Towards the «Danse de caract`ere» concept in the French music of the XVIIth - first half of the XVIIIth centuries

The article discusses the phenomenon of danse de caractère, which is associated both with a theatrical dance practice of the French Baroque and with the theory of affects applied to the music of this period. The author analyses the different shades of the meaning of «caractère» concept in the interpretation of the representatives of the French musical-theoretical thought of XVII th - early XVIII th centuries. Comparing the phenomena associated with this concept in dance, music, poetry and rhetoric, the author reveals the expressive possibilities of stage dance in theatrical court performances in the period of Grand siècle. Of great interest are quotations from the leaders of French art about the decisive role of the concept of «caractère» in understanding of the emotional meaning of music, that are mostly unknown to the Russian musicology.