Knowra History of ballet History of ballet The history of ballet traces its development from Renaissance court dances into a theatrical art with evolving techniques, styles, institutions, and international traditions.
Renaissance dance : European social and court dances performed during the Renaissance, often with patterned steps and formal instruction. Court dances supplied the movement and settings from which early ballet emerged.
Classical ballet technique : A codified system of ballet movement emphasizing turnout, alignment, balance, and precise footwork. Its technical conventions accumulated through ballet’s institutional history.
Louis XIV : King of France from 1643 to 1715, a major patron and performer of court dance. His patronage centered ballet at the French court and supported its institutions.
La Sylphide : A Romantic ballet first staged in Paris in 1832, in which a Scottish farmer is enchanted by a supernatural sylph. Its staging and subject helped establish the Romantic ballet aesthetic.
Romantic ballet : A nineteenth-century ballet movement emphasizing supernatural themes, emotional drama, and an ethereal female image. It marks a stylistic shift from courtly display toward poetic theatrical fantasy.
Ballet de cour : A French court entertainment combining dance, music, poetry, and spectacle, especially prominent in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. These productions established ballet as elaborate court performance.
Ballet terminology : The largely French vocabulary used to name ballet steps, positions, and movements. French terms preserve the influence of the academies that codified ballet.
Marius Petipa : A French choreographer who led the Imperial Ballet in St. Petersburg and shaped its classical repertory. His works established enduring models of full-length classical ballet.
Giselle : A Romantic ballet premiered in Paris in 1841 about a young woman who dies of heartbreak and joins the Wilis. It became a lasting example of Romantic ballet’s supernatural drama and demanding dual role.
Classical ballet : A formal ballet tradition characterized by codified technique, symmetry, and a substantial repertory of established works. It consolidated the theatrical and technical conventions developed during ballet’s history.
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