Staging strategies and interdisciplinary coordination in 17th-century court ballets

Abstract

The relevance of the study is driven by a paradoxical imbalance of the early modern period. While the artistic environment of the time was abundant in narrow specialists (musicians, designers, stage masters), the figure capable of synthesis and dramaturgical organization of the performance remained scarce and insufficiently studied in historiography. The problem lies in the limitation of the modern understanding of the concept of “choreography”, which, as a result of later historical reduction, is often narrowed down to a purely movement-based practice, ignoring the multimedia and interdisciplinary nature of early modern performances.

The purpose of the article is to theoretically substantiate staging strategies and mechanisms of interdisciplinary coordination in 17th-century court ballet based on the treatise by Nicolas de Saint-Hubert “La Manière de composer et faire réussir les ballets” (1641).

Methods. The study employed a comprehensive methodological toolkit encompassing theoretical-methodological and historical-genetic analysis of performative sources, the method of deconstruction of essentialist concepts, as well as interdisciplinary synthesis at the intersection of theatre historiography, choreology, and media theory.

The scientific significance of the study lies in overcoming reductionist views of early choreography as a purely movement discipline, introducing key categories of baroque poetics (compositio, lose Handlungsdramaturgie) into scientific circulation, and substantiating the genetic link between early modern coordination practices and contemporary directing art.

Results. It has been proven that in Nicolas de Saint-Hubert's coordinate system, ballet emerged as a heterogeneous multimedia entity where dance did not function as an autonomous dominant, but was fully subordinated to the dramaturgical logic of the plot (le sujet). It functioned as an integrating factor that coordinated the activities of musicians, costume designers, and stage machinery masters, transforming potentially chaotic elements into a harmonious artistic work.

Conclusions. The practice of compositio (putting together) and “loose dramaturgical action” (lose Handlungsdramaturgie) described in the treatise are highly productive models for rethinking authorship in contemporary performative art. This perspective proves that “extended choreography” is not a modernist invention, but a fundamental property of the European theatrical tradition that preceded the strict disciplinary differentiation of arts. The study opens prospects for further comparative analysis of European analogues of this figure (Italian corago, English master of the revels), which will allow for a deeper disclosure of the universal character of staging practices in the early modern era.