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LEFT DANCING 268 DANCOTTET Botta, at Tortona, to celebrate the mar- riage of the Duke of Milan in 1489. This was famous throughout the civilized world. From that time great events, such as royal marriages and births, were celebrated by grand productions of ballet on which enormous sums of money were lavished. These ballets were frequently historical in subject, treating of the Siege of Troy, the Conquests of Alex- ander, and similar events. There were also msrthological, poetical, moral, and fantastic ballets, on such subjects as the Judgment of Paris, the Seasons, Truth, the Diversions of the Carnival, etc. All these were in five acts, each of which consisted of three, six, nine, or twelve en- tries, and in all of them singing and re- citation mingled with the dancing. Catherine de Medici introduced the ballet into France, and encouraged dances by females that would now be deemed highly improper, to distract the attention of her son, Henry III., from state affairs. Henry IV. was a great supporter of the ballet, no fewer than 80 grand entertainments being given by him between 1589 and 1610. Louis XIII. and Louis XIV. carried their love of ballet to an extreme length, and themselves danced publicly. In 1661 the latter founded an Academy of the Dance, with Quinault as director, and Lully as composer. It was not until 1681 that female dancers ap- peared in public, the first being four ladies, who danced "La Triomphe de I'Amour." In the early part of the 18th century the names of professional dancers begin to appear, two of the most famous being Miles. Salle and Camargo, immortalized by Voltaire. The great male dancer of this time was Dupre, the predecessor of the universally known Gaetano Vestris. In 1697 De la Motte introduced more changes into the ballet, chiefly in the direction of more interesting subjects, and about the same time comic ballets were invented by Danchet; but no im- portant alterations were made till the advent of Jean George Noverre in 1749. The dancers wore masks, huge wigs and headdresses, and hoops. The mask finally disappeared in 1773. Hitherto the form of the ballet had remained practically unchanged, each act being performed by different dancers, and generally in dif- ferent styles of dancing. Noverre in- vented the ballet d'action, and revived the art of pantomime. Dancing now had dramatic meaning, and the most intricate plots were represented by pantomime alone. The principles of Noverre were carried to great perfection by Vincenzo Galleotti in Copenhagen, and bv his suc- cessor, Bournonville. Under the Direc- tory a form of grand ballet was revived. in which patriotic songs were a dis- tinctive feature. The history of the ballet since No- verre's time is a history of dancers rather than of dancing. In England, this class of entertainment was never more than an exotic, and has practically no history. The word balette is first used in English by Dryden (1667), and the earliest attempt at a descriptive bal- let seems to have been "The Tavern Bil- kers," played at Drury Lane in 1702. Within the last few years an important revival of the ballet has taken place in Italy, where the famous "Excelsior," by the Chevalier Luigi Manzotti, Messalina, Amor, etc., have furnished magnificent examples of the ballet d'action. Skirt-dancing, so-called on account of the voluminous skirts made of sheer or flimsy material, which are worn by the dancers and play so important a part in their dances, has become a science and a popular attraction on the stage. The dancers, by the clever manipulation of their draperies and assisted by light ef- fects, assume such forms as flowers; the rose, calla lily, pansies, pinks; butterflies of different colors, and flags of various nationalities; all to the accompaniment of music. Among the most noted skirt dancers were Amelia Glover, Loie Fuller, the inventor of the serpentine dance, Pa- pinta, and Anna Held. The beginning of the twentieth century saw a great revival in the popularity of dancing, both in spectacular and individ- ual dances. Interpretive dancing also was developed by many foreign and American artists. Russian dances be- came especially popular in the United States and elsewhere. Among the most famous of the Russian dancers were Mme. Pavlowa and Michael Fokine. Mi and Mrs. Vernon Castle introduced in the United States a variety of dances which became exceedingly popular, and for a time dancing became well-nigh an epidemic. Various dances, some of them derived from the barbaric dances of sav- age tribes, were found so objectionable that they were suppressed. The late de- velopment of the dance was the so-called jazz, which developed in a large variety of forms. Dancing became one of the courses in the public schools and children were in- structed in folk and interpretive dances on a large scale. DANCOtJBT (don-kor'), properly Florent Carton, a French playwright and dramatic artist; born in Fontaine- bleau in 1661. His best low comedies or farces were: "The Fashionable Cheva- lier"; "The Winsome Gardener." He presented village life with perfect truth,