Moreover, the early organization and development of 'court ballet' was funded by, influenced by and produced by the aristocrats of the time, fulfilling both their personal entertainment and political propaganda needs.In the late 17th century Louis XIV founded the Académie Royale de Musique (the Paris Opera) within which emerged the first professional theatrical ballet company, the Paris Opera Ballet.
The first ballet de cour was the Ballet de Polonais.
This Ballet was performed in 1573 on the occasion of the visit of the Polish Ambassador.
The title of Sun King for the French monarch, originated in Louis XIV's role in Lully's Ballet de la Nuit (1653).
The fourteen-year-old Louis XIV danced five roles in this 12-hour ballet.
played a significant role in establishing the general direction ballet would follow for the next century.
Supported and admired by King Louis XIV, Lully often cast the king in his ballets.The ballet lasted for more than five hours and was danced by twenty-four dancers: twelve naiades and twelve pages.In the same year, the publication of Fabritio Caroso's Il Ballarino, a technical manual on court dancing, both performance and social, helped to establish Italy as a centre of technical ballet development.The French word in turn has its origins in Italian balletto, a diminutive of ballo (dance). Along with his students, Antonio Cornazzano and Guglielmo Ebreo da Pesaro, he was trained in dance and responsible for teaching nobles the art.Ballet ultimately traces back to Italian ballare, meaning "to dance". Da Piacenza left one work: De arte saltandi et choreus ducendi (On the art of dancing and conducting dances), which was put together by his students.The dances were linked by a slim narrative concerning Jason and the Argonauts, and each corresponded to a different course for the dinner.Tristano Calco of Milan wrote about the event, and it was considered so impressive, that many similar spectacles were organized elsewhere.The predominance of French in the vocabulary of ballet reflects this history.Theatrical ballet soon became an independent form of art, although still frequently maintaining a close association with opera, and spread from the heart of Europe to other nations.His understanding of movement and dance allowed him to compose specifically for ballet, with musical phrasings that complemented physical movements.Lully also collaborated with the French playwright Molière.