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Chapter 5 introduces a series of more concentrated studies on specific seasons of the feste di ballo. By the secondo Settecento, the feste were an annual characteristic spectacle within Neapolitan theatrical life. The initial years of the reign of Ferdinando and Maria Carolina witnessed an unprecedented breadth of artistic patronage with the migration of theatrical performances (tragic and comic) and the feste di ballo to the Reggia di Caserta, the opulent palace rivaling even Versailles in expanse and splendor. In particular, during the period of 1769–71, multiple feste were organized annually for the newly finished court theater at Caserta. Surviving archival documents in the Casa Reale Antica (fasc. 2221–2224) provide copious details of the transformation of the space into a vast area for dancing, including the contractual agreements with artistic personnel, financial summaries of the considerable expenses, and ephemera about these events. The archival sources convey in greater detail many of the broad references found in contemporary notices appearing in the Diario Ordinario and Notizie del Mondo. Taken together, these materials illuminate the far-reaching resonance and reception of the carnevale seasons at Caserta.
Renowned as a city of entertainment, Naples was unequaled in eighteenth-century Italy for the diversity of its musical life. During the reigns of Carlo di Borbone and his heir Ferdinando IV, the sponsorship of feste di ballo, elaborate celebratory balls featuring social dance such as the minuet and contradance, grew increasingly lavish. Organized for carnevale, occasions of state, and personal celebrations in the lives of the royal family, the feste di ballo fostered both a public agenda and a personal rapport between the monarchs and local aristocracy. As the century progressed, the frequency of and resources accorded to the feste di ballo and its showcasing of social dance came to match those of stage drama and instrumental music. Based on extensive archival research, this book reveals the culture of social dance at the Bourbon court and how these spectacular events served to project images of authority, power, and identity.
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