Dance and Costumes. Elna Matamoros

Still today we find spontaneous cases of differentiation before a nude man or woman; vid. infra, chap. 3.

      2 vid. supra, chap. 2.

      3 “[…] in a nutshell, a little more naked than if she were naked, all the more naked because she wears a necklace of pearls and bracelets; we can assume that these jewels are only there to hide the lines of the maillot. This m aillot, i f t here w as a m aillot, w as v ery transparent, since it allowed seeing the iridescent flower of the breasts and the black spot of the navel, this eye of the torso, according to Ingres,” commented Arsène Houssaye; cit. pos WITKOWSKI-NASS, Le nu au théâtre… 1909, p. 53. .

      4 fig. 3.1 - Armande Béjart “saying the prologue to entertain the King.” The bracelets and the pearl necklace make one think that perhaps she only simulated nudity, and the ending seals of her costume in neckline, hands and feet, were concealed by her jewels. It is a resource that the designers of Les Ballets Russes would use later to dissimulate the end of sleeves and leotards in the nude maillots that the dancers wore under their costumes; vid. chap. 3.

      5 WITKOWSKI-NASS, Le nu…, p. 58.

      6 CHAZIN-BENNAHUM, The Lure of Perfection… 2004, p. 105.

      7 vid. supra, chap. 2 & fig. 2.3.

      8 CHAZIN-BENNAHUM, The Lure…, p. 44.

      9 In English, security bloomers. About this conflict, ibid., p. 242.

      10 vid. infra, fig. 7.6 - Fifth position sur la pointe. The legs are kept very close together, keeping the purity of the position even on pointe.

      11 WILLET-CUNNINGHTON, The History of Underclothes… 1992, p. 68.

      12 JENYNS, The Art of Dancing… 1729, p. 12. Willet and Cunninghton, op. cit., p. 69, includes it, referring to a later edition (1730), with some minor changes.

      13 WITKOWSKI-NASS, Le nu au théâtre…, p. 76.

      14 GUEST, Le Ballet de l’Opéra… 1976, transl, p. 18. In no case can we consider the affirmation of La Ca margo as a re sponse to Ca sanova, wh ose Memoirs, wh ere th e anecdote is collected, were written between 1789 and 1798, several years after the death of La Camargo, and published after the death of the writer himself, first in a German transl.: Aus den Memoiren des Venetianers Jacob Casanova… 1822-28 [in 12 vols.], and then in French [a paradoxical French translation from the German one, after the original French manuscripts which the latter publisher had not been able to obtain]: Mémoires du Vénitien J. Casanova… 1825-29 [14 vols.].

      15 vid. supra, chap. 2.

      16 fig. 3.2 - The Graces of 1794. Female figures parodying late 18^th century fashion. Those on the left and in the centre show, both, how the women let the totality of the breasts uncovered by the dress; the lady on the right, with her back and one hand in an indiscreet position, covers her face with a veil. Another example of those same years –in this case, on stage– can be found in a popular etching by James Gillray, Modern Grace, or the Operatical Finale to the ballet of Alonzo e caro! [sic] printed in 1796, in which Jean Parisot appears showing her right breast. Parisot is frequently pictured with a breast visible while dancing, but it is not clear whether this happened only once or whether it was habitual in her performances.

      17 CHAZIN-BENNHAUM, The lure of perfection…, p. 100.

      18 fig. 3.3 - Compare with fig. 4.7, infra, which shows a smaller décolleté.

      19 LEVINSON, Marie Taglioni… 1929; transl. (by C.W. Beaumont) 1930, reed., p. 23.

      20 vid. supra, fig. 2.10 - Arabesque à la lyre. The tunic discovers the dancer’s left chest.

      21 Representing the “main group of a Bacchanal.” BLASIS, Traité élémentaire… 1820, planche XIV, fig. 4.

      22 BLASIS, The Code of Terpsichore… [revis. ed., greatly enriched and with new plates of the Traité élémentaire…, cit.] 1828; plate I, fig. 4; pl. XII, fig. 2; pl. XIII, figs. 2 & 3; pl. XIV, fig. 1.

      23 Les Femmes de bonne humeur, choreography by Massine, based on the comedy Le donne di buon umore by Carlo Goldoni; set and costumes by Léon Bakst and music by Domenico Scarlatti, orchestrated by Vincenzo Tomassini. First performed at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome, April 1917.

      24 fig. 3.4 - Bakst’s costume design for Felicita shows a generous neckline and an overskirt in the shape of flower petals reminiscent of dresses that, at the time, hid a mechanism of laces for, when the woman wished, lifting the overskirt and showing the petticoat with coquetry.

      25 CHRISTOUT, Le Merveilleux… 1965, p. 95.

      26 vid. supra, fig. 2.7 - Marie Sallé’s expression of abandonment both on her face and her body posture is evident, and contrasts with the curious look of the masculine profile carved into the leg of the furniture to her left.

      27 BLASIS, The Code…, p. 95.

      28 Composer and violinist (1713-1797); Maître of the Chambre du Roi, he had a major influence on the development of the French opéra comique, and was director of the Académie Royale de Musique (later, Opéra de Paris) for three times between 1769 and 1790.

      29 cit. pos WITKOWSKI-NASS, Le nu au théâtre… p. 77. The criterion for praising the dancer’s performance is surprising.

      30 vid. e.g. fig. 3.5 - Parisot in arabesque. At the bottom: “A Peep at the Parisot! with Q [referring to Queensberry] in the corner.” The dancer performs impassively before the inquisitive public that surrounds her.

      31 CHAZIN-BENNHAUM, The lure of perfection…, p. 116.

      32 KAHANE, Opéra côté costume… 1995, p. 76.

      33 “Maillot”, in La Grande Encyclopédie Larousse… 2018.

      34 WITKOWSKI-NASS, Le nu au théâtre…, p. 75.

      35 Massenet’s opera, with libretto by Paul Milliet and Henri Grémont, premiered in December 1881 at the Théâtre de la Monnaie in Brussels; reprogrammed in autumn 1903 at La Gaîté.

      36 WITKOWSKI-NASS, Le nu…, p. 138; vid. infra, chap. 8, nt. 33.

      37 “Almée” is the word, currently out of use [cfr. Littré, Dictionnaire… 1873], written by Gautier.

      38 GAUTIER, Voyage en Espagne…