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Jeux d'eau (French:[ʒød‿o];French for 'water games';Italian:giochi d'acqua), is an umbrella term in thehistory of gardens for thewater features that were introduced into mid-16th centuryManneristItalian gardens.
Pools andfountains had been a feature from Roman times, buthydraulic engineers first took full advantage of characteristic sloping sites of villas in the hills surrounding Lazio, where there was copious available water.Giacomo Barozzi da Vignola'scatene d'aqua (water chains) andwater stairs, fountains,cascades,jets, pools and canals atVilla Farnese atCaprarola andVilla Lante atBagnaia led the way. At Villa Lante a rill of water flows down the center of a stone picnic table.
French16th-century gardens in theIle-de-France were generally in flat terrain that did not lend itself to elaboratejeux d'eau. Fountains,bassins (pools in raised basins) and canals were more typical of French water features. For thejeux d'eau atVersailles, awatermill-drivenpumping station (themachine de Marly, at the time being the most powerful machine in Europe) and elaborateaqueducts had to be constructed to bring water from many kilometers away.
Sloping sites at the palaces ofCaserta andPeterhof permitted grand cascades. At Caserta, a rill of water even flows down the handrail of a staircase balustrade.
A favoritejeu d'eau was the practical joke of surprise water jets that could be turned on suddenly by a gardener accomplice turning a hidden wheel, trapping guests or soaking their finery. Joking water jets remained a feature in German gardens well into the 19th century.
In the 1930s, Otto Przystawik invented the noveltymusical fountain feature that came to be called "dancing waters". Early systems in displays and nightclubs were manually operated by hand pumps and levers. Harold Steinman, the New York-based promoter of "Holiday on Ice", spotted the Przystawik display in a Berlin nightclub. He took the machine on tour with his roller-skating review, where its success inspired him to send out duplicates on tours during the 1950s and 60s. In the later 20th century, programmable "dancing waters" became a feature of novelty fountains associated with resort hotels, where they were combined withlaser light shows. Elaborate moving water effects and shifting colored lighting were coordinated with recorded music. Such features draw crowds inLas Vegas, where they were initiated as part ofLiberace's stage show and have been satirized in aSimpsons episode.