From Theatre Plays to Pantomime Ballets: Postics of Adaptation in the Second Half of the 18th Century

One of the main points of the aesthetics of pantomime ballet as developed by Noverre and Angiolini in the second half of the 18th century is that ballet should prove its worth in comparison with theatre by embracing all its subjects, from comedy to tragedy. Therefore, ballet adaptations of famous theatre plays including tragedies became a commonplace phenomenon, which raised important issues and presented the choreographers with very specific challenges. This paper will focus on the poetics of ballet adaptation by considering Noverre’s and Angiolini’s thoughts on this matter in their theoretical texts along with ballet prefaces by other French and Italian choreographers of the time, before offering a series of case studies. It will examine the theoretical issues of the limitations of the mute language of dance and pantomime and of the essential differences between ballet and play. By doing so, it will also highlight the choreographers’ contradictory desire to make ballet benefit from the prestige of theatre without forsaking their artistic creativity by having to be slavishly true to their source material.