Le Ballet comique de la reine

This production, performed 15 Oct. 1581, is widely acknowledged as the first ballet, although other court spectacles in a similar vein preceded it. It was performed at the Salle de Bourbon in the Louvre, a lavish marriage of music, song, and dance staged by Balthasar de Beaujoyeux (or Beaujoyeulx) on the occasion of the marriage of the Duc de Joyeuse and the Queen's sister, Mlle de Vaudemont. Running from 10 p.m. to 3.30 a.m., the ballet presented scenes from the legend of Circe. It was hugely successful and exorbitantly expensive and ensured its place in history with a lavishly illustrated book.