1. Interviewer Mademoiselle: Tell me about the place and time you lived.
Jean Dauberval: I was born on August 19, 1749 in Montpellier. Now it must be said that Montpellier is the most beautiful little town in France! With magnificent elegant building, my little home was always full of people who love art. Walk down the street and you’ll see masterpieces that should be in museums and hear the best music; and as a dancer I enjoy music. At only three miles away from Paris, it was marvelous for when I started working with the Paris Academie, which is now known only as the Paris opera house. [Harting,2014]
I do not remember much of my family or childhood and sadly no ones else seems to either. But it was not a bad time to live in France, the 1750s. Life was grand with luxuries such as the amazing French food that we always seemed to have and the arts really starting take off.
2. Interviewer Mademoiselle: Now, were there any important early life events that made you interested in dance?
Jean Dauberval: Oh dance was adorée in my time! It was always said that the dance center of our century was France, because of our ballet de cour of course! The French developed the art of dance simply because of its love and personal involvement in the art. All this made dance an important part of daily life in France. [Kassing,2007] All the talk of it really inspired me to take it up as a hobby.I never expected to become famous for it! And may I say I am quite flattered you wanted to interview me, merci Madame.
Back to your question now, I loved seeing people dance. Nobody knows if my parents
influenced me to dance or I just loved it so much and I am afraid I can’t even let you know that little
secret of mine. There was one person I always looked up to, though, and I wanted to excel just
like him in dance, Jean Georges Noverre.
3. Interviewer mademoiselle: Would you tell us more about your mentor Noverre?
Jean Dauberval: Why of course. Noverre was a teacher and composer who was my maître de ballet (ballet master)[Kassing,2007] .That being said, I was his pupil and greatly accepted his theories like ballet d’action. This meant that finally I would be in a ballet that’s not a tragedy! I also love using my face to express, another thing he taught me.
He was my role model and I daresay that I grew to be just like him. Many of the ballets I came to choreograph had his famous ballet d'action plot. I myself became first an assistant dance master. Later I also grew to be a famous maître de ballet [Encyclopedia Britannica,2015] and will always have to thank him for showing me the ropes.4. Interviewer mademoiselle: What was the world of ballet like when you first were in it?
Jean Dauberval: Like I said in previous questions, dance was loved dearly in France. The arts of theater and dance grew emersley. Both genders were becoming to fall into the arts. Danseurs nobles (male dancers) were given main leads in the shows while female dancers became came up with new costume ideas that worked so much better for us on stage! We became to add new turns, beats, and leg extensions, improving the overall show greatly.
Court dances, typically used in musical shows, were added as well. It was amusing, exciting and just as fun to watch as it was to do. There were two categories, basse (low) or haute (high). You always wanted to be a couple though because they dominated over the group dances.[Kassing,2007]
5. Interviewer mademoiselle: How did the major cultural, economic, and political situations of the time impact your work?
Jean Dauberval: Wow what a long time ago... Let me think for a second. Life was getting better and better by the day for me. But that was own personal life. I don't think I payed much attention to the real world. There might be days that I eat less but that was just life like everyone else's. France seemed to be getting bigger but I had my own little bubble to worry about. [Smitha,2001]
I was born with the last name of Bercher. My father was an I artist. Everyone loves art but it doesn't seem to bring in a whole lot of money. It made life tough when was a child but soon enough I was owning my own money and living how I wanted to live.
6. Interviewer mademoiselle: What were your major accomplishments and the methods you used in your art?
Jean Dauberval: I saw Noverre as such an inspiration I wanted to carry on his artistic ideas [Encyclopedia Britannica,2015]. As a choreographer, and one of the most important of my time might I add, I wrote many ballets. I am most remembered by my ballet La fille mal gardee. Although it has been adapted many times, it is still performed to this day. Many of my other ballets are becoming even more popular right now.
I was known and admired for my ability to mix drama into dance [Royal Opera House]. I'm remembered as a person with great wit, intelligence, and taste. I believed very strongly about how dance should make you feel something. Carlo Blaisis, another dancer in my time, recorded me saying, ‘it is not sufficient for me to please the eyes; I wish to interest the heart’. [Royal Opera House]
7. Interviewer mademoiselle: What were the key opportunities you had that led to a turning point in your life and art?
Jean Dauberval: Perhaps it was just being born in France at the right time? In other parts of the world, dance wasn't respected the way it was where I lived. I loved it. Of course, I must have been blessed with my brilliant mind and coordinated body. I'm sorry I don't mean to brag. I believe everything that happened to me was because of luck. Maybe that's why not a lot is written about me, my life will always be a mystery of how I truly got where I ended.
I suppose a key opportunity was when I got excepted into the Paris Academie. I was noted with excellent dance ability. After I was too old to be a dancer, they made me a dance master. Oh I was so excited they thought I was so experienced. After that, when I moved to Bordeaux, I became another dance master! I was told I was an amazing choreographer.
8. Interviewer mademoiselle: What hardships or roadblocks did you have to overcome in order to be an artist?
Jean Dauberval: It seemed the style was always changing... Was I dancing with or without facial expression? Was I dancing with or without musical dancing? With a partner or without a partner? It was always very hard to keep up and memorize.
Dancers also didn't earn a lot of money. This was a hard life to live. It concerned my family greatly. But i was doing what i loved and I knew I loved it.
9. Interviewer mademoiselle: What personal stories best illustrate how you became successful in the arts?
Jean Dauberval: My favorite story is my life story. A small child born and raised in a minuscule town far from Paris somehow becomes famous by doing what he loves. It almost sounds like a fairytale doesn't it? I was first accepted into THE Paris Opera Ballet and got to work with my role model. I was living the life and I wasn't even out of the 'young adult' stage,
Then I'm told i've got the job to be a ballet master as well. I get to teach pupils how I feel just as Noverre had done to me. I am famous because of my mentor and my pupils are famous because of me and that's all I ask for. [Andros on Ballet]
10. Interviewer mademoiselle: How did your work impact the world of art?
Jean Dauberval: I believe I helped other people see that art should come from the heart and as a result should make the audience feel something. I helped people to see that ballet should have a plot, but it doesn't always have to be tragic. Before I danced and trained, ballets were mostly made up, impossible stories but now that I've written ballets with everyday people in them doing everyday things, people can relate more to the art.
I changed the art of dancing by being able to tell stories with movement. Whether tragic or comic, people always felt something when watching my dance. I combined subtle mime and dance together unusually until they represent something I wanted. This was something i strongly believe in and worked for. I hope others do too.
Bibliography:
Montpellier's Old Town (The Huffington Post)
By: Harting, Emilie.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/emilie-c-harting/why-montpelliers-old-town_b_5483863.html
Kassing, Gayle. History of Dance: An Interactive Arts Approach. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics, 2007. 99, 111, 115. Print.Jean Dauberval | biography - French dancer (Encyclopedia Britannica Online)
http://www.britannica.com/biography/Jean-Dauberval
Bercher, Jean, dit Dauberval (1742-1806) / Quelques danseurs de Rameau APPROFONDIR / Home - rameau 2014)
http://www.rameau2014.fr/eng/APPROFONDIR/Rameau-et-la-danse/Quelques-danseurs-de-Rameau-au-XVIIIe-siecle/Bercher-Jean-dit-Dauberval-1742-1806
France in the mid-1700s: Antecedents to revolution (France in the mid-1700s)
http://www.fsmitha.com/h3/h29-fr2.htm
Jean Dauberval (— People — Royal Opera House)
http://www.roh.org.uk/people/jean-dauberval
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