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A claque is an organized body of professional applauders in French theatres and
opera houses An opera house is a theater building used for performances of opera. Like many theaters, it usually includes a stage, an orchestra pit, audience seating, backstage facilities for costumes and building sets, as well as offices for the instit ...
. Members of a claque are called claqueurs.


History

Hiring people to applaud dramatic performances was common in
classical times Classical antiquity, also known as the classical era, classical period, classical age, or simply antiquity, is the period of cultural European history between the 8th century BC and the 5th century AD comprising the interwoven civilization ...
. For example, when the Emperor Nero acted, he had his performance greeted by an
encomium ''Encomium'' (: ''encomia'') is a Latin word deriving from the Ancient Greek ''enkomion'' (), meaning "the praise of a person or thing." Another Latin equivalent is '' laudatio'', a speech in praise of someone or something. Originally was the ...
chanted by five thousand of his
soldier A soldier is a person who is a member of an army. A soldier can be a Conscription, conscripted or volunteer Enlisted rank, enlisted person, a non-commissioned officer, a warrant officer, or an Officer (armed forces), officer. Etymology The wo ...
s. 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 Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
opened to manage and supply claqueurs. 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 (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 ("officers/commissioner") who learned the piece by heart and called the attention of their neighbors to its good points between the acts. (laughers) laughed loudly at the jokes. (criers), generally women, feigned tears, by holding their handkerchiefs to their eyes. (ticklers) kept the audience in a good humor, while (encore-ers) simply clapped and cried "" to request encores. The practice spread to Italy (famously at
La Scala La Scala (, , ; officially , ) is a historic opera house in Milan, Milan, Italy. The theatre was inaugurated on 3 August 1778 and was originally known as (, which previously was Santa Maria della Scala, Milan, a church). The premiere performa ...
,
Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...
),
Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...
,
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
(
Covent Garden Covent Garden is a district in London, on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit-and-vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist sit ...
) and
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...
(the
Metropolitan Opera The Metropolitan Opera is an American opera company based in New York City, currently resident at the Metropolitan Opera House (Lincoln Center), Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Referred ...
). Claques were also used as a form of
extortion Extortion is the practice of obtaining benefit (e.g., money or goods) through coercion. In most jurisdictions it is likely to constitute a criminal offence. Robbery is the simplest and most common form of extortion, although making unfounded ...
, as
singers Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define singi ...
were commonly contacted by the ''chef de claque'' before their debut and forced to pay a fee in order to avoid being booed.
Richard Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, essayist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most o ...
withdrew a staging of his opera from the Parisian operatic repertory after the claque of the
Jockey Club The Jockey Club is the largest commercial horse racing organisation in the United Kingdom. It owns 15 of Britain's famous racecourses, including Aintree Racecourse, Aintree, Cheltenham Racecourse, Cheltenham, Epsom Downs Racecourse, Epsom ...
derisively interrupted its initial performances in March 1861. Later
Arturo Toscanini Arturo Toscanini (; ; March 25, 1867January 16, 1957) was an Italian conductor. He was one of the most acclaimed and influential musicians of the late 19th and early 20th century, renowned for his intensity, his perfectionism, his ear for orche ...
and
Gustav Mahler Gustav Mahler (; 7 July 1860 – 18 May 1911) was an Austro-Bohemian Romantic music, Romantic composer, and one of the leading conductors of his generation. As a composer he acted as a bridge between the 19th-century Austro-German tradition and ...
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 The Bolshoi Ballet is an internationally renowned classical ballet company based at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow, Russia. Founded in 1776, the Bolshoi is among the world's oldest Ballet company, ballet companies. In the early 20th century, it ca ...
.


See also

*
Astroturfing Astroturfing is the deceptive practice of hiding the Sponsor (commercial), sponsors of an orchestrated message or organization (e.g., political, economic, advertising, religious, or public relations) to make it appear as though it originates from ...
*
Cheerleading Cheerleading is an activity in which the participants (called cheerleaders) cheer for their team as a form of encouragement. It can range from chanting slogans to intense Physical exercise, physical activity. It can be performed to motivate s ...
*
Kakegoe ''Kakegoe'' () usually refers to shouts and calls used in performances of traditional Japanese music, Kabuki theatre, and in martial arts such as kendo. Kabuki In the kabuki theatre, the term is used to refer to melodramatic calls from an audien ...
*
Laugh track A laugh track (or laughter track) is an audio recording consisting of laughter (and other audience reactions) usually used as a separate soundtrack for comedy productions. The laugh track may contain live audience reactions or artificial laught ...
* ōmukou ( :ja:大向う) - case of
Kabuki is a classical form of Theatre of Japan, Japanese theatre, mixing dramatic performance with Japanese traditional dance, traditional dance. Kabuki theatre is known for its heavily stylised performances, its glamorous, highly decorated costumes ...
*
Payola Payola, in the music industry, is the name given to the illegal practice of paying a commercial radio station to play a song without the station disclosing the payment. Under U.S. law, a radio station must disclose songs they were paid to pla ...
* Professional mourning *
Shill A shill, also called a plant or a stooge, is a person who publicly helps or gives credibility to a person or organization without disclosing that they have a close relationship with said person or organization, or have been paid to do so. Shills c ...
*
Social proof Social proof (or informational social influence) is a psychological and social phenomenon wherein people copy the actions of others in choosing how to behave in a given situation. The term was coined by Robert Cialdini in his 1984 book '' Influe ...
*
Tifosi ''Tifo'' () is the phenomenon whereby ''tifosi'' of a sports team make a visual display of any choreographed flag, sign or banner in the stands of a stadium, mostly as part of an association football match. ''Tifo'' are most commonly seen in ...


Notes


References

* '' The Oxford Dictionary of Opera'', by John Warrack and Ewan West (1992), 782 pages, {{Opera terms 16th-century establishments in France Entertainment occupations Gestures of respect Opera in France Opera terminology Theatre of France