The dancing Sun King
French king Louis XIV liked to use dance as a way of projecting his absolute power. A year before his glorious coronation, he embodied the rising sun – dressed as the sun god, Apollo – in the centre of the planetary system.
![The several-hour-long Ballet Comique de la Reine of 1581 represents a milestone in ballet history and is the oldest ballet whose score still remains.](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/ballet-1582-205x300.jpg)
An allegory of the victorious kingdom
![Skirmishes along the walls of the Bastille during the Fronde. Painting by an anonymous artist, Château de Versailles.](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/combat-de-deux-cavaliers-lors-de-la-fronde-faubourg-saint-antoine-sous-les-murs-de-la-bastille-300x243.jpg)
![](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/louis-xiv-apollon-complet-194x300.jpg)
Triumphant performance as the sun god
Clip from the film "Le roi danse" (‘The King is Dancing’), 2000. YouTube
![Cover and inside of a score edition from 1690.](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/ballet-royale-partitur-300x248.jpg)
The birth of the Sun King
![Anne of Austria in a painting with her two ‘miracle’ sons, the Dauphin Louis, and behind him, the younger Philippe, known in the court as ‘Monsieur’.](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/anne-of-austria-with-her-children-king-louis-xiv-and-philippe-duke-of-anjou-praying-to-the-holy-trinity-philippe-de-champaigne-300x251.jpg)
![Away from the ballet stage but with the graceful posture of a dancer in fourth position: Louis XIV in a portrait by Hyacinthe Rigaud, 1701.](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/louis-xiv-of-france-211x300.jpg)