The great innovations in dance in the 17th century originated at the French court under Louis XIV, and it is here that we see the first clear stylistic ancestor of classical ballet. The same basic technique was used both at social events, and as theatrical dance in court ballets and at public theaters. The style of dance is commonly known to modern scholars as the "French noble style" or "belle danse" (French, literally "beautiful dance"), however it is often referred to casually as "baroque dance" in spite of the existence of other theatrical and social dance styles during the baroque era.