Ballet de la Nuit (Wendy Hilton Dance and Music Series)

This new study brings together visual images and scholarly discussion of Le Ballet de la Nuit, a major ballet de cour organised by Louis de Hesselin and first performed in the Louvre's Salle du Petit Bourbon in 1653. Le Ballet de la Nuit was notable for many reasons: most prominent among them was the involvement of the young Louis XIV, who danced in five different roles, including his most famous role as the Sun King, accompanied by chosen courtiers and professional dancers, singers and acrobats.

The present publication focuses on the exquisitely produced volume presented to de Hesselin (who also performed in the work), which passed into the hands of the Rothschild family at Waddesdon Manor, and is now in the ownership of the National Trust. The contents of the Waddesdon source are reproduced in facsimile, together with the printed vers pour les personages, lists of performers, cues for special effects, and the running order of the entrées. They are accompanied by essays by Michael Burden, Catherine Massip, David Parrott, and Jennifer Thorp which interpret and discuss cultural patronage at the Court of Louis XIV, the musical context, dances and dancers, and the costumes and scenography of this unique and extraordinary ballet, while Lionel Sawkins provides a modern edition of the surviving music.