September 5
Born Today:
King Louis XIV
If you love ballet, say thanks and happy birthday to King Louis XIV (1638-1715). This sexy beast with the nice gams was a shrewd ruler and a mighty fine dancer. In fact, he loved dance so much that he performed onstage and founded the Academie Royale de Danse in 1661 to help train professional dancers. He was also pretty brilliant when it came to hanging onto the throne and the following plan worked beautifully.
1. Declare yourself as “The Sun King” = everything revolves around you.
2. Courtiers spending time learning complicated dances = less time for uprisings.
Also Born Today: Classical Indian Kathak dancer Damayanti Joshi (1928-2004).
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Dance Event: Denishawn dancers appear in silent film Intolerance, released in 1916.