Ballet is a performance dance that originated in Italy during the Renaissance. It is a very technical art and its vocabulary is based on the French language. The height of ballet was under King Louis XIV's reign in the 1600s. Modern ballet has many different sub-categories, including contemporary where a ballerina is often barefoot.
The History of Ballet
Ballet began in the fifteenth century and has since progressed. It originated in Italy during the Renaissance; this is because of Catherine de Medici’s love for the art form. Mostly, these dancers were underdeveloped, however, their primary purpose was to provide entertainment for the powerful and rich. The first professional ballet academy was formed in 1672, by 1681 the first proper ballerinas entered the scene as full-on entertainers. In the 1800s ballets, popularity began to decline in France, but rose in more eastern European countries, like Russia.
Styles
There are four main styles of ballet: classical ballet, romantic ballet, neoclassical ballet, and contemporary ballet. Classical Ballet is an early style of ballet, and most of the vocabulary is named after the creator of the move. For example, the Vaganova method is named after the Russian ballerina Agrippina Vaganova. The second type is Romantic Ballet, which was made in the 19th century, it is similar to Classical, but develops more work on pointe shoes. Typically, with this style of dance women are the focus and they wear classical tutus. Neoclassical ballet is a newer form of ballet and is similar to Classical, but with abstract differences, they often utilize a chaotic approach, with strange music and a lack of plot, it strays from the norm and is more risqué. The final type is the Contemporary Ballet. In this style, traditional ballet is combined with modern dance to create an experimental dance. This can make dances more complicated and add a lot of intrigue to them, often dancers will not wear pointe shoes.
Icons of Ballet
Many ballerinas contribute to the art of ballet daily, but there are definitely some major contributors that deserve credit for incredible additions to the ballet world. Firstly, Anna Pavlova was and is one of the most famous ballerinas, she worked in Russian ballet and was the first dancer to ever tour the world, she even had a baked good named after her! Pierina Legnani was a dancer in Italy who is known for playing main roles in Cinderella, Swan Lake, and Raymonda, one of her biggest accomplishments was doing 32 fouettés en tournant, a record. Misty Copeland is a famous ballerina who began dance late at the age of 13, she is the first black dancer to become the American Ballet’s main dancer. Margot Fonteyn, arguably the most famous ballerina was set to retire when she was in her late thirties, however, Rudulf Nureyev came to popularity and the two danced together often, this caused them to become an iconic duo in the dance world that to this day hold one of the most iconic performances of Romeo and Juliet.
Negativity in the Ballet World
There are many issues in the dance world, specifically ballet. One of the main problems are eating disorders, because young girls are forced to look into a mirror for hours in tight clothing, they are exposed to self-critiquing thoughts much easier than others. Another contributing factor to this is the stereotypical ballerina being quite thin, an expectation not all dancers can or should have to live up to. In the professional world, dancers are not taken very seriously, and salaries are low for those looking to have a future in ballet.
Is Ballet a Sport?
Yes. Despite the controversy (which is highly misogynistic), ballet is in fact a sport and a challenging one at that. In ballet, ballerinas are forced to put an incredible amount of force on their bodies, and they have to look graceful while doing it. It is such a demanding sport that many football players sign up for ballet to strengthen their own skills, much like football, the span of time a dancer can be professional is short. In summary, dance is absolutely a sport.
Written by Orange Juice Stan
The Anonymous Helpers (TAH)
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