Intermède

Intermède (also intermédie, intramède, entremets) is a French theatrical entertainment or spectacle, often involving song and dance and inserted between the acts of a play. It was similar to the Italian intermedio.

The context in which the intermède was performed has changed over time. During the 16th century they were court entertainments in which ballet was an important element. The intermède was sometimes given between the acts of spoken plays, especially in the 17th century when they were performed with the works of Pierre Corneille and Jean Racine. Molière and Lully experimented with the form in their comédies-ballets, sometimes coordinating the content with the plot of the play in which they were inserted, for example, in ''La Princesse d'Élide (1664).