Ballet in the Court Theatre of Michał Kazimierz Ogiński

Abstract

The article deals with the theatrical activities of Prince Michał Kazimierz Ogiński (1730–1800) focusing on ballet performances produced in his court in Slanim. Research centres on the ballet Philosophy of Women, the hand-written libretto of which belongs to the Manuscript Department of the Wroblewski Library of the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences. The author presents new information about other productions of Felice Moryni, the choreographer of The Philosophy of Women, and compares its libretto with the libretto of the ballet of the same title produced in Venice by the Italian dancer Anna Beneti. The dramatic scheme of the performance and its possible visual forms, which are linked to the aesthetics of late Baroque and Rococo, are discussed.