SYMPOSIUM

Seventeenth Century Ballet: a multi-art spectacle
An International Interdisciplinary Symposium
7 August 2010
Venue: King’s College, Strand, London

The Italian styles in entertainment had begun to seep northwards in the early sixteenth century, when Italians and more specifically Milanese dancing masters travelled to France and brought with them all the Italian figured dances. The ballet Comique de la Reine Luise (1581) is the first example of the ballet de cour tradition and was masterminded by an Italian choreographer and violinist Balthazar de Beaujoyeulx and the queen Caterina de Medici. The fashion of ballet de cour spread across Europe. The ballets created during the period of High Renaissance are undoubtedly among the major masterpieces of the theatrical genre of the era, and this can be proved not only in terms of their popularity, but also of the high quality, craftsmanship and their variety in form. Emphasizing this diversity, the conference focuses on the interplay and tensions between discourses, continuities and discontinuities, and competing images of the seventeenth century ballet in Europe.

Possible topics include:
· Seventeenth century ballet music
· The role of dance in early opera and Intermedii
· Ballet as a propaganda tool in seventeenth century Italy
· Choreography
· Iconography and stage design in seventeenth century ballet
· Ballet and exoticism
· Ballet and Neo-platonism

A selection of papers will be published.
Call for papers: 1 March 2010

For information please contact Barbara Grammeniati