Ballet Comique de la Reine: The First True Ballet in History

The Ballet Comique de la Reine, performed at the French court on October 15, 1581, is often considered the first authentic ballet in history. This performance was created to celebrate the wedding of Margaret of Lorraine, the queen’s sister, to the Duke of Joyeuse. It was the first attempt to combine music, dance, and poetry to tell a coherent story. If you are a fan of ballet history, keep reading the article.

Catherine de’ Medici and the Birth of Court Ballet in France

First, let’s look at what the “Ballet de Cour” was (or Court Ballet in English). Ballet de Cour was a composite art form. It included music, dance, and poetry and was performed by members of the royal courts of Europe. Often politically inspired, Ballet de Cour was usually organized to celebrate some great event.

It probably arrived in France in the late 15th century. However, it wasn’t until the 16th century that ballet received its greatest boost thanks to Catherine de’ Medici (1519–1589). This Italian noblewoman, a dance lover, emigrated to France to marry the country’s king, Henry II. Upon his  death, she became queen of France.

Then, Catherine was aware of how such entertainment could be adapted to useful purposes, such as consolidating an agreement or a dynastic marriage. For example, Catherine organized sumptuous balls for each of her children’s weddings.

In 1555, Catherine summoned her Italian ballet master, Baldassarino de Belgiojoso. Upon arriving in France, the Italian dancer and violinist changed his name to Balthasar de Beaujoyeulx, which became his name in ballet history.

A crucial milestone was Le Ballet des Polonais (The Polish Ballet). It was performed in 1573 and is considered a precedent for the Ballet Comique de la Reine. In those days, Catherine was celebrating the election of her son Henry as King of Poland and wished to impress the visiting diplomats. A temporary stage was erected in the great hall of the palace, with stairs leading to the ballroom floor. Spectators were located on three sides, and at the end of the formal performance, they participated in a general dance. Balthasar de Beaujoyeulx, the true founder of the Ballet de Cour in France, supervised this production.

The Ballet Comique de la Reine at a Glance

The First Performance of the Ballet Comique de la Reine

Le Ballet Comique de la Reine (or Le Ballet Comique de la Royne) was performed in October 1581 at the Palais Bourbon, next to the Louvre. This work was commissioned by Queen Louise, wife of Henry III (son of Catherine de Médici), to celebrate the marriage of her sister, Marguerite de Lorraine, to the Duke of Joyeuse. This ballet was part of a two-week celebration with various entertainments such as tournaments and fireworks. Besides, the spectacle lasted nearly six hours, from 10:00 p.m. to 3:30 a.m.

Unlike earlier ballets de cour, which included purely decorative dance sections, its creators integrated a structured choreographic narrative into the performance. However, unlike today’s ballets, the work still combined sung and spoken sections with musical interludes and dance. The performance attracted thousands of people who crowded into the palace to witness this event. In this case, the word “Comique” doesn’t mean “comic,” but rather “dramatic,” as the performance sought to engage the mind, sight, and hearing.

The dancers were not professionals. They were members of the court, nobility, and royalty. On the other hand, the cost of the spectacle was 3,600,000 gold francs. Besides, Ballet Comique de la Reine is the first ballet of which there is a libretto (printed account), published in 1582. This libretto was seen in courts across Europe and hugely influenced the development of ballets de cour. This type of entertainment was much imitated for the next decade in Italy as well as in France.

The Artists Behind the Ballet Comique de la Reine

Le Ballet Comique was a collaborative project involving many artists. Balthasar Beaujoyeulx decided to use the script for Circe the Enchantress. This was originally conceived by Agrippa d’Aubigné, but rejected because of its difficult staging. Balthasar commissioned the lyrics from Lord of la Chesnaye, who based them on the Mythologiae of Natale Conti. On the other hand,  Lambert de Beaulieu composed the music with the assistance of Jacques Salmon. Beaulieu had been a collaborator of Joachim Thibault de Courville, founder of the Academie de Musique et de Poesie. Finally, the set—moving machines and other elements scattered throughout the Great Hall—was designed by Jacques Patin. He also provided the engravings for the printed text.

Beaujoyeulx strove to create a work that would appeal equally to the eye, the ear, and the mind. So, in his preface to the Ballet Comique, he claimed to achieve this balance through a skilful combination of dance and music. “Mixing the two, diversifying music with verse, interweaving poetry with music, and, most frequently, fusing them together.” The choreographer himself, in his preface, drew the reader’s attention to the central role that dance would play in his work: “I have given the chief title and honour to dance.”

In short, Beaujoyeulx created an entire drama around the story of Circe, with music, dance, and acting. This was the first time anyone had combined the different elements in a dramatic work.

The Choreographic Vision of Beaujoyeulx

According to Beaujoyeulx, dance was a “mixture of geometric movements performed by several people dancing together to different harmonies created by various musical instruments.” In this way, the choreography of the Ballet Le Comique was designed to demonstrate this. Created by Beaujoyeulx (celebrated by a contemporary as “an exceptionally creative geometer”), the dances traced perfectly formed figures on the floor with precise steps. So, circles, squares, and triangles, each demonstrating how number, geometry, and ratio ordered the universe and the souls of men.

At the end of the performance, Circe bowed and presented her magic wand to the king. So, a grand ballet unfolded featuring twelve naiads in white, four dryads in green, and the queen and princesses forming and remaking chains and figures. “Each dancer held her place and marked the cadence with such skill,” wrote Beaujoyeulx. Besides, he added, “that the spectators thought Archimedes himself had no better understanding of geometric proportions.” He hoped those watching would be “filled with wonder.”

Ballet Comique de la Reine’s plot

The ballet’s plot is based on the myth of Circe and revolves around the struggle between reason and passion. This was a popular theme in the Palace Academy debates. The myth is a political allegory. It shows the destructive power of passions causing civil disorder and the stability and superior power of reason and virtue. Recall that nobles and ladies who were part of the royal family’s inner circle at court played all the speaking and dancing roles.

In Greek mythology, Circe was a powerful goddess and sorceress with an exceptional talent for brewing magic potions. She was the daughter of the sun god Helios and the Oceanid nymph Perse. Circe’s home was on the island of Aeaea and was guarded by men whom she had turned into wolves and lions. In the Ballet Comique de la Reine, some of the characters, in addition to Circe, were:

• Ulysses,
• Naiads (played by the Queen of France and Princess Lorraine)
• Nymphs
• Greek gods Pan, Mercury, and Glaucus.

The legacy of the Ballet Comique de la Reine

The Ballet Comique de la Reine was highly praised in its time. And it went down in history as the first work of a new genre, “ballet de cour”. Before the Ballet Comique de la Reine, dances in court performances were more like graceful striding than ballet as we know it today. In the Ballet Comique de la Reine, by contrast, there was a formal organization and design. So, this feature derived from the desire to make dance and music a measure of the order of the universe. Its creators strove for precision, mapping the length, duration, meter, and geometry of each step in the choreography.

In conclusion, this laid the foundation for classical dance technique as we know it today. This was the starting point upon which ballet masters would build almost a century later when, under the reign of the French king Louis XIV, they systematized and codified ballet steps according to a set of strict geometric principles.