Dictionary:

divertissement

  (də-vûr'tĭs-mənt, dē-vĕr-tēs-mäN')

1. A short performance, typically a ballet, that is presented as an interlude in an opera or play.
2. Music. See divertimento.
3. A diversion; an amusement.

[French, from divertir, to divert, from Old French. See divert.]

Term used in France since the 17th century for music, usually with spectacle and dance, intended for diversion. The major Baroque composers wrote divertissements in larger theatrical works. Others, such as the grands divertissements ordered by Louis XIV in 1664 and 1674, were self-contained entertainments resembling Italian serenatas. See also Divertimento.

divertissement (Fr., entertainment). A term originally given to the songs and dances which featured in 18th-century stage spectacles, either as inter-act diversions or as episodes loosely connected with the plot. It is also used to describe (1) the ballet interludes which featured in many 18th-century French operas, such as Rameau's Platée and Gluck's Iphigénie en Aulide and (2) the suite of dances which often dominated the final acts of late 19th-century ballets (e.g. the dances performed by fairy-tale characters in The Sleeping Beauty). The term is also given to concert programmes of varied solos, duets, and small group dances.