The Role ofLe Balet Comiquein Forging the Stuart Masque: Part 1 The Jacobean Initiative

Abstract

The prominence of Le Balet Comique in the narrative of Western theatre dance cannot be denied, as every dance history book implies that this performance of 1581 initiated the ballet de cour, while the image of the fugitive gentlemen is reproduced over and over again to represent the work ( McGowan, 2008 , 169). The performance was certainly innovative, but also a development of previous theatre dance in France and Italy. Barbara Sparti questions the basis of the work's fame and places it in a context of earlier Italian dance theatre (2011, 304–322). The impact of the publication in England has not so far been examined. Amongst its many claims to fame, Le Balet Comique was unique in the latter half of the sixteenth century as a publication that brought together information on the performance, costumes, décor, music and dance of a ballet de cour, as well as the planning and intentions of the organisers. The records of other ballets of the period are scattered between published verses, eyewitness accounts, musical scores, costume designs and financial records, most of which remain hidden and uncollated in archives.1The following discussion argues for the use of a single text as a model for new invention in dance theatre. In pursuing this argument, it offers new insights, from a dance perspective, illuminating key works that have principally been discussed as texts rather than as performances. Part 1 deals with the exciting period of innovation under the aegis of the first Stuart king, James VI and I.