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Dancing and court ballets were popular entertainments during the reign of King Louis XIV of France. Raoul-Auger Feuillet and Pierre Beauchamp (1631–1705) developed a notation system for choreography to record the steps and movements for both performance and social dances. This graphic notation records how the two dancers, Monsieur Blonde and Mademoiselle Victoire, moved around each other in the premiere of André Campra’s opera Tancrède in 1702. The principal lines signify where the dancers moved, while the shorter lines, curves, and hatch marks define movements of their feet and arms.

Raoul-Auger Feuillet (1659 or 1660–1710), Recüeil de dances (Paris: Chez le sieur Feüillet, 1704). Donated by Mrs. Jayne Wrightsman in honor of Mrs. Annette de la Renta; PML 198325.