Ballet

Painting of ballet dancers by Edgar Degas, 1872.

Ballet is a highly stylized dance form that developed into a popular courtly entertainment during the Italian Renaissance, a serious dramatic art in seventeenth-century France, and a world-renowned fine art in twentieth-century Russia and America. Ballet is best known for its sophisticated techniques, such as pointe work, turn-out of the legs, and high extensions; its graceful, flowing, precise movements; and its ethereal qualities.

In Aristotle's "Poetics," dance was likened to drama and held "to represent men's characters as well as what they do and suffer." In ballet, the expressive, disciplined movement of the human body through carefully choreographed productions enables dancers to advance a dramatic narrative, typically a folk tale, while conveying a range of human emotions. Joys, sorrows, hopes, and ideals are dramatized without words, enabling this art form to speak universally across boundaries of language and culture.

The Origin of Ballet

Theatre in ancient Greece.

Dance is prominent throughout history. Traditions of narrative dance evolved in China, India, Indonesia and Ancient Greece. Theatrical dance was well-established in the wider arena of ancient Greek theatre. When the Roman Empire conquered Greece, it assimilated Greek dance and theater with their art and culture. While dance continued to be important throughout the Middle Ages, in spite of occasional suppression by the Church, the art of ballet did not emerge until the late 1400s in Italy. Italy began the ballet tradition, but it was the French that enabled it to blossom. Incorporating aspects of Italian ballet, French ballet gained prominence and influenced the dance genre internationally. To this day, the majority of ballet vocabulary originates from French.

In the last century, the United States also developed its own ballet traditions, most notably with choreographer George Balanchine. Although interest in contemporary dance has expanded to include modern dance, jazz, flamenco and other forms, ballet has endured the test of time and is still taught and performed.

The etymology of the word "ballet" corresponds to the art form's development. The word ballet comes from French and was adopted into English during the seventeenth century. The French word in turn has its origins in Italian balletto, a diminutive of ballo (dance). Ballet ultimately traces back to Latin ballere, meaning to dance.

Ballet in Italy - 'Ballo'

Ballet originated in the Renaissance court as an outgrowth of court pageantry in Italy, Aristocratic weddings were lavish celebrations. Court musicians and dancers collaborated to provide elaborate entertainment for them. Ballet was further 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. When Catherine de' Medici, an Italian aristocrat with an interest in the arts, married the French crown's heir, Henry II of France, she brought her enthusiasm for dance to France and provided financial support.

A ballet of the Renaissance would look nothing like a modern performance of Giselle or Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake at Moscow's Bolshoi Theater. Tutus, ballet slippers and pointe work was as yet unheard of in ballet. The choreography was adapted from court dance steps. Performers dressed in the fashions of the times; for women that meant formal gowns that covered their legs to the ankle. Early ballet was participatory, with the audience joining the dance towards the end.

Engraving of the first scene of the Ballet Comique de la Reine. Click to enlarge.

Domenico da Piacenza was one of the first dancing masters. Along with his students, Antonio Cornazano and Guglielmo Ebreo, he was trained in dance and responsible for teaching nobles the art. Da Piacenza left one work: De arte saltandi et choreus ducendi (On the art of dancing and conducting dances), which was put together by his students.

Ballet, if not the first, produced and shown was Balthasar de Beaujoyeulx's Ballet Comique de la Reine (1581) and was a ballet comique (ballet drama). In the same year, the publication of Fabritio Caroso's Il Ballarino, a technical manual on court dancing, both performance and social, helped to establish Italy as a centre of technical ballet development.

France - Courtroom Dance

Ballet developed as a separate, performance-focused 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 seventeenth century. King Louis the XIV established the Académie Royale de la Danse (which evolved into the company known today as the Paris Opera Ballet) in 1661. The earliest references to the five core positions of ballet appear in the writings of Pierre Beauchamp, a court dancer and was also a choreographer.

Jean-Baptiste Lully, an Italian composer serving in the French court, played a significant role in establishing the general direction in which ballet would follow for the next century. Supported and admired by King Louis XIV, Lully often cast the king in his ballets. The appelation, Sun King, by which the French monarch is still commonly referred, originated from Louis XIV's role in Lully's Ballet de la Nuit (1653). Lully's main contribution to ballet was his nuanced compositions: his understanding of movement and dance allowed him to compose specifically for ballet, with musical phrasings which complemented physical movements. Lully also went on to collaborate with the French playwright Jean-Baptiste Molière. Together, they took an Italian theater style, the commedia dell'arte, and adapted it into their work for a French audience, creating the comédie-ballet. Among their greatest productions was an adaptation of Molière's Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme (1670). Later in life, Lully became the first director of the Académie Royale de Musique after its scope was expanded to include dance. Jean-Baptiste Lully brought together Italian and French ballet, creating a legacy which would define the future of ballet.

The first ballet school was in France, and the terminology was crystallized there. Nearly everything in ballet is described by a French word or phrase. (One even bids dancers good luck in French.) Because of the universal terminology, dancers can take a ballet class anywhere in the world and understand the director's instructions.

Russian ballet

While France was instrumental in early ballet, other countries and cultures soon adopted and greatly influenced the art form, most notably Russia. Russia profoundly influenced the tradition of ballet in the last half of the nineteenth century and throughout the twentieth century.

After 1850, ballet began to wane in Paris and concentrate in Denmark and, most notably, Russia thanks to masters such as August Bournonville, Jules Perrot, Arthur Saint-Léon, Enrico Cecchetti and Marius Petipa. The Mariinsky Theater was built in St. Petersburg in 1860 and the Bolshoi Theater even earlier, in 1824. The Imperial Ballet, later the Kirov Ballet after the Bolshevik revolution (named after the Leningrad party boss, Sergei Kirov), rose in world prominence. In the late nineteenth century, orientalism was in vogue. Colonialism brought awareness of Asian and African cultures, but from the colonial perspective, its culture became the material of fantasy. The East was often perceived as a faraway place where anything was possible, provided it was lavish, exotic and decadent. Petipa appealed to popular taste with The Pharaoh's Daughter (1862), and later The Talisman (1889), and La Bayadère (1877). Petipa is best remembered for his collaborations with Tchaikovsky, choreographing The Nutcracker (1892, though this is open to some debate among historians), The Sleeping Beauty (1890), and the definitive revival of Swan Lake (1895, with Lev Ivanov). These works were all drawn from western folklore.

The classical tutu began to appear at this time. It consisted of a short skirt supported by layers of crinoline that revealed the acrobatic legwork. At times the classic tutu revealed more than the audience cared to see and it became customary to wear a leotard as an undergarment.

Sergei Diaghilev brought ballet full-circle back to Paris when he opened his company, Ballet Russe. The Ballets Russes company was established in 1909, residing first in the Théâtre Mogador and Théâtre du Châtelet, Paris; and then in Monte Carlo. It sprang out of the Tsar's Imperial Ballet (also known as the Mariinski Ballet, or the Kirov Ballet) of St. Petersburg, from which all its dancers were associated and trained, under the influence of the great choreographer Marius Petipa. It created a sensation in Western Europe because of the great vitality of Russian ballet compared to what was current in France at the time. It became the most influential ballet company in the twentieth century, and that influence, in one form or another, has lasted to this day. It was in the Ballet Russe that Vaslav Nijinsky became famous for his leaps. Diaghilev and composer Igor Stravinsky combined their talents to bring Russian folklore to life in The Firebird and Petrushka. The most controversial work of the Ballet Russe was Stravinsky's Rite of Spring. The ballet shocked audiences with its theme of human sacrifice.

After the “golden age” of Petipa, Russian ballet entered a period of stagnation, until Michel Fokine revitalized the art. Fokine began his career in St. Petersburg but moved to the United States after the Bolshevik revolution. He felt that the ballet of the time offered little more than prettiness and athletic display. For Fokine that was not enough. In addition to technical virtuosity he demanded drama, expression, and historical authenticity. The choreographer must research the period and cultural context of the setting and reject the traditional tutu in favor of accurate period costuming. Fokine choreographed Sheherazade and Cleopatra and reworked Petrushka and The Firebird. One of his most famous works was The Dying Swan, performed by prima ballerina Anna Pavlova. Beyond her talents as a ballerina, Pavlova had the theatrical gifts to fulfill Fokine's vision of ballet as drama. Legend has it that Pavlova identified so much with the swan role that she requested her swan costume from her deathbed.

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 by the general public. American choreographerGeorge Balanchine brought state of the art technique to America by opening a school in Chicago and later in New York. He adapted ballet to the new media, movies and television. A prolific worker, Balanchine re-choreographed classics such as Swan Lake and The Sleeping Beauty as well as creating new ballets. He produced original interpretations of the dramas of William Shakespeare such as Romeo and Juliet, The Merry Widow and A Midsummer Night's Dream. In Jewels Balanchine broke with the narrative tradition and dramatized a theme rather than a plot. Today, partly thanks to Balanchine, ballet is one of the most well-preserved dances in the world.

Barbara Karinska was an Russian emigree and a skilled seamstress who collaborated with Balanchine to elevate the art of costume design from a secondary role to an integral part of a ballet performance. She introduced the bias cut and a simplified classic tutu that allowed the dancer more freedom of movement. With meticulous attention to detail, she decorated her tutus with beadwork, embroidery, crochet, and appliqué.

Russia gave the world not only great directors, choreographers and set designers, but most of all, great dancers. In addition to Najinsky and Pavlova, Russia produced many of the twentieth century's great ballet performers, including Rudolf Nureyev, Mikhail Baryshnikov among others.

The Art of Ballet

The eighteenth century was a period of vast 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. At this time, women played a secondary role as dancers, encumbered as they were with hoops, corsets, wigs and high heels.

Marie Taglioni, a pioneer of pointework.

Reforms were made in ballet composition by composers such as Christoph Gluck. Finally, ballet was divided into three formal techniques sérieux, demi-caractère and comique. Ballet also began to be featured in operas as interludes called divertissements.

The nineteenth century was a period of great social change, which was reflected in ballet by a shift away from the aristocratic sensibilities that had dominated earlier 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. The ballet slipper was invented to support pointe work.

Romanticism was a reaction against formal constraints and also of industrialization with the introduction of complex machinery and factories. The zeitgeist led choreographers to compose romantic ballets that were light and airy and that would act as a contrast to the reductionist science that had, in the words of Poe, "driven the hamadryad from the woods". These "unreal" ballets portrayed women as fragile unearthly beings, delicate creatures who could be lifted effortlessly. Ballerinas began to wear romantic tutus, with pastel, flowing skirts that bared the shins. The stories revolved around uncanny, folkloric spirits. An example of one such romantic ballet is La Sylphide, one of the oldest romantic ballets still danced today.

Neoclassical ballet

Mikhail Mordkin as Prince Siegfried and Adelaide Giuri as Odette with students as the little swans in the Moscow Imperial Bolshoi Theatre's production of the Petipa/Ivanov/Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake. 1901

Neoclassical ballet is a term describing the ballet style which uses traditional ballet vocabulary, but is generally more expansive than the classical structure allowed. For example, dancers often dance at more extreme tempos and perform more technical feats. Spacing in neoclassical ballet is usually more modern or complex than in classical ballet. Although organization in neoclassical ballet is more varied, the focus on structure is a defining characteristic of neoclassical ballet.

Tnhe neoclassical style of twentieth-century classical ballet is best exemplified by the works of George Balanchine. It draws on the advanced technique of nineteenth-century Russian Imperial dance, but strips it of its detailed narrative and heavy theatrical setting. What is left is the dance itself, sophisticated but sleekly modern, retaining the pointe shoe aesthetic, but eschewing the well-upholstered drama and mime of the full length story ballet.

Tim Scholl, author of From Petipa to Balanchine, considers George Balanchine's Apollo in 1928 to be the first neoclassical ballet. Apollo represented a return to form in response to Serge Diaghilev's abstract ballets. Although much of Balanchine's work epitomized the genre, British choreographers Frederick Ashton and Kenneth MacMillan were also great neoclassical choreographers.

Contemporary Ballet

File:Drew Jacoby of LINES.jpeg

Dancer Drew Jacoby, formerly of contemporary ballet company Alonzo King's LINES Ballet. Photo by Marty Sohl

Contemporary ballet is a form of dance influenced by both classical ballet and modern dance. It takes its technique and use of pointework from classical ballet, although it permits a greater range of movement that may not adhere to the strict body lines set forth by schools of ballet technique. Many of its concepts come from the ideas and innovations of 20th century modern dance, including floorwork and turn-in of the legs.

New York State Theater, home of the New York City Ballet

George Balanchine is often considered to have been the first pioneer of contemporary ballet. Today the style he developed is now known as neo-classical ballet, a style of dance between classical ballet and today's contemporary ballet. Balanchine used flexed hands (and occasionally feet), turned-in legs, off-centered positions and non-classical costumes (such as leotards and tunics instead of tutus) to distance himself from the classical and romantic ballet traditions. Balanchine also brought modern dancers in to dance with his company, the New York City Ballet; one such dancer was Paul Taylor, who in 1959 performed in Balanchine's piece Episodes. Balanchine also worked with modern dance choreographer Martha Graham, expanding his exposure to modern techniques and ideas. Also during this period, choreographers such as John Butler and Glen Tetley began to consciously combine ballet and modern techniques in experimentation.

One dancer who trained with Balanchine and absorbed much of this neo-classical style was Mikhail Baryshnikov. Following Baryshnikov's appointment as artistic director of American Ballet Theatre in 1980, he worked with various modern choreographers, most notably Twyla Tharp. Tharp choreographed Push Comes To Shove for ABT and Baryshnikov in 1976; in 1986 she created In The Upper Room for her own company. Both these pieces were considered innovative for their use of distinctly modern movements melded with the use of pointe shoes and classically-trained dancers — for their use of "contemporary ballet".

Tharp also worked with the Joffrey Ballet company, founded in 1957 by Robert Joffrey. She choreographed Deuce Coupe for them in 1973, using pop music and a blend of modern and ballet techniques. The Joffrey Ballet continued to perform numerous contemporary pieces, many choreographed by co-founder Gerald Arpino.

Today there are many explicitly contemporary ballet companies and choreographers. These include Alonzo King and his company, Alonzo King's LINES Ballet; Nacho Duato and Compañia Nacional de Danza; William Forsythe, who has worked extensively with the Frankfurt Ballet and today runs his own company; and Jiří Kilián, currently the artistic director of the Nederlands Dans Theatre. Traditionally "classical" companies, such as the Kirov Ballet and the Paris Opera Ballet, also regularly perform contemporary works.

Technique

File:MayaPlisetskaya.jpg

Dancers appear delicate and airy when dancing en pointe, a unique feature of the ballet form of dance.

Ballet, especially classical ballet, puts great emphasis on the method and execution of movement. A distinctive feature of ballet is the outward rotation of the thighs from the hip. The foundation of the dance consists of five basic positions, all performed with the turnout. Young dancers receive a rigorous education in their school's method of dance, which begins when they are young and ends with graduation from high school. Students are required to learn the names, meanings, and precise technique of each movement they learn. Emphasis is put on building strength mostly in the lower body, particularly the legs, and the core (also called the center or the abdominals) as a strong core is necessary for many movements in ballet, especially turns, and on developing flexibility and strong feet for dancing en pointe.

Ballet techniques are generally grouped by the area in which they originated, such as Russian ballet, French ballet, and Italian ballet. Although there are some small regional variations, the 'rules' and movement vocabulary of ballet remain the same throughout the world. The different training techniques of ballet are designed to produce a different aesthetic quality from a student. This is particularly noticeable in the high extensions and dynamic turns of Russian ballet, whereas Italian ballet tends to be much more grounded, with a heavy focus on fast intricate footwork (eg. the Tarantella is a well known Italian folk dance, which is believed to have influenced Italian ballet.)

In many cases, some of the most notable ballet methods are named after their originator. In Russia for example, two of the most notable systems are the Vaganova method after Agrippina Vaganova and the Legat Method, after Nikolai Legat and in Italy, the technique is predominantly Cecchetti method after Enrico Cecchetti. Another popular European system from around the same period is the Bournonville method, which originated in Denmark and is named after August Bournonville.

Therafter of course ballet spread to other parts of the world e.g., Danish Ballet of Denmark, Imperial Ballet of UK, the American Balanchine method, the Australian Ballet and recently the National Ballet Academy & Trust set up in India.

To perform the more demanding routines, a ballet dancer must appear to defy gravity while working within its constraints. Basic physics and the science of human perception provide insight into how this is accomplished.

For example, during the grand jeté, the dancer may appear to hover. Physically, his/her center of mass describes a parabola, as does a ball, when thrown (or, indeed, any object when in flight and acted upon by only the gravitational force alone). However, advantage is taken of the limitation in the human ability to reckon center of mass when a projectile changes its configuration in flight. When leaping, the dancer extends the arms and legs. The maneuver camouflages the fall and leads the audience to perceive the dancer is floating. A Pas de Chat (step of the cat) creates a similar illusion. The dancer starts from a plié, then during the ascending phase of the step, quickly lifts each knee in succession with hips turned out, so that for a moment both feet are in the air at the same time, passing each other. For a moment, the dancer appears suspended in air.

The ability of a dancer to seemingly hold a position in mid-air is called ballon. The fall must be performed carefully. The laws of physics decree that momentum must be dissipated but a crash landing would destroy the impression of airiness and likely injure the dancer. Part of the solution is a floor designed to absorb shock. The dancer also bends at the knees (plies) and rolls the foot from toe to heel. For artistic as well as safety reasons this technique must be taught by a qualified instructor.

The athleticism and virtuosity of modern ballet has won international renown. Restagings of beloved ballets as well as innovative modern dance testify to the flexibility and vitality of the art. Dancers and choreographers constantly seek to explore new technical and dramatic frontiers, and international tours of dance companies confirm the continuing global appeal of contemporary ballet.

Notes

References

ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

• Aristotle (1920). The Poetics, 2nd ed., Oxford, UK: Oxford. Google Book Search. 
• Anderson, Jack (1992). Ballet & Modern Dance: A Concise History, 2nd ed., Princeton, NJ: Princeton Book Company, Publishers. ISBN 0-87127-172-9. 
• Bland, Alexander (1976). A History of Ballet and Dance in the Western World. New York: Praeger Publishers. ISBN 0-275-53740-4. 
• (2002) in Chantrell, Glynnis: The Oxford Essential Dictionary of Word Histories. New York: Berkley Books. ISBN 0-425-19098-6. 
• Kirstein, Lincoln and Stuart, Muriel (1952). The Classic Ballet. New York: Alfred A Knopf. 
• Lee, Carol (2002). Ballet In Western Culture: A History of its Origins and Evolution. New York: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-94256X. 
• The Bournonville School The DVD, The Dance Programme, The Music. Copenhagen: The Royal Danish Theatre, 2005.2 discs. 225 pp. 139 pp. Illustrated. Hardcover, www.kgl-teater.dk, www.dancebooks.co.uk

External links

• Physics of Dance Retrieved August 23, 2007.
• ballet.org.uk Retrieved August 23, 2007.
• Ballet Videos Retrieved August 23, 2007.
• Andros on Ballet Retrieved August 23, 2007.
• The History of Ballet Shoes Retrieved August 23, 2007.
• dance-Germany.org Retrieved August 23, 2007.
• A Conversation with Mikhail Fokine Retrieved August 23, 2007.

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