Ballet History The earliest precursor to ballets was lavish entertainment given in the courts of Renaissance Italy. These elaborate spectacles, which united painting, poetry, music, and dancing, took place in large halls that were used also for banquets and balls. The Italian court ballets were further developed in France. Music was written to accompany Dance Suites. A Dance Suite was usually a group of four Pre-Classic Dances that were preformed right after another. The suite would begin with the dances followed by a lively dance, then another slow and end with a fast or vigorous dance. These Pre-Classic Dances Form were court dances that were preformed in couples or small groups during the pageants or banquets. These types of dances covered a wide range of music, mood, and movement style. The Commedia Dell Arte was a troupe of traveling theater players. The actors traveled in companies where each person the same role over and over in a costume depicting that certain character. The actor incorporated the use of improvisation and mime. The players began to add songs to lengthen their plays, which led to the development of opera. During the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries the great dance movement swept through the courts of Europe. The entertainment that was designed to accompany the courts great festive balls was the basis for what we now know as the ballet. Ballets were produced as early as 1489. Non professional dancers, usually hired servants or court members, preformed singing, poetry, skits, and dance. Biblical, Classical, and historical subject matter was most common. The king sat up above the floor and the entertainment occurred below. Ballet, at first, was simply people moving in patterns in the floor and changing formations. Technique was not as important as costumes and scenery. The first true Ballet, Ballet Comique da le Reine (The Queen s Ballet Comedy), was performed in France in 1581. It was organized by the wife of Henry II, Catherine de Medici, as part of the wedding celebration for her niece. The first ballet was extremely long (6 hours) and extremely expensive
(approx. several million francs). It was so expensive that it broke the French court. It was the first to include a story line and was viewed by 10,000 people. Since much of the audience saw the ballet from above, the choreography emphasized the elaborate floor patterns created by lines and groups of dancers. Poetry and songs accompanied the dances. The ballet was so popular that copies of the music and poetry were made and sent to other courts. Because Ballets were designed principally for the entertainment of the aristocracy, rich costumes, scenery, and elaborate stage effects were emphasized. There was a development in the theater world with the creation of a framed stage. This style of stage was called proscenium arch. This newly framed stage contributed to the development of Ballet facings and Ballet technique. The proscenium stage was first adopted in France in the mid-1600s by Cardinal Richelieu, and professional dancers made their first appearance, although they were not permitted to dance in the grand ballet that concluded the performance; this was still reserved for the king and courtiers. Louis XIV was a great patron of the ballet and set the standard for many kings to come. A giant step in the progress of ballet was taken during the reign of Louis XIV because he was an enthusiastic patron of dance. He was a dancer when he was young and was known as the Sun King because he once played the role of the sun in a performance. He realized that ballet could be developed more fully than amateurs doing court dances. Also, by 1650, women were banned from the ballet stage because they were not allowed to dance in public. Young, slender males in wigs played the roles of women. Many of the ballets presented at his court were created by the Italian-French composer Jean Baptiste Lully. He also asked his choreographer and ballet master Pierre Beauchamp to establish rules for ballet such as foot and arm positions and patterns of movement. In doing this, he established the basis for ballet technique. By the end of the century, even more changes were being made in the ballet. In 1661 Louis XIV established the Acadamie Royale de Danse, a professional organization for dancing masters. He himself stopped dancing in 1671, and his courtiers followed his example. By then the court ballet was already giving way to professional dancing. At first all the dancers were men, and men in masks danced in women s roles. The first female dancers to perform professionally in a theater production appeared (1681) in a ballet called Le Triomphe de l Amour (The Triumph of Love).
Eighteenth-century dancers were encumbered by masks, wigs, or large headdresses, and heeled shoes. Women wore panniers, hoopskirts draped at the sides for fullness. Men often wore the tonnelet, a knee-length hoopskirt. By 1728, women were considered very popular in the ballet. In an attempt to catch up with the Western European courts, Empress Ann in Russia began the state school of ballet in 1735. She invited Italian and French choreographers to come to Russian to develop the school. During the 1700 s, women began to dance on pointe and tights were invented. The period from 1830-1870 is the Romantic period of classical ballet. This period roughly corresponds to Romanticism movement in art and literature. The Romantic Ballet focused on the conflict between man and nature, society, and supernatural. Often the central character was a spirit or ghost. Romantic is now used to refer to a very distinctive style of movement that was popular during this era. Ballet form this period utilized a very specific, soft line of the body and arms. Marie Taglioni preformed in the Romantic Ballet La Sylphide, choreographed by her father, wearing a fitted bodice with a bell shaped dress a predecessor of the tutu yet to come. As woman s pointe work reached a new level, the Romantic period marked the beginning of a shift in gender roles, as woman began stealing the spotlight. Following the Romantic Period, Russian Classical ballet took off in St. Petersburg with the outstanding choreography of Marius Petipa and his associate, Lev Ivanov. As the technical abilities of the dancers increased, Mr. Petipa created very challenging, full-length classic ballets for them to dance. These classic ballets always included a pas de deux (dance of two) for the male and female lead dancers followed by a difficult solo of each one of them and a coda (short, quick finale). Woman s costume became shorter and the classic tutu (short, stiff skirt) became popular. This allowed the dancers to move more easily and also enabled the audience to see their legs and feet as they executed the difficult steps. Many of his ballets including Swan Lake, The Sleeping Beauty, The Nutcracker, and Raymonda, are still preformed today and are some of the most beloved and highly revered ballets of all time. By the 1870 s, following the French Revolution, dances were becoming very feminine and romantic. Ballets were designed to make the audience escape reality into a fantasy world of fairy tales, folk legends, and romance. During
this time, ballets became so feminine that males were often ignored for being muscular or sweaty. Even the principal male roles were danced by women. As a result, men left ballet or went to other countries that still wanted male dancers, such as Italy and Russia. As a result, the popularity of the ballet declined in England and France. In the 1920s and 1930s, modern dance began to be developed in the United States and Germany. The American dancers Martha Graham and Doris Humphrey and others broke away from traditional to create their own expressive movement styles and to choreograph dances that were more closely related to actual human life. Ballets also reflected this move toward realism. Popular dance forms also enriched the ballet. In 1944 the American choreographer Jerome Robbins created Fancy Free, a ballet based on the jazz-dance style that had developed in musical comedy. Dance in general underwent and enormous upsurge in popularity beginning in the mid-1960s. Ballet began to show the influence of a younger audience, in both themes and style. The athleticism of dancing was enjoyed in much the same way as sports, and virtuosic steps were admired for their challenge. Popular music such as rock and roll and jazz were used to accompany many ballets. Today s ballet repertoire offers great variety. New ballets and reconstruction and restaging of older ballets coexist with new works created by moderndance choreographers for ballet companies. Choreographers experiment with both new and traditional forms and styles, and dances constantly seek to extend their technical and dramatic range. The ballet eventually became both a male and female art form, but there are significantly more female performers than male in today s ballets. Ballet has led to the discovery of wonderful new dance forms such as modern and jazz. What began in Italy and moved to the Royal Courts of France has now turned into a worldwide love of ballet.
Name Ballet History Questions You do not have to answer in complete sentences 1. From what Country did Ballet Originate from? 2. What is a Dance Suite? 3. What was the commedia Dell Arte? 4. During the 15 th and 16 th centuries, where sis the great movement sweep across? 5. During the early ballets of 1489, what did the hired servants and court members perform? 6. What was the name of the first true Ballet? 7. What was the name of the lady who organized it? 8. Why was this first true Ballet produced? 9. Describe the choreography of Ballet Comique de la Reine. 10. What was the new development in the theater world? 11. Why was Louis XIV known as the Sun King? 12. What happened in 1650? 13. Why were woman not allowed to perform in the ballets when they first began? 14. What did Louis XIV create in 1661? 15. What year did the first female dancer perform professionally? 16. What did Empress Ann in Russia do in 1735? 17. What did the Romantic Ballets focus on? 18. Describe the Ballet from the Romantic Period.
19. What change came in the Romantic Period? 20. What did Mr. Petipa create? 21. What women s costume became popular in the Classical Ballet period? 22. List one of the Classical Ballets that are still performed today? 23. Why were men not wanted in the Ballets during 1870s? 24. What new dance form was being developed in the 1920s and 1930s? 25. Who was creating this new type of dance? 26. What did Jerome Robbins create? 27. When did the ballet become popular again? 28. What do choreographers experiment with in today s Ballets? 29. Are there more females or males in today s Ballets? 30. Ballet has led to the discovery of what two dance forms?