The job of the artist is to deepen the mystery. – Francis Bacon
Early precursors to ballets were lavish court entertainments of Renaissance Italy. The first ballet for which a complete score has survived was performed in Paris in 1581. Professional dancers first appeared in the mid-1600s. Court ballet reached its peak during the reign (1643-1715) of Louis XIV, whose title the Sun King was derived from a role he danced in a ballet. Many ballets presented at his court were created by Italian-French composer Jean Baptiste Lully and French choreographer Pierre Beauchamp, who is said to have defined the five positions of the feet.
Death is not an event in life: we do not live to experience death. If we take eternity to mean not temporal duration but timelessness, then eternal life belongs to those who live in the present. – Ludwig Wittgenstein
Image from ArtForge