Reflections on the Ballet des Porcelaines: Between intention and impact

This article reflects the intention and impact of the dance research project Le Ballet des Porcelaines or The Teapot Prince, co-created by Professor Meredith Martin with the choreographer and activitst Phil Chan and assisted by Dr Elisa Cazzato as wardrobe supervisor and tour manager in the Italian venues. Written by the comte de Caylus, with music by Nicolas-Racot de Grandval, and based on a fairy tale, this ballet tells the story of an Asian sorcerer who rules a ‘blue island’ and transforms trespassers into porcelain. A prince gets stranded on the island and is turned into a teapot, and a princess has to rescue her lover by seducing the sorcerer, stealing his wand, and breaking the spell. On the one hand a standard Orientalist fable, the ballet can also be read as also an allegory for the intense European desire to know and possess the secrets of making porcelain, a quasi-magical substance that China had been producing for centuries. Though it would inspire later ballets featuring sleeping beauties and porcelain princesses, the Ballet des Porcelaines is virtually unknown and—until recently—had not been performed for nearly three hundred years. This paper discusses our experiences in creating and presenting our new version of the ballet from 2021-22 at venues throughout the U.S. and Europe, including The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The University of Chicago, Princeton University, Waddesdon Manor and Brighton Royal Pavilion in the UK, and the Museo di Capodimonte and Palazzo Grassi in Italy.