BBC Documentary: The King Who Invented Ballet (2017)

Full Documentary The King Who Invented Ballet shows how King Louis XIV of France, a keen dancer himself, laid the foundations of classical ballet by encouraging its transformation from a maledominated aristocratic spectacle used for royal propaganda to a professional artform for the public featuring the first female star ballerinas. Presented by David Bintley, choreographer and director of the Birmingham Royal Ballet, the documentary also follows the creation of a brand new ballet inspired by Louis XIV.