The History of Ballet

Ballet emerged in the late fifteenth-century Renaissance court culture of Italy as a dance interpretation of fencing, and further developed in the French court from the time of Louis XIV in the 17th century.

Louis XIV in Lully's Ballet de la nuit (1653).

This is reflected in the largely French vocabulary of ballet. It was reintroduced to western Europe on the eve of the First World War by a Russian company: the Ballets Russes of Sergei Diaghilev, who came to be influential around the world. Diaghilev's company came to be a destination for many of the Russian trained dancers fleeing the famine and unrest that followed the Bolshevik revolution. These dancers brought many of the choreographic and stylistic innovations that had been flourishing under the czars back to their place of origin.
In the 20th century ballet has continued to develop and has had a strong influence on broader concert dance. For example, in the United States, choreographer George Balanchine developed what is now known as neoclassical ballet. Subsequent developments now include contemporary ballet and post-structural ballet, seen in the work of William Forsythe in Germany.

Ballet is a formalized form of dance with its origins in the Italian Renaissance courts of the 15th and 16th centuries. It quickly spread to the French court of Catherine de' Medici where it was developed even further. In the 17th century at the time of Louis XIV, ballet was codified. The predominance of French in the vocabulary of ballet reflects this history. It also became a form closely associated with the opera. Despite the great reforms of Jean-Georges Noverre (was a French dancer and balletmaster) in the eighteenth century, ballet went into decline in France after 1830, though it was continued in Denmark, Italy, and Russia. The Royal Danish Ballet and the Imperial Ballet of the Russian Empire were founded in the 1740s and began to flourish, especially after about 1850. In 1907 the Russian ballet in turn moved back to France, where the Ballets Russes of Sergei Diaghilev and its successors were particularly influential. Soon ballet spread around the world with the formation of new companies, including London's The Royal Ballet (1931), the San Francisco Ballet (1933), American Ballet Theatre (1937), The Australian Ballet (1940), the New York City Ballet (1948), the National Ballet of Canada (1951), and the Delhi Ballet (2002).[1]
In the 20th century styles of ballet continued to develop and strongly influence broader concert dance, for example, in the United States choreographer George Balanchine developed what is now known as neoclassical ballet, subsequent developments have included contemporary ballet and post-structural ballet, for example seen in the work of William Forsythe in Germany.
The etymology of the word "ballet" reflects its history. The word ballet comes from French and was borrowed into English around the 17th century. The French word in turn has its origins in Italian balletto, a diminutive of ballo (dance). Ballet ultimately traces back to Latin ballare, meaning "to dance".

The History of the Nutracker

One of the most beloved holiday traditions is The Nutcracker Ballet. Here in Arizona there are many companies that perform this treasured ballet, but how did it begin? Dance Channel TV gives us a history of The Nutcracker.

What is Dance?

Many people do it without ever asking what is the basic meaning of dance? Where did it begin, and how did it develop into the art form that it is today? I did a little research and came up with some answers and information:

Wikipedia gives us this definition of dance
"Dance is an art form that generally refers to movement of the body, usually rhythmic and to music,used as a form of expression, social interaction or presented in a spiritual or performance setting."

Dance can be participatory (seen a lot at weddings-such as the macarena or the chicken dance), social (square dancing or swing dancing) or performed for an audience. We will be focusing on performance dancing on this website. Performance dancing then breaks off into mulitple styles from classical to hip hop-and then breaks off into even more specific categories like ballet & ballroom in the classical style; and break dancing and krumping in the hip hop style. Performance dance can also be separated into solo dances, partner dances, and group dances.

Dance can embody or express ideas, emotions or tell a story. While dancing is considered an art form it also requires athleticism, flexibility and physics. All parts must work together to support the aesthetics of the movement.

No one knows exactly when dance began, but it has been a part of rituals and ceremonies since prehistoric times as evidenced by the 9,000 year old Rock Shelters of Bhimbetka paintings in India and Egyptian tomb paintings depicting dancing figures from circa 3300 BC. People all around the world have used dance for many different kinds of ceremonies and many contemporary dance forms can be traced back to historical, traditional, ceremonial, and ethnic dance.