French dancer, choreographer and ballet-master.

Harvard reference:

Born in Paris, he studied dance with Louis Dupré of the Paris Opera, but opted for a career as a choreographer instead. He was ballet-master at the Paris Opera Comique (1754), the royal court theatre of Württemberg (now the Stuttgart Ballet, 1760-66) and the Paris Opera (under the patronage of Queen Marie Antoinette, 1776-79). He also worked extensively in Lyons, Vienna and Milan. In 1760 he published his important Lettres sur la danse ("Letters on Dance"). During the French Revolution he formed a company at the King's Theatre, London, where he staged his last of approximately 150 ballets, none of which has survived. He claimed invention of the notion of the ballet d'action, in which truthful movement expression was integrated with plot, music and décor. This theory has had a great influence on ballet as it is known and practised today.

 

French dancer, choreographer and ballet-master

Harvard reference: 

Born in Versailles, he trained in music and dance, and made his debut in 1650. Later he became Superintendent of the Court Ballet of Louis XIV, with which he also performed. In 1671 he was appointed director of the Académie Royale de Danse. He choreographed many ballets, including those for operas and comedies by Jean Baptiste Lully and Molière, all now lost. He was known as a dancer of dignity and virtuosity able to execute remarkable pirouettes and tours en l'air. Some credit him with the invention of classical ballet's five positions. He also created his own notation system.

French dancer, choreographer, ballet master, and composer, who is credited with inventing the five classic positions of classical ballet. He trained as a violinist and dancer, making his debut as the latter in 1648, in the court ballet Le Dérèglement des passions. He subsequently appeared in many ballets de cour with Louis XIV, whom he taught. In 1661 he was appointed the first Intendant des Ballets du Roi, thus making him responsible for the staging of all ballets at court. As a choreographer he collaborated frequently with the composer Lully, the two of them sometimes contributing both music and steps to the same production (Lully had himself started his career as a dancer). Together they radically shaped the evolution of ballet, both at court and at the newly founded Paris Opera. As a composer Beauchamps also worked with Molière (who was in fact a relative) and contributed the score and choreography for the latter's 1661 comedy-ballet, Les Fâcheux (as well as conducting the orchestra). This was the first of many collaborations with Molière; later productions included Le Mariage forcé (1664) and Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme(1670), both of which had music by Lully. On 19 Mar. 1671 Beauchamps choreographed Pomone, the first opera produced at the Paris Opera. In 1672 he joined the Paris Opera as ballet master, working in partnership with Lully until 1687, when Lully died and Beauchamps retired. In 1680 he was appointed chancellor of the Académie Royale de Danse. His most famous production was Le Triomphe de l'amour (1681), which was notable for featuring the first public appearance of professional female dancers. Following his retirement from the Paris Opera, he continued to work as court choreographer. As a dancer he was noted for his brilliant technique, and is said to have been one of the first to execute tours en l'air. He also designed his own system of notation, and in 1704 sued his rival notator Raoul-Auger Feuillet for plagiarism. Beauchamps lost. Rather than inventing the five classic ballet positions of arms and feet, he was probably the first to codify them. He is sometimes described as ‘the father of all ballet masters’. He was also a noted art collector.