The Queen Danced Alone

Queen Christina of Sweden danced herself in the ballets she promoted. From the beginning of her personal rule until her abdication (1644-1654) court ballet was Christina's privileged medium of political propaganda. The Queen Danced Alone is the first monograph on court ballet during Christina's reign that offers an in-depth analysis of all extant libretti and performances. Based on unstudied and unpublished sources The Queen Danced Alone offers a survey of participants in the production and performances - authors, dancers, musicians, artists - as well as the arts involved: dance, music, poetry, set design and costumes. Christina's patronage is especially evident in the heroic motives of the ballets. Her self-fashioning through the parts of the goddesses Diana and Pallas mirrored her role as a young, unmarried and learned monarch and aimed at liberating her from the expectation of providing an heir to the throne. The praise of virtues such as self-control and chastity represented her as a superior being devoted to wisdom. Christina's ballets supported her most important aim: independence.