Don Juan, ou le festin de pierre
Quick Summary
Don Juan, ou le festin de pierre is a ballet drama choreographed by Gasparo Angiolini in 1761, with music by Christoph Gluck. It is based on Molière's play of the same name and was a significant development in ballet, integrating dance, music, and plot to convey action through movement.1
The ballet tells the story of Don Juan, a legendary libertine known for seducing women and defying death. In the ballet's narrative, Don Juan invites the stone effigy of a murdered father to dinner, and the ghost appears, heralding Don Juan's doom. This ballet was part of Angiolini's broader reform efforts to make ballet more expressive and integrated, moving away from mere displays of technique. While Marius Petipa also choreographed a ballet titled Don Quixote, Don Juan, ou le festin de pierre is distinct and predates Petipa's work.213
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