ADFestival LA POCHETTE DU MAÎTRE À DANSER

Baroque Performance

Exhibition of original instruments with projections

Claude Lebet – luthier
Mathilde Reymond – pochette
Alain Christen – baroque dance
Compagnie Les Boréades
Francesco Biamonte – moderator

DANCE AND ITS TEACHING IN THE 17ᵗʰ AND 18ᵗʰ CENTURIES

Inspired by Degas’s famous painting The Rehearsal of the Ballet Onstage, this project shines a light on the unique connection between music and dance, rooted in the Baroque era. The “pochette,” a small and delicate violin, was the preferred tool of dance masters for centuries—it allowed them to guide their students from gesture to melody, bringing choreography to life.

As Maurice Béjart once wrote, the pochette is more than an instrument—it is a symbol of unity: between music and dance, sound and movement, ear and step. It was used to teach the minuet, as in Molière’s The Bourgeois Gentleman, and it inspired young dancers, as if stepping out of a Degas painting to join the living choreographic tradition.

As part of this event, luthier Claude Lebet will present an illustrated talk dedicated to the pochette—its history, aesthetics, and fundamental role in dance instruction during the 17ᵗʰ and 18ᵗʰ centuries.

The event will take place at the Historical Museum, a place rich in memory, where visitors can immerse themselves in the origins of ballet, a time when dance was emerging as a true art form and a key element of court culture. Surrounded by period instruments and historical documents, attendees will experience just how deeply music and movement were intertwined.

The evening will conclude with a performance of baroque dances, as they were danced at the court of Louis XIV, interpreted by a baroque ensemble. The pochette will return to its role as accompaniment, breathing new life into these historic choreographies.

A journey into the heart of elegance and refinement—where sound leads the dance, and movement becomes music!