The
beginning of ballet is traced to five hundred years ago in Italy. The Italian
nobility entertained important visitors with pageants of poetry, music,
mime and dancing. These entertainments, performed by the courtiers, were
noted for their lavish costumes and spectacular scenary, often designed
by famous artists such as Leonardo de Vinci.
When
Catherine de Medici of Florence married the future King Henry II of France,
she introduced this kind of pageant to the French court. One party she
held in 1581 is now considered the "first" ballet.
Louis
XIV loved to dance. For 20 years he had daily dancing lessons. He appeared
in many ballets. Louis' title of The Sun King came from his
triumphant role as the sun in the Ballet de la Nuit in 1653. When
Louis retired from dancing, his courtiers lost interest and professional
dancers took over. Performances moved from the court to the theater.
Ballet eventually went into
decline in Europe, but in Russia, the Imperial Ballet in St. Petersburg
was presenting superb productions. Many French ballet masters and Italian
dancers went to St. Petersburg. Throughout the second half of the 1800's,
the center of the ballet world was in Russia.
An important artist, Serge
Diaghilev, took Russian ballet on tour throughout Europe. Never before
had Europeans seen such superb dancing. When Diaghilev died in 1929, his
dancers scattered to all parts of the world, taking ballet with them. George
Balanchine was a choreographer who moved to the United States and founded
the New York City Ballet. His style still exerts a strong influence on
American dancers today.
Thanks to Ballet West
for this information! |
Try dancing
like this ballerina!
|
|
|
