A (Brief) History of Ballet

Ballet is an old art form. It is common knowledge that it has French origins and the bulk of ballet work was done in Russia during the 19th century. However, the history is far richer and more confusing than most people can imagine. There are many cultural influences within the art of ballet, and it can be confusing where these influences intersect with one another. So, I have created a timeline so that you can see the points more clearly.

14th Century:

It starts with medieval dance. It is not clear what the music was like or even what the movement entailed, but medieval art and poetry provide descriptions and visuals of individuals dancing around.

16th Century:

During this time period, the movement began to pick up steam. There was the introduction of both court dances and country dances. The court dances, choreographed for the entertainment of the court, was composed of "trained dancers". On the other hand, the country dances allowed anyone to join in and try. Then there was what was called Ballets de Cour or court ballets. There was also the creation of what is considered the first ballet, Ballet Comique de la Reine. This was a ballet that describes the life of Circe, a character from Homer's The Odyssey.

17th Century:

This was were King Louis XIV of France began to construct a formal dance education. He himself was an avid and active dancer during this time and his teacher Pierre Beauchamp gave the most contributions to ballet. This is were many of the terms come from, such as the positions of the feet and all of the french names given to steps like, pas de chat which means step of the cat, or développé which means to develop the leg either front, side, or back. There was also Jean-Baptiste Lully, a choreographer who cast the King in many of his ballets. Once the King had retired, he founded the Académie d'Opéra, also known as the Paris Opera House, where the Paris Opera Ballet was founded and still performs. Below is a video about dance in the court of King Louis XIV.

18th Century:

The 18th century brought along more changes. This was were the ballet d'action was further developed. The ballet d'action is simply a fancy French term for movements the dancers create that aids the telling of a narrative. The ballet d'action brought costumes, sets, choreography, and music together in order to create a plot.

19th Century:

Here is where things start to get complicated. During this time period, ballet experienced an extreme amount of growth and also worldwide recognition. In previous centuries, the focus was heavily placed on male dancers, but now it was gradually becoming more focused on the female. The pointe shoe came into existence, making woman look like they were walking on air. Below is a video of the evolution of pointework.

This brought about the Romantic Movement, where ballets were made to look light and airy as a reflection of the change in art and literature. La Sylphide is a popular ballet that displays this change. Here is a variation danced by Auriele Dupont.

Also during this time, a slew of new choreographers were climbing up the ranks. The biggest of them is Marius Petipa, the choreographer of what I like to call "The Big Three", Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty, and The Nutcracker. Here Odette's variation from Swan Lake danced by Marianela Nuñez.

20th Century:

And now we come into the 1900's. This is the time period that gave birth to more contemporary movement in ballet. A common example is Kenneth MacMillian's Romeo and Juliet. In this ballet, there is no pantomime to drive the story forward, only dancing and expression. The climactic pas de deux between the two lovers bears no resemblance to the previous duets of Petipa.

The 20th century also brought pioneer George Balanchine, the choreographic genius of over 100 hundred ballets and founder of New York City Ballet. In Balanchine's work there is an emphasis placed on a neoclassical style of movement, where there is only the music and the steps, no story to follow. It brought the dancers and the music to the forefront and with no costumes and set to distract the audience, the dancers became the art medium.

If you want to see more of the aesthetic changes from then until now, check out this video:

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