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ballet (dict)
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Ballet Ballet is the name given to a specific dance form and technique. Dance works choreographed using this technique are called ballets and may include: dance, mime, acting and music (orchestral and sung). Ballets can be performed alone or as part of an opera. Ballet is best known for its virtuoso techniques such as pointe work, grand pas de deux and high leg extensions. Many Ballet techniques bear a striking similarity to fencing positions and footwork, perhaps due to their development during the same periods of history. Domenico da Piacenza is credited with the first use ot the term ballo (in De Arte Saltandi ed Choreas Ducendi) instead of danza (dance) for his baletti or balli which later came to be known as Ballets. The first Ballet per se is considered to be Balthasar de Beaujoyeulx's Ballet Comique de la Royne (1581) and was a ballet comique (ballet drama). 1581 also saw the publication of Fabritio Caroso's Il Ballarino, a technical manual on ballet dancing that helped to establish Italy as a major centre of ballet development. History of ballet Ballet has its roots in Renaissance court spectacle in Italy, but was particularly shaped by the French ballet de cour, which consisted of social dances performed by the nobility in tandem with music, speech, verse, song, pageant, decor, and costume. Ballet began to develop as a separate art form in France during the reign of Louis XIV, who was passionate about dance and determined to reverse a decline in dance standards that began in the 17th century. The king established the Acadmie Royale de Danse in 1661, the same year in which the first comdie-ballet, composed by Jean-Baptist Lully was performed. This early form consisted of a play in which the scenes were separated by dances. Lully soon branched out into opra-ballet, and a school to train professional dancers was attached to the Acadmie Royale de Musique, where instruction was based on noble deportment and manners. The 18th Century was a period of great advancement in the technical standards of ballet and the period when ballet became a serious dramatic art form on par with the Opera. Central to this advance was the seminal work of Jean-Georges Noverre, Lettres sur la danse et les ballets (1760), which focused on developing the ballet d'action, in which the movements of the dancers are designed to express character and assist in the narrative. Reforms were also being made in ballet composition by composers such as Christoph Gluck. Finally, opera was divided into three formal techniques srieux, demi-caractre, and comique. Ballet also came to be featured in operas as interludes called divertissements. The 19th Century was a period of great social change, which was reflected in ballet by a shift away from the aristocratic sensibilities that had dominated ealier periods through Romantic ballet. Ballerinas such as Marie Taglioni and Fanny Elssler pioneered new techniques such as pointework that rocketed the ballerina into prominence as the ideal stage figure, professional librettists began crafting the stories in ballets, and teachers like Carlo Blasis codified ballet technique in the basic form that is still used today. Ballet began to decline after 1850 in most parts of the western world, but remained vital in Denmark and, most notably, Russia thanks to masters such as August Bournonville, Jules Perrot, and Marius Petipa. Russian companies, particularly after World War II engaged in multiple tours all over the world that revitalized ballet in the west and made it a form of entertainment embraced to one degree or another by the general public. Ballet technique Methods Since its beginnings in the Italian court dances of the late 14th century ballet technique has been developed throughout Europe, Russia and the United States. Consequently there are several methods of ballet technique which differ slightly in the presentation and execution of the standard ballet vocabulary. These methods inculde the: main article: ballet technique En pointe Dancing en pointe is the action of rising to 'tips of the toes' while performing steps from ballet technique. Also known as pointe work, it is mostly performed using hard toed pointe shoes but can be performed using soft toed ballet shoes. A development of the Romantic ballet period, pointe work was developed by Marie Taglioni who danced the full length of the La Sylphide en pointe in 1832. Pointe work has now become a fundamental ballet technique for female ballet dancers (ballerinas). While pointe work is usually practiced and performed by female dancers, some roles (usually comic, as that of Bottom in A Midsummer Night's Dream) in ballets call for the male dancers to perform en pointe. main article: en pointe Pas de deux Ballet pas de deux (step / dance for two) is a duet in which ballet steps are performed together. Grand pas de deux refers to a duet in which a male and female dancer perform together and features supported leaps, lifts, and pirouettes. pas de trois are trios and pas de quatre quartets. Pas de deux, trois and quatre can be indiviual works or part of a larger ballet (but are often performed out of context) and are usually danced by the principal, solo and/or guest artist of a ballet company. main article: pas de deux Ballet production Ballets Seminal (important) ballets include: Ballet companies A Ballet company is group of dancers who perform ballets. Famous ballet companies include; main article: Ballet company Artists Seminal artists involved with ballets include: Jean Dauberval, Sergei Diaghilev, Robert Joffrey, Louis XIV, Jean-Baptiste Lully, Catherine De Medici, Marie Rambert, Ninette de Valois Frederick Ashton, George Balanchine, Pierre Beauchamp, Erik Bruhn, Mikhail Fokine, Lev Ivanovich Ivanov, Serge Lifar, Kenneth MacMillan, Leonide Massine, Vaslav Nijinsky, Bronislava Nijinska, Jean-Georges Noverre, Jules Perrot, Marius Petipa, Jerome Robbins, Filippo Taglioni, Anthony Tudor, Rudolf Nureyev Peter Darrell Mikhail Baryshnikov, Erik Bruhn, Darcey Bussell, Fanny Cerito, Anton Dolin, Fanny Elssler, Suzanne Farrell, Margot Fonteyn, Lucile Grahn, Carlotta Grisi, Sylvie Guillem, Karen Kain, Pierina Legnani, Alicia Markova, Vaslav Nijinsky, Rudolf Nureyev, Anna Pavlova, Marie Taglioni, Nicolas Leriche, Agnes Letestu, Jose Martinez, Aurelie Dupont, Jeremie Belingard, Emmanuel Thibault, Cyril Atanassoff, Manuel Legris, Laetitia Pujol, Laurent Hilaire, Charles Jude, Elisabeth Maurin, Elisabeth Platel, Johann Kobborg, Alina Cojocaru, Svetlana Zakharova, Maria Alexandrova, Johann Kobborg, Gaetan Vestris, Auguste Vestris, Rolando Sarabia, Jose Manuel Carreno, Ethan Stiefel, Marcelo Gomes, Joaquin de Luz, Angel Corella, Maria Tallchief, Yuri Soloviev Agrippina Vaganova, Enrico Cecchetti, Pierre Beauchamp, Thoinot Arbeau, Carlo Blasis, August Bournonville, Raoul-Auger Feuillet, Nicolai Legat, Domenico da Piacenza, Pierre Rameau, Attilio Labis, Cyril Atanassoff Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Jacques Offenbach, Igor Stravinsky Lon Bakst, Christian Brard, Georges Braque, Marc Chagall, John Craxton, Salvador Dal, Andr Derain, Barbara Karinska, Barry Kay, Pablo Picasso, Pavel Tchelitchev, Maurice Utrillo See also: Dance personalia Ballet education Canada Switzerland United Kingdom USA See also
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