View source for Claque

{{short description|Body of professional applauders in French theatres and opera houses}}
{{distinguish|calque|clique|clack (disambiguation){{!}}clack}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2020}}
[[File:Honoré Daumier, Bohémiens de Paris - Le claqueur, 1842.jpg|thumbnail|{{Lang|fr|Le claqueur}} by [[Honoré Daumier]], 1842]]
A '''claque''' is an organized body of professional [[applause|applauders]] in [[France|French]] theatres and [[opera houses]]. Members of a claque are called '''claqueurs'''.

==History==
Hiring people to applaud dramatic performances was common in [[Classical antiquity|classical times]]. For example, when the [[Nero|Emperor Nero]] acted, he had his performance greeted by an [[encomium]] chanted by five thousand of his [[soldier]]s.<ref name="EB1911">{{EB1911 |inline=y |wstitle= Claque |volume= 6 | page= 423 }}</ref>

This inspired the French poet [[Jean Daurat]] (1508–1588) to develop the modern claque. Buying a number of tickets for a performance of one of his plays, he gave them away in return for a promise of applause. In 1820 claques underwent serious systematization when an agency in [[Paris]] opened to manage and supply claqueurs.<ref name="EB1911"/>

By 1830 the claque had become an institution. The manager of a theatre or opera house could send an order for any number of claqueurs. These usually operated under a {{Lang|fr|chef de claque}} (leader of applause), who judged where the efforts of the ''claqueurs'' were needed and initiated the demonstration of approval. This could take several forms. There would be {{Lang|fr|commissaires}} ("officers/commissioner") who learned the piece by heart and called the attention of their neighbors to its good points between the acts. {{Lang|fr|Rieurs}} (laughers) laughed loudly at the jokes. {{Lang|fr|Pleureurs}} (criers), generally women, feigned tears, by holding their handkerchiefs to their eyes. {{Lang|fr|Chatouilleurs}} (ticklers) kept the audience in a good humor, while {{Lang|fr|bisseurs}} (encore-ers) simply clapped and cried "{{Lang|fr|Bis! Bis!}}" to request [[encores]].<ref name="EB1911" />

The practice spread to Italy (famously at [[La Scala]], [[Milan]]), [[Vienna]], [[London]] ([[Royal Opera House|Covent Garden]]) and [[New York City|New York]] (the [[Metropolitan Opera]]). Claques were also used as a form of [[extortion]], as [[singers]] were commonly contacted by the ''chef de claque'' before their debut and forced to pay a fee in order to avoid being [[booing|booed]].

[[Richard Wagner]] withdrew a staging of his opera {{Lang|de|[[Tannhäuser]]}} from the [[Paris Opera|Parisian operatic]] repertory after the claque of the [[Jockey-Club de Paris|Jockey Club]] derisively interrupted its initial performances<ref>{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/wagnercompendium0000unse_y6f8 |title=The Wagner compendium : a guide to Wagner's life and music |publisher=Schirmer Books |year=1992 |ISBN=9780028713595 |editor1-last=Millington |editor1-first=Barry |location=New York |page=281 |url-access=registration}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | last = Grey | first = Thomas S. | year = 2013 | chapter = Tannhäuser, Paris scandal of 1861 | pages = 581–583 | editor1-last = Vazsonyi | editor-first = Nicholas | publisher = Cambridge University Press | location = Cambridge, England | ISBN = 9781107004252 | title = The Cambridge Wagner Encyclopedia}}</ref> in March 1861.

Later [[Arturo Toscanini]] and [[Gustav Mahler]] discouraged claques, as a part of the development of [[concert etiquette]].

Although the practice mostly died out during the mid- to late-20th century, instances of actors paid to applaud at performances still occasionally appear, most famously with the [[Bolshoi Ballet]].<ref>
{{cite news | last= Barry | first= Ellen | title= Wild Applause, Secretly Choreographed | newspaper= [[The New York Times]] | date= 14 August 2013 | url= https://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/18/arts/dance/designated-cheering-spectators-thrive-at-the-bolshoi-theater.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0 |url-access= registration |url-status= live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130815152652/https://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/18/arts/dance/designated-cheering-spectators-thrive-at-the-bolshoi-theater.html | archive-date= 2013-08-15 |access-date= 22 May 2020 }}
</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|France|Opera|Theatre}}

{{div col|colwidth=30em}}
* [[Astroturfing]]
* [[Cheerleading]]
* [[Kakegoe#Kabuki|Kakegoe]]
* [[Laugh track]]
* ōmukou ([[:ja:大向う]]) - case of [[Kabuki]]
* [[Payola]]
* [[Professional mourning]]
* [[Shill]]
* [[Social proof]]
* [[Tifosi]]
{{div col end}}

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==References==
{{Wiktionary}}

* ''[[iarchive:oxforddictionary00warr|The Oxford Dictionary of Opera]]'', by John Warrack and Ewan West (1992), 782 pages,  {{ISBN|0-19-869164-5}}

{{Opera terms}}

[[Category:16th-century establishments in France]]
[[Category:Entertainment occupations]]
[[Category:Gestures of respect]]
[[Category:Opera in France]]
[[Category:Opera terminology]]
[[Category:Theatre of France]]