Ballet Classical Ballet

Ballet is a style of dance that originated in the Italian renaissance courts during the 15th and 16th century’s. Ballet later was spread to France and Russia by Catherine de' Medici of Italy. Catherine de' Medici married king Henry ii and then became the queen of France in the mid-15th century and introduced this dance style to French courts. These dancers were mostly aristocratic armatures rather than professional dancers. Ballets during this time period were long and elaborate. Costumes were ornamented (meaning to be made more attractive by adding decorative items) to impress the audience. In addition, even though dance is all about freedom of movement, some of these costumes were made to restrict the dancer’s freedom of movement. Ballet

There are many different styles that are related to certain origins such as French Italian, and Russian and many styles are associated with specific training methods which typically were named after the creator. Most of ballet's early movements evolved from social court dances and prominently featured stage patterns rather than formal ballet technique. In the 17th century ballets popularity began to increase and became a professional art form. Amateurs would no longer be a part of these performances because challenging acrobatic movements were incorporated and could only be performed by highly skilled entertainers. Soon after that in 1661 King louis XIV established the first ballet school Académie Royale de Danse. The purpose of this school was to better train performers and improve the quality of dance. The academy also made a technique curriculum that transformed ballet into a form of discipline. King Louis XIV then established a performance company called Academie Royal de Musique de Dance and Pierre Beauchamp was named head dance master. Pierre Beauchamp was also the inventor of the 5 basic positions in ballet 1st 2nd 3rd 4th and 5th which since then have remained the foundation of all classical ballet technique. In addition to the five basic positions a ballet dancer’s technique is foundational form

This took place during the romantic era in the mid-19th century. This is where pointe work was believed to come into play. This is also when ballerinas became more popular. Before ballerinas, ballets were centered around male dancers When the shows came to an end there was no clear or immediate ending but it slowed down and came to a stop. The plot of many of these ballets had to do with women who had supernatural powers who enslaved the hearts of mortal men. Some of the most famous dancers of the romantic era are Mari Taglioni and Fanny Elssler. Costumes for romantic ballets included a romatic tutu which was a full length layered white skirt. And they would wear pointe shoes to give the illusion they were