Home Page


Home
L’Eventail
  • M-G Massé


    • Exhibition Parcours Baroque
    NEW

    Le Ballet de l’Amour Malade

    Saynètes des rues, des rivières et des bois

    Prologue au Cabinet des Fées

    Don Juan

    Voyage en Europe

    The Carnival

    Les Caprices de la Danse

    Ballet des Masques


    Press Review

    Links in Baroque Dance

    [Version française.]



    L’EVENTAIL  BAROQUE  DANCE  COMPANY


    presents


    Ballet des Masques, created by l'Eventail 1993

    Venice, Carnival Scene by Giandomenico Tiepolo (1727-1804) c. 1754.

    Ballet in 2 parts


    Music by

    Lully, Campra, Marin Marais,
    Desmarest, Purcell    		 Musical highlights from opéras-ballets, lyric tragédies
    and comédies-ballets
    Vivaldi



    		 Sonata en D minor for 2 violons
    Concerto in D major for 2 violons and luth
    Concerto in C major for mandoline
    Sonata in D minor “La Folia”

    A creation by L’Eventail Baroque Dance Company
    and the Printemps des Arts


    Design and choreography Marie-Geneviève Massé
    Original idea of Philippe Lénaël
    Costumes Patrice Bigel

    with
    8 dancers of L’Eventail Baroque Dance Company

    Length of performance: First part 30 minutes, Second part 40 minutes

    France and Italy unite in Dance

    Ballet des Masques

    This choreography presents two aspects specific to baroque dancing today:

    • historical: recreation of ballroom dancing and dances carried out in theatre during the 18th century. Information on these dances were transmitted in texts on French music left by dance masters at the time of Louis the 14th;
    • contemporary: pure creation inspired by these ancient texts on music by Vivaldi.

    A bridge is created between the modern dancer and Vivaldi who lives on in the masked city - Venice. France and Italy unite in Dance.

    Paris, the Grande Galerie of the Louvre, the Pont-Neuf and the Collège des Quatre-Nations by Nicolas-Jean-Baptiste Raguenet (1715-1793). Carnavalet Museum, Paris, 1756.



    First Part, France

    Thanks to the invention of a notation of dancing, solos and ‘danses pour couple’ choreographied in the French 18th century by dancing masters such as Louis-Guillaume Pécour and Raoul-Auger Feuillet are still available nowdays.

    L'Aimable Vainqueur, Choreography by Louis-Guillaume Pécour, Entrée pour un homme, Beauchamp-Feuillet notation, 1704

    France was at that time the indisputable reference in Europe for the art of dancing, thus by play, inclinaison and curiosity we cannot but present them like reflections in a mirror. Which one is the most distorting? The one that puts back these dances in the aesthetic and historical context of baroque, with Louis XIV’s courtier as fancied on the eve of the Siècle des Lumières? Or the other one that reflects the work of a modern dancer in a dance studio, as in an everyday but extraordinary timeless world?

    Jean-Baptiste Lully Entrée d’Apollon,
    Le Triomphe de l’Amour, 1681
    Henry Desmarest Le Rigaudon de Didon, 1693, Act II, scene 1
    Jacques Cordier, known as Bocan La Bocane, Courante,
    Harmonie Universelle, Mersenne, 1636
    Louis Guillaume Pécour Passepied,
    Suite de Danses recueillies par André Danican Philidor, 1699
    Jean-Baptiste Lully L’Entrée espagnole du Bourgeois Gentilhomme
    (Ballet des Nations), 1670
    André Campra Le Rigaudon des Festes Vénitiennes, 1710,
    Le Bal, 6: Deuxième Entrée
    Jean-Baptiste Lully
    & Pascal Colasse    		 La Bourrée d’Achille,
    Achille & Polyxène, 1687, Prologue
    Jean-Baptiste Lully La Passacaille de Persée, 1682, Act V, scene 8
    Marin Marais La Matelotte d’Alcyone, 1706, Act III, scene 2
    Henry Purcell Les Contrefaiseurs, Contredanse,
    Premier Receüil de danses de bal pour l’année 1703 de la composition de Mr Pécour, Raoul Auger Feuillet, 1702
    Henry Purcell La Fürstenberg,
    The Virtous Wife, c. 1694, Z611
    Jean-Baptiste Lully Entrée des Divinités de Persée, 1682, Act II, scene 10
    André Campra Polichinel des Festes Vénitiennes, 1710
    André Campra La Forlane du Carnaval de Venise, 1699, Le Bal
    André Campra La Bretagne de Télémaque, 1704, Prologue
    La Bussecotte


    Second Part, Venice


    Venise, the Grand Canal. Engraving by Canaletto (Giovanni Antonio Canal) 1697-1768.

    Whether it be the exuberance of the allegro movement or the pathetic groan of the slow movement, a Vivaldi concerto invariably transports us to Venice. The impetuous city is reflected in the master’s concertos.

    Each Concerto is an iridescent tableau of a Guardi or a Tiepolo. Ephemeral pleasure, seduction, lyricism, and marvellous rhythmical impulses of the lute and violins answer to the enchantment, caprice and extravagance of the Venetian carnival.

    Bautas, dominos, dancers beautifully dressed, appear seduced by the poetry, folly and charm of the Venetian city.

    Antonio Vivaldi Sonata in D minor for two violins
    Prelude, Corrente, Grave, Giga
    Concerto in D major for two violins and lute
    Allegro, Largo, Allegro
    Concerto in C major for mandoline
    Allegro, Largo, Allegro
    Sonata in D minor “La Follia”

    Ballet des Masques



    Presse Océan, June 21, 1993

    “ Very rare do we see productions capable of showing an interior lightness and such emotional strength. ”

    The Times, Albert G. Torace, October 1997

    “ Marie-Geneviève Massé’s inventive choreography contained a freshness and lightness that were a delight to watch. ”

    Les Saisons de la Danse, Jacquemine Guilloux, January 1997

    “ Magic was met a the Masked Ballet, interpreted by the Eventail troupe. With the sublime music of Vivaldi interpreted by an inspired ensemble, the dancers are remarkable as also comedians. They have understood how to bring us closer to the nicest elements in our past. ”

    Les Saisons de la Danse, Christine Martin, October 1997

    “ ... to those who could doubt about the future of baroque dancing, we advise them to have a look on the work of l’Eventail. ”

    Venice, the Square of Saint Mark by Canaletto (Giovanni Antonio Canal) 1697-1768.

    [Back to top of page.] [Version française.]

    Number of visitors



    Copyright © L’Eventail 2004