reminds me of an article in The Wash. Post about the problems Ballet Companies currently have in attracting audiences. They get bored repeating the familiar Ballets such as "Swan Lake", but they cannot draw an audience large enough to pay the bills if they produce little known works.