La Belle Dame

“La Belle Dame” reunified Béatrice Massin with the repertoire of baroque dances. This exceptional moment offered the opportunity to move away from the “idolization” of the repertoire.

La Belle Dame reunified Béatrice Massin with the repertoire of baroque dances. This exceptional moment offered the opportunity to move away from the “idolization” of the repertoire. More than anything else, it is a celebration of music and dance. We wanted to give the work a touch of humour, to embrace joy, in all these dances that are each more beautiful than the other.

The “Belle Dame” is, as such, an unprecedented piece of work, bringing together a range of baroque music and baroque dance. This French musical and choreographic legacy is presented in an absolute show that blends together living music and dance. The dances of the “Belle Dame” portray the music of 17th century France. To see and to recreate these dances is a way of re-questioning today’s baroque music.

“La Belle Dame” is a tribute to Francine Lancelot and evokes her work. Dancer, choreographer, pedagogue and researcher, Francine Lancelot played a crucial role in the “belle danse” (the baroque dance) of the 17th century. This performance illuminates her sparkling personality, her delight in dancing, her willingness that shines forth in her teaching, her desire to discover. With her, knowing was always a matter for question, nothing was certain. These never-ending interrogations gave Béatrice Massin a taste for baroque and, as such, her questioning.

In 2011, the reruns of “Atys” and La Belle Dame are two magnificent opportunities to pay tribute to a beautiful lady of dance and to reconcile baroque music and dance once again, as one cannot exist without the other.