ABSTRACT
Since the start of the 1730s, the Opéra administration had been in crisis. In particular, it had to deal with protests from its employees, led by the star dancer Louis Dupré, and it faced repeated disciplinary problems with singers and dancers. Furthermore, the absence of several of the public’s favourite performers, including the dancer Mlle Camargo, who was about to leave the public stage for seven years, generated lampoons and gossip. At the same time, the failure of a number of operas led to a crisis of identity within the institution. In the spring of 1735, the difficulty in planning the summer season bears witness to this uncertainty: The Académie Royale de Musique will shortly present a ballet héroïque by MM. Roy and Mouret entitled Les Grâces, which will doubtless compensate the public for the extremely poor operas that have been seen for some time.
