Dancer, choreographer, and ballet master, born in Versailles, NC France. He became superintendent of the Court Ballets of Louis XIV, and in 1671 was appointed director of the Académie Royale de Danse. Some credit him with the invention of classical ballet's five positions, which he codified. He also created his own dance notation system.
Pierre Beauchamp (also Beauchamps, sometimes mistakenly called Charles-Louis Beauchamp) (1631–1705) was a French choreographer, dancer and composer, and the probable inventor of Beauchamp-Feuillet notation. He was made director of the Académie Royale de Danse soon after it was founded in 1661 (although he was not a founding member of the Académie as is often claimed) and in this position he was highly influential in the development of French baroque dance.
Writing some years after the events, Pierre Rameau credits Beauchamp with the codification of the five positions of the feet, as well as a role in the development of the use of arms (note though that, unlike the positions of the feet, the use of arms in baroque dance differs significantly from their use in ballet).
Two choreographies survive in manuscript copies with attributions to Beauchamp: the ballroom duet Rigaudons de mr bauchand, and the theatrical solo for a man Sarabande de Mr. de Beauchamp.
User Comments Add a comment…