# Was ballet really illegal in Mozart's Austria? Why?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-ballet-really-illegal-in-mozarts-austria-why/424353
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [October 28, 2007, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-ballet-really-illegal-in-mozarts-austria-why/424353 "2007-10-28T18:10:31Z")
**Posts on this page:** 7
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)
#### Post date: [October 28, 2007, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-ballet-really-illegal-in-mozarts-austria-why/424353/1 "2007-10-28T18:10:31Z")
It was a minor plot point in [_Amadeus_](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amadeus) that the Art Police ordered Mozart to cut a dance scene from _The Marriage of Figaro_ because dance-to-music-on-a-stage amounted to [ballet](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ballet), which was illegal in Austria. Was it illegal? Why?
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### Author:  [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)
#### Post date: [October 28, 2007, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-ballet-really-illegal-in-mozarts-austria-why/424353/2 "2007-10-28T18:20:54Z")
My WAG: Teenagers liked it, parents were suspicious of it, and ballerinas were considered “hoochie.”
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### Author:  [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)
#### Post date: [October 28, 2007, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-ballet-really-illegal-in-mozarts-austria-why/424353/3 "2007-10-28T18:30:24Z")
As I recall, ballet was fine, and opera was fine, but you weren’t supposed to mix the genres. Why not, I have no idea.
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### Author:  [@bienville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bienville)
#### Post date: [October 28, 2007, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-ballet-really-illegal-in-mozarts-austria-why/424353/4 "2007-10-28T21:35:38Z")
Just posting to note that as I was skimming Thread titles, my brain gathered just enough of “Was ballet Really illegal” that I thought I had read **“Ballet Legal”** , which brought to mind the possibility of a specialized porno mag focusing on 18yr old ballerinas.
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### Author:  [@Mr.Excellent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Excellent)
#### Post date: [October 28, 2007, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-ballet-really-illegal-in-mozarts-austria-why/424353/5 "2007-10-28T22:11:11Z")
[QUOTE=bienville]
Just posting to note that as I was skimming Thread titles, my brain gathered just enough of “Was ballet Really illegal” that I thought I had read **“Ballet Legal”** , which brought to mind the possibility of a specialized porno mag focusing on 18yr old ballerinas.
[/QUOTE]
There’s gotta be one. I mean, they’re so … flexible …
I’ll be in my bunk.
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### Author:  [@choie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/choie)
#### Post date: [October 28, 2007, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-ballet-really-illegal-in-mozarts-austria-why/424353/6 "2007-10-28T22:19:58Z")
[QUOTE=BrainGlutton]
It was a minor plot point in _Amadeus_ that the Art Police ordered Mozart to cut a dance scene from _The Marriage of Figaro_ because dance-to-music-on-a-stage amounted to ballet, which was illegal in Austria. Was it illegal? Why?
[/QUOTE]
Joseph II’s edict against ballets within operas seems to have no more rationale than the emperor didn’t like ballet very much as an art form. Since he _did_ like operas, he didn’t want them stunk up with a lot of dancing.
This vignette is related in the memoirs of Mozart’s librettist, Lorenzo Da Ponte (_Cosi fan Tutte_ and _Figaro_, among others). According to the memoirs, Count Rosenberg (seen in _Amadeus_ as the more hifalutin’ of the three musical advisors in Joseph II’s court) was told of the plans for a ballet in Da Ponte’s libretto, and – since Rosenberg didn’t want the opera to succeed – he confronted Da Ponte and informed him of Joseph’s edict against ballet in operas. Rosenberg ordered Da Ponte to strike the section from the work. Mozart was desperate when he found out, according to D.P.
Of course, since these were Da Ponte’s memoirs after all, the librettist made himself the hero of the episode. According to him, he assured Mozart things would work out fine once the Emperor saw the opera at rehearsal. And sure enough, they did; the situation went down roughly as shown in _Amadeus_: Joseph II viewed the _Figaro_ scene with the lack of music (and also without dancers), and questioned what the heck was going on. Told by Count Rosenberg only that “there were no dancers available,” the emperor then ordered them to _find_ available dancers.
One of the great scenes in the film. Embellished by the playwright of course, but charming and true, at least according to the dude who was, after all, there to see it.
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### Author:  [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)
#### Post date: [October 28, 2007, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-ballet-really-illegal-in-mozarts-austria-why/424353/7 "2007-10-28T23:12:34Z")
Somewhat off-topic, but I’ve heard that there’s a similar issue in modern day France that by union rules, you can’t be both a dancer and a singer. So for any musical to play in France, they have to bring in foreigners since most musicals involve at least some minimum of dancing, including the main (singing) characters.
Note again that this is just something I’ve heard. Not sure as to the veracity.