result in a higher level of morality. It was from this marriage of traditional grand spectacle and conscious measured order that court ballets were born. Jean-Baptiste Lully is considered the most important composer of music for ballet de cour and instrumental to the development of the form. During his employment by Louis XIV as director of the Académie Royale de Music, he worked with Pierre Beauchamp, Molière, Philippe Quinault and Mademoiselle De Lafontaine to develop ballet as an art form equal to that of the accompanying music. Notable works Ballet des Polonais was one of the first works to be recognized as a true court ballet. The spectacle was commissioned by Catherine de’ Medici in 1573 to celebrate the election of her second son, Henry of Anjou, as King of Poland. Performed at the Tuileries Palace and organized by the Italian dancing master, Balthasar de Beaujoyeulx, the hour-long ballet consisted of sixteen amateur French ladies representing the sixteen provinces of France. Describing it as the most beautiful ballet ever made on earth, the court observer Brantome recounted that they “danced their ballet so curiously designed, with so many turns, swerves, and sinuosities, interlacings and minglings, confrontations and withdrawals, that [it was surprising that] no lady ever failed to be at her appointed turn or place.” Although its combination of verse, song and dance had been used before, the intricate figure dancing involved in the Ballet des Polonais marked the beginning of the French style that would become the dominant continental school over the next century. The first ballet de cour to fuse dance, poetry, music and design into a coherent dramatic statement was the Ballet Comique de la Reine, performed in 1581. As part of the wedding celebration for the queen’s sister, Marguerite of Lorraine and the Duc de Joyeuse, the plot based on Ulysses’ encounter with Circe was symbolic of the country’s desire to heal old wounds and restore peace after religious civil wars. Reaching new heights in scale and diversity, the lavish five-hour production included a three tiered fountain, palace, garden, townscape, and chariot-floats. As with Ballet de Polonais, Beaujoyeulx choreographed and oversaw the Ballet Comique, using form, geometry, measure, and discipline as a foundation that would later develop into the codified ballet technique. An important step towards the ballet de cour in its final form was done during the reign of Louis XIII, with such rich and