Naples, Capital of Dance: The 'feste di ballo' Tradition in the Long Eighteenth Century

by Anthony R. DelDonna

Overview

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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781009440271
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	04/17/2025
Pages:	262
Product dimensions:	6.77(w) x 9.84(h) x 0.71(d)

About the Author

Anthony R. DelDonna is Thomas E. Caestecker Professor of Music in the Department of Performing Arts at Georgetown University. He is the author of Instrumental Music in Late Eighteenth-Century Naples: Politics, Patronage and Artistic Culture (Cambridge, 2021) and Opera, Theatrical Culture and Society in Late Eighteenth-Century Naples (2012).

Table of Contents

List of figures; List of tables; List of music examples; Acknowledgements; Introduction: Naples: networks of culture; 1. Celebratory balls in the Kingdom of Naples; 2. The politics of place and spheres of power; 3. Seasons of Feste: 1737 and 1747; 4. The dance treatise in the Age of Reason; 5. Seasons of splendor: from the capital city to the Reggia di Caserta; 6. A return to the capital; 7. Dietro le quinte e tra le pagine: music, musicians, and Maestri di ballo; 8. The Neapolitan Feste di Ballo as (historical) soundscape; Bibliography; Index.