Music owes a great deal to dance, legacy of the Ballet de Cour in Lully’s comédie-ballets, then in his tragédies lyriques, imposing the French choreographic model throughout Europe. Here comes the suite of Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme, which in 1670 marked the height of the Comédie-Ballet, at a time when Louis XIV stopped dancing at Court. With the Caractères de la Danse in 1720, Rebel creates a choreographic work without lyrics, the first maturity of dance as an autonomous art, before Rameau gave it a predominant place in Pygmalion, a sumptuous ballet act. When Gluck adapted his Orfeo for Paris, he amplified the danced parts with exceptional inspiration. Finally, Mozart incorportaed a vast French-style ballet into his Idomeneo: the Chaconne is irresistible... Galvanising the Orchestre de l’Opéra Royal, Reinhard Goebel’s sharp baton stretches the bow of a century of French dance!