Musical Offerings, Fall 2017

66 Rinehart ⦁ French Society Abroad evidence shows that styles of French dance and dance music between 1600 and 1750 were influential throughout Europe due to King Louis XIV’s use of dance styles as a political influence, the development of various dance and dance notation styles, and the involvement of prominent European composers with French dance music. A significant aspect of French dance from the seventeenth century involves ballet and ballroom dancing within the French royal court. Dance had already become a significant part of French culture by the early seventeenth century. In the early sixteenth century, King Louis XIII participated in court ballets, which promoted the view of dance as a high art. 2 Court ballets often combined dance, music, opera, and other subjects. 3 In fact, they usually carried high political influence and ultimately communicated impressive idealizations regarding the king, his family, and the power of the monarchy. 4 French dance strongly promoted other countries’ attractions to French court styles because of its ability to refine and advance one’s self-image and societal standing. When King Louis XIV began his personal rule of France in 1661, he promoted the growth of French dance even more than his predecessor, Louis XIII. One such promotion was the installation of the Académie Royale de Danse (Royal Academy of Dance) in 1661, which sought to prepare people for involvement in the high society of the French court. 5 Louis XIV also contributed to the influence of French dance because his superb dancing abilities promoted various publications of dance notation. 6 This played an important role in the dissemination of French dance as other countries gained access to translated copies of dance notation and instructions. Two genres of dance were common in the court of Louis XIV: ballet and ballroom dancing. These types of dance were heavily focused on etiquette, prestige, high society, and on bringing glory to France. 2 Sharon Kettering, “Favour and Patronage: Dancers in the Court Ballets of Early Seventeenth-Century France,” Canadian Journal of History 43, no. 3 (2008): 392, doi : 10.3138/cjh.43.3.391 . 3 Ibid., 394. 4 Ibid., 400–401. 5 Moira Goff, “‘The Art of Dancing, Demonstrated by Characters and Figures’: French and English Sources for Court and Theatre Dance, 1700– 1750,” British Library Journal 21, no. 2 (1995): 202, http://www.jstor.org/stable/42554411 . 6 Ibid., 206.