| Apollon, Comus et La NuitbyNicolas Bernier |
| March 14 at 7:30 in Caruth Auditorium at SMU in Dallas, TexasPresented by The Dallas Bach SocietyTicket DFW The Duchesse du Maine, Louise Bénédicte de Bourbon (1676–1753) with her revels in politics and the arts, and her popular salon at the Château de Sceaux, was a legendary insomniac and famous for her nocturnal fêtes at Sceaux. Her “court” was the opposite of that of Louis XIV known as the Sun King. She was the Moon. The Duchesse was the patroness of the cantata: Apollon, La Nuit et Comus (1715) by Nicolas Bernier. |
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| We look forward to seeing you on Saturday! |
| Notes on the Dance There are no surviving period dance-notation scores from Apollon, La Nuit et Comus. In the period, it is known that many choreographers were not champions of dance notation, as the system in use only recorded the steps of the dance and not the dramatic action. Hence, Ms. Turocy has had to choreograph the work by drawing on her experience in reconstructing period-dance notations (over 300), using steps and movement described in the following treatises: Chorégraphie by Raoul Anger Feuillet (published in Paris, 1700), Louis de Cahusac’s La Danse ancienne et modern, ou Traité historique de la Danse (The Hague, 1754) and others. Most helpful was Claude-François Ménestrier’s essays “On Ancient and Modern Musical Productions” (Des Représentations en musique anciennes et modernes , 1681) and “On Ancient and Modern Ballets, After The Rules of Theatre” (Des Ballets anciens et modernes selon les règles du théâtre , 1682) which were influential in the development of ballet as a dramatic style capable of expressing emotion and narrating a complex story. He drew upon accounts of ancient Roman texts on pantomime. The 18th-century ballet technique uses a 90-degree rotation of the legs, pointed and relaxed foot, complicated pirouettes with varying foot placements, full range leg extensions, and various expressive attitudes, as well as acrobatic and virtuosic steps for grotesque characters. There are three genres of dance styles: la danse noble et héroique dominates and employs balancing on the points of the toes, the indeterminate pirouette (where the dancer spins for as long as possible), graceful attitudes of the body, as well as virtuosic dance passages. The port de bras and high use of the arms are typical of the “high dancing” used on the stage. Following the Italian tradition that influenced French practice, pantomimic gestures associated with danza parlante are used in la danse demi-caractère style. The more exaggerated and acrobatic grotesco style works well with comic characters. |
The New York Baroque Dance Company, Catherine Turocy, Artistic Director, Choreographer
Dancers
Julia Bengtsson, Co-director, as a Bacchante
Kaede Hibara as the Shepherdess
Glenda Cearley Norcross as the Duchesse
Alexis Silver as a Lady of the Court
Brynt Beitman as a Gentleman of the Court
Facundo Ferreyra as the Shepherd
Patrick Pride as a follower of Bacchus
The New York Baroque Dance Co. 
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