PIERRE BEAUCHAMP

'Pierre Beauchamp' (also 'Beauchamps', sometimes mistakenly called Charles-Louis Beauchamp) (1631–1705) was a French choreographer, dancer and composer, and the probable inventor of Beauchamp-Feuillet notation. He was made director of the Académie Royale de Danse in 1671 (although he was not a founding member of the Académie as is often claimed). He was principal choreographer to Molière's acting company (the Troupe du Roy) during 1664-1673; in addition he was ballet master at the Académie Royale de Musique and ''Compositeur des Ballets du Roi''. In these positions he was highly influential in the development of French baroque dance.
Writing some years after the events, Pierre Rameau credits Beauchamp with the codification of the five positions of the feet^[1], as well as a role in the development of the use of arms^[2] (note though that, unlike the positions of the feet, the use of arms in baroque dance differs significantly from their use in ballet). Rameau also states that Beauchamp gave dance lessons to Louis XIV for over twenty-two years^[3].
Two choreographies survive in manuscript copies with attributions to Beauchamp: the ballroom duet ''Rigaudons de mr bauchand'', and the theatrical solo for a man ''Sarabande de Mr. de Beauchamp''. The sarabande is unusual amongst the surviving male solos because although it requires a virtuoso technique, with its pirouettes and many ornamented steps, it contains no aerial beaten steps.

Contents

References

References

1. Rameau, Pierre; ''Le maître a danser'' (Paris, 1725), Première partie, Chap. III
2. ibid., Seconde partie, Chap. I
3. ibid., Première partie, Chap. XXVI

A facsimile of a 1748 edition of Rameau's book can be found at The Library of Congress' An American Ballroom Companion.