Little is known about the life of M. Saint Hubert. His treatise on the proper and successful composition of a ballet, however, tells us a great deal about the structure and values of the ballet entréées.
Although not particularly original, his treatise does reflect the tastes of the mid-seventeenth century (Cohen,p.31). It is interesting to note St. Hubert's mention that he "would like to see people dance according to the characters they represent .." This indicates a development from the sixteenth century court ballets, where comportment and body gestures were dictated by court etiquette, decorum and gender, and characterization was shown primarily through costume and the use of iconographical attributions.
The following selections from St. Hubert's work are of interest in relation to the structure of Le Balet Comique de la Reine, and to the process of artistic development in the ballet du cour.*
A great ballet, which we call a royal ballet usually includes thirty entrées. A fine ballet contains at least twenty entrées. And a small ballet, from ten to twelve. Not that it is necessary to comply with this rule but rather with the subject that requires the number to be either increased or decreases.Of Subjects
Entrées should be organized in such a way that the number of dancers appearing in each will be different; that two using the same number will not be too close together; and that entrées with just one or two protagonists will be kept at a minimum. Those with three, four, five, six, seven, and eight dancers are the most attractive and make possible the most beautiful figures; it is true that those with seven and eight are rarely used because they would require too many dancers except for a finale or in great ballets which require brilliance, or when they are necessary to indicate the conclusion of a ballet, or when it is necessary to indicate the conclusion of the ballet....
Of Dancing
It is not that good dancers would not be even more successful, but there are some entrées where it is a waste to use them; they should be kept for fine dancing and the best steps, for the beauty of a ballet requires that there be some good dancers and entrées perfectly danced.
Ballet being a silent play, costumes and actions must enable the spectators to recognize what is represented, and the choreographer must create steps and figures that permit the dancers to perform with what they have to carry.
*(selections from La maniére de composer at faire réussir les ballets, taken from Cohen,p.33-35).
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