The art of opera soon produced a wordless variation known as ballet. Like an opera, a dramatic tale unfolds on stage accompaniment by an orchestra, preserving all the instrumental aspects of opera: overture, entr'act, intermezzi. Unlike an opera, however, the story is told silenty through dance, rather than through singing. In place of arias, recitatives, and choruses are gavottes, minuets, gigues, and other Baroque dance pieces.
Ballet became extremely popular in France, where King Louis XIV himself would often take starring roles in ballets composed by court musicians including Jean-Baptiste Lully. The genre also became popular in Russia, as monarchs like Tsar Peter the Great and his successor, Empress Catherine the Great, tried to modernize the country in part by importing sophisticated culture from the French court.
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