"In 1961, Salvador Dalí and Maurice Béjart created the ballet Gala , preceded by a baroque opera by Gonfalioneri: La Dame espagnole et le chevalier romain . The show, conceived as "théâtre total", was performed in 1961 at La Fenice in Venice and a few months later in the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie in Brussels and Paris in 1962.
Despite the historic importance of Maurice Béjart and his innovations in choreography, and the importance of this historic collaboration between two major innovators of the 20 th century, no study has ever explored this event whose principal dancer was the famous ballerina La Tcherina. This remarkable artistic creation was also multi-sensorial: the first performance ever to use perfume as the main scenographic element. A renowned partner cooperated in this project: the French Maison Guerlain designed the perfume Nébuleuse specifically for this occasion, at Dalí's request. The name of the perfume is related to Gala's name, the wife of the painter. Big barrels of perfume were installed on the stage, and were representing the essence of femininity. Men on wheelchairs would pull perfume through long vertical crutches which acted as pulleys."
The barrels were filled with a perfumed liquid specially prepared by Guerlain to produce weird geometric soap bubbles.
The perfume was used to mask the odor of the rotting carcass that was a feature of the production.
Dali's staff came to an arrangement with Guerlain, the French perfume manufacturer, that in return for generous publicity for their expensive product the theatre would be sprayed with their most exquisite perfume.
Also, Decca Records wanted to include some sort of scented product along with the record of the performance which would heighten the listener's enjoyment. They thought of the decaying carcass, but on second thought, realized that it would be tricky to manufacture, a record that emanated this type of scent. Sensing another way to publicly advertise their perfumes, Guerlain decided to include a flannel sachet scented with Vol de Nuit perfume that was said to be used in the stage presentation to be packaged along with the record, at no extra charge to Decca. Instructions for the flannel stated: " In this envelope you will find a flannel to scent your lingerie."
