Dance History

Ballet - Dance of Kings

Renaissance 1300 - 1600

The birth of Ballet was in the Courts of the Italian and French ruling Nobility

Court Dance - dancing for the entertainment of the ruler (King/Queen)

Country Dance - dancing for everyone (peasants)

Court DancesPageants, “Royal Ball”, spectacle (no stage or theatre)

Dancers were Noble men and women

Emphasis was on ‘comportment’ (doing it right)

‘Technique’ was the patterns and steps

Mostly footwork

Dancing was a way to maintain one’s ‘rank’ at court

Audience and Dancers were the same people

Basic Steps of Court DancesReverence

• ‘greeting’ step; dancers face each other, slide left foot back, bend both knees (plie) to bow to one another

Saltarello

• a lively step; dancers take three steps forward then hop

Pavane

• a slow’walking’ step, used to show off fancy clothes and gowns; usually the first dance of the night

Italian Double or Doppio

• dancers take two elegant steps forward and then rise up on their toes

Early patron of the Arts, 14th century

1581 - created “Ballet Comique de la Reine”

• translation: ‘The Queens Comic Ballet’

Catherine de Medici

Louis XIV “Sun King”

1638 - 1715

King of France - Coronation, 1661

Beginnings of professional ballet

Founded the first ballet academy

Pierre Beauchamps - director of Academy of Dance

Set technique, named steps

Le Roi Danse - Ballet de la Nuit The King Dances - Ballet of the Night

Codified Rules of Ballet Technique

Five positions of feet

Arm positions

Patterns of movements (steps)

Rules of execution (technique)

• straight legs

• pointed feet

• turnout of hips

• upright torso

Proscenium TheatreBefore the stage, dancing happened

• in court/palace (pageants/noble folk)

• outdoors (peasants)

Professional ballet takes stage

• platform framed by arch

• created separation between performer and audience

• performers were no longer amateurs

Parts of a TheatreStage

• Up stage, Down stage, Stage left, Stage right

Left/right based on PERFORMER facing AUDIENCE

• Center stage/Acting or Playing area

• Apron, wings, crossover

House

• Center/Orchestra, House left, House right

Left/right based on AUDIENCE facing STAGE

Ballet & Social Class

Audiences were no longer limited to Nobility

Anyone who could afford a ticket could attend

With the new theatre comes separation of classes

• Orchestra, Balcony, Private Boxes

Ballet & Gender

Early professional ballet dancers were men

Female dancers had to overcome bias that it was inappropriate for them to be on stage

Benefactors helped women excel in their dance career

Pointe work started and ballet became more ‘gendered’

‘Romantic Era’ elevated women’s roles

• Women were idealized, considered supernatural, ethereal

Ballet’s InfluenceBallet influenced fashion

• Dresses

• Shoes

Ballet influenced art

• Degas

Evolution of Ballet

New roles for women in the 20th and 21st centuries (1900’s & 2,000’s)

Challenging the previously impossible

Breaking stereotypes physically and racially

• Stronger, more athletic; not just fairies/princesses

• Misty Copeland

Four Centuries of Ballet

The Evolution of Ballet | Darcey Bussell

The power of ballet: Misty Copeland

Michaela DePrince

Be Great!: Juliet Doherty