Ballet, Sleeping Beauty and Ballet Comique De La Reine

A detailed Summary of Ballet, Sleeping Beauty and Ballet Comique De La Reine

Both Ballet Comique De La Reine and Sleeping Beauty have some similarities of the royal French Court such as costumes, some social dancing, mannerisms and scenery. They were both very expensive and lavish ballets. The first act of Sleeping Beauty is a portrayal of what the royal French courts were like around the same time as Ballet Comique De La Reine. But, both ballets have differences, especially in the time and location of the ballets. Besides the fact that Ballet Comique De La Reine was five hours long and Sleeping Beauty was approximately 1hr and 47 minutes, there is a difference in time periods as well. There is approximately a 209-year difference between the choreography of the two ballets. Ballet Comique De La Reine of 1581 was choreographed in France while Petipa choreographed Sleeping Beauty of 1890 in Russia. Ballet Comique De La Reine was held by the actual real French court while Sleeping Beauty was an imitation. Since Sleeping Beauty was supposed to resemble the court life of the Renaissance/Baroque period, the cast were only performers who played the roles of royalty. Ballet Comique De La Reine was done in 1581 when ballets were participatory. The performers interacted with the audience(including royalty).

The inspirations of the two ballets were different also. The characters in Ballet Comique De La Reine were based on Greek Mythological figures. The ballet, Sleeping Beauty was based on a fairy tale by Perrault. Unlike Ballet Comique De La Reine.

Sleeping Beauty was inspired by the lifestyle of the Renaissance and Baroque period. After the princess had awoken after 100 years of sleep, the construction of the second and third act paid homage to the French Baroque period. There were dances included such as the Mazurka and Sara bond.

Overall, Sleeping Beauty is definitely a fairy tale on stage. The proscenium stage frames the ballet like a live storybook away from the real world and audience. The angelic ballerina's appear too perfect to be real. Although Ballet Comique De La Reine was made to distract Queen Medici's royal court from fighting, the ballet is more realistic. The audience isn't so distant especially since they could dance with the performers.

Although, the corps de ballet dancers formed designs in unison in Sleeping Beauty, there was at least a little variation when the dancers got a chance to come out independently as soloist to show off their virtuosity skills unlike in Ballet Comique De La Reine. By this 1890, females outfit of a long and bulky skirt and long sleeves shirt had changed to a short tutu with a tight bodice which exposed her body and line more. The woman had become an ethereal and angel like character who seemed unreal. While the emphasis being placed on one star dancer such as Princess Aurora in Sleeping Beauty, it was more on the beauty of what the whole ball

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Approximate Word count = 1084
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English