Comédie-ballet is a theatrical genre inextricably bound up with the name of Molière (1622-73 – see entry). The term refers specifically to his dozen or so comedies written to entertain Louis XIV (1638-1715) and his court and which include substantial amounts of music and dancing. In the preface to his published edition of Les Fâcheux (1661), Molière narrates how this, the first comédie-ballet, came into being by chance. He and his troupe had been invited to perform a comedy as part of a great fête, organized by Louis XIV’s Minister of Finance, Nicolas Foucquet (1615-80). The fête

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