Jean-Georges Noverre
French choreographer and dancer
Jean-Georges Noverre, (born April 29, 1727, Paris, France—died October 19, 1810, Saint-Germain-en-Laye), distinguished French choreographer whose revolutionary treatise, Lettres sur la danse et sur les ballets (1760), still valid, brought about major reforms in ballet production, stressing the importance of dramatic motivation, which he called ballet d'action, and decrying overemphasis on technical virtuosity. His first choreographic success, Les Fêtes chinoises (1754), attracted the attention of David Garrick, who presented it in London in 1755. After producing such masterpieces as Medée et Jason and Psyché et l'Amour (at Stuttgart, 1760–67), he was appointed ballet master at the Paris Opéra in 1776.
dance: The debate in the West
…Letters on Dancing and Ballets) Jean-Georges Noverre, the great French choreographer and ballet master, deplored this development. He argued that dance is meaningless unless it has some dramatic and expressive content and that movement should become more natural and accommodate a wider range of expression: "I think . . .…
dance: Drama in Western theatre dance
Later in the 18th century Jean-Georges Noverre reacted against the purely decorative form into which ballet had developed. He believed that mime should be as close to natural gesture as possible and that dance movement should not be meaninglessly decorative but should reflect the ballet's action.…
opera: The reform
…of the outstanding French dancer-choreographer Jean-Georges Noverre. Seminal in Noverre's call for reform was the insistence that a ballet not be a simple collection of unconnected episodes but be shaped into a mimed dance drama. Gluck's ballet Don Juan (1761) was the earliest of his scores to place him among…
stagecraft: Costume of the 18th and 19th centuries
The French ballet master Jean-Georges Noverre had advocated drastic reform in dance dress as early as 1760. He proposed to put his dancers in simple draperies of contrasting colours, worn in such a manner as to reveal the figure in movement. Both male and female dancers became increasingly impatient…
Western dance: Noverre and his contemporaries
The French dancer-choreographer-teacher Jean-Georges Noverre (1727–1810) was the first major reformer of ballet. He defined his artistic positions in Lettres sur la danse et sur les ballets (Letters on Dancing and Ballets), published in 1760 and continuously reprinted ever since. He worked in Paris, London, Stuttgart, and Vienna,…
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11 references found in Britannica articles
advocacy of ballet d'action
In ballet d'action
contribution to Stuttgart Ballet
In Stuttgart Ballet
influence on
In ballet: The establishment of the ballet d'action
In dance: The debate in the West
In dance: Drama in Western theatre dance
In Western dance: Noverre and his contemporaries
In choreography
In stagecraft: Costume of the 18th and 19th centuries
In opera: The reform
relation to
Angiolini
In Gasparo Angiolini
October 19, 1810 (aged 83)
Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France
subjects of study
Britannica Websites
Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students.
Jean-Georges Noverre - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up)
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