Ballet for the Sun King

VERSAILLES

J. B. Lully, A. Campra, J. F. Rebel, M. R. Delalande

Saturday 26 July 2003, 7.30 pm
Dvořák Hall of Rudolfinum, Náměstí Jana Palacha, Praha 1

Jean-Marc Piquemal (France)
choreography, dance

Collegium Marianum
music & dance ensemble (Czech Republic)

Jana Semerádová – artistic director

Lenka Koubková, Adéla Drozdová – baroque violin
Lydie Cillerová, Vojtěch Semerád – baroque viola
Marek Niewiedzial, Rafael Przybyla – baroque oboe
Jana Semerádová, Martina Bernášková – flauto traverso, dolce, piccolo piccolo, recorder
Hana Fleková – viola da gamba
Daniela Furthnerová – baroque cello
Ondřej Štajnochr – violone
Jan Krejča – theorbo
Monika Knoblochová – harpsichord
Kryštof Lada – baroque bassoon
Ivan Hozneder – percussions

Andrea Miltnerová, Romana Kmecová, Michael Sebíň, Tomáš Kubín – dance
Markéta Stormová – costumes

Among the artistic forms that helped France become one of the leading artistic forces in Baroque Europe counted above all dance music and ballet choreographies. Their development was closely related to the government of Louis XIV at whose court dance became an everyday part of social rituals. In the closing performance of the festival, the ensemble in residence Collegium Marianum in collaboration with the French choreographer and dancer Jean-Marc Piquemal presented some of the most beautiful as well as most typical examples of the repertoire of the French court. The programme comprised dances from the operas and comedies composed for the court by M. Marais and A. Campra  as well as royal symphonies and concertos by F. Couperin and M.-R. Delalande. A number of the items on the programme came from the operas by J.-B. Lully who undoubtedly was one of the foremost authors of French ballet music.