Ballet in the Theaters of the Radziwill Princes in the 18th Century

The appearance of the first ballet productions and the emergence of professional education for dancers on the territory of Belarus in the 18th century is associated with the activities of the theaters of the magnates — the wealthiest representatives of the highest nobility of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Russia and Zhmud, which included present-day Belarusian lands. The theater stages, equipped with complex mechanisms and decorations for creating a variety of sound and visual effects, were where the leading choreographers and dancers of their time worked. The most durable and large-scale activities were those of private theaters created and functioning at the expense of the ‘uncrowned kings’ of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, the princes Radziwiłłs. The representatives of this family demonstrated sincere interest in art and made their courtyards the center of cultural life and artistic education of their time. To teach the art of the ballet to their own children, people close to the court and cadets of the ‘Knight’s Academy’ created by the Radziwiłłs based on the model of the Saxon educational institution for the military, the princes invited famous professional dancers from France and the Italian kingdoms to work. In order to form permanent dance troupes at their theaters in Slutsk and Niasviž, the Radziwiłłs established ballet schools. The heyday of the art of ballet on the theater stages belonging to the Radziwiłłs dates back to 1777–1790. During this period, along with choreographers from European countries, Belarusian dancer Antony Loiko began engaging himself in productions of ballet divertissements and interludes. Student of ballet reformer Jean-Georges Noverre, Francesco Caselli staged several ballet performances with detailed dramatic plots, one of which was Orfeusz w piekle (Orpheus in Hell) to the music of the German composer and leader of the Niasviž Chapel, Jan Dawid Holland. The activities of the theaters belonging to the Radziwiłłs in the 18th century were of great significance for the development of the art of dance, as well as education for people of different social strata. Because of the latter’s personal participation in performances, not only representatives of the nobility, but also peasants, bourgeois and soldiers were introduced to classical European music and ballet. Children who successfully completed their studies at schools with leading European choreographers acquired a profession that allowed them to later work in different theaters and provide themselves with a comfortable existence

Art · Art history · Ballet · Dance · Knight · Nobility · Political science · Visual arts · Central European and Russian historical studies · Historical and Cultural Studies of Poland · Historical Geopolitical and Social Dynamics · History · Law