The Romantic History of Ballet

Ballet is a beautiful form of dance that has captivated audiences for many years. Typically performed in a theatre, ballet is a powerful art that combines beauty and grace to tell a story. Ballet dancers must work very hard for many years to become good enough to perform in a professional ballet company, but this doesn't stop many little girls from dreaming that they can become the next prima ballerina.

Since so many French names are given to ballet postures, for instance the plie, most people think that the dance itself began in France. Actually ballet is known to go back as far as 15th century Italy. These movements performed during the Renaissance led to the French development of ballet as we now know it. The Queen's Ballet Company was the very first and was located in France.

By the mid 1600s ballets consisted of not only beautiful dances, but extravagant costumes, sets, and props as well. Professional ballet continued to grow, and it was very popular with royalty. For the next few hundred years the ballet's costumes continued to become more intricate, and toe dancing was introduced. The block toe shoes were not yet invented and so the dancers could only hold their positions for a second or two.

In the 1800s the romantic style of ballet was ushered in, thanks in part to the ballet La Sylphide. La Sylphide made much use of the toe dancing technique and brought about many changes to ballet. Many people wonder where the traditional tutu came from, and that can be accredited to the ballet Giselle, where the ghostly spirits all wore the tutu.

All romantic ballets focused on women and this encouraged women to take on increasingly to become ballerinas. They grew up in Russia, Denmark and even the United States. While ballet prospered in other nations, it started declining in France. The decline could be because ballet was seen as being very other worldly with mythical steps.

The shift from mythical steps to a more reasonable style that could be co-related to human movements came about in the twentieth century. This was because of the many different styles of dance that were becoming increasingly popular. The change that started in the twentieth century continues to transform ballet even today where it incorporates different styles of dance.

One of the first instances of this was in 1944 when the Fancy Free was introduced. This revolutionary dance combined jazz dance and ballet steps. It was an immediate hit.

While traditional classical and romantic ballets are still performed, taught, and enjoyed today, ballet has evolved with the times, and still has a huge following. Ballet is a beautiful expression of what the human body is capable of, and while most of can never dream of performing many of the steps and moves that a ballet dancer can, we still enjoy watching the magic of the ballet.

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