The History of Ballet
Source: www.southbendtribune.com
Topic: Ballet
Sort Desciption: The History of Ballet. Ballet dancing as we know it today evolved from social court dances that were popular when Catherine de. Medici was queen of France. ...
Content Inside: 1 The History of Ballet Ballet dancing as we know it today evolved from social court dances that were popular when Catherine de Medici was queen of France. Catherine de Medici was born in the late 1500s into a very powerful Ita lian family. At the time, the royalty and other wealthy people in Italy and France tried to outdo each o ther by having the most splendid court. After Catherine became the wife of France’s King Henry, she followed this custom by staging spectacular dance programs which she called “balletti.” Balletti is an Italian word for dances. These court dances were derived from the patterns, steps, and rhythms of peasant folk dances, but they were much more elaborate. The balletti, also known as ballet de cour (“court ballet”), featured elaborate scenery and lavish costumes, plus a series of processions, poetic speeches, music, and dancing. The first known ballet, Le Ballet Comique de la Reine, was performed in 1581 at the wedding of Catherine’s sis ter. Almost one hundred years later, King Louis XIV of France founded the first school of dance. There p eople were trained to perform in the king’s court entertainments, which had continued to be popular since Catherine de Medici’s reign. The specialized vocabulary of ballet developed in this school, as well as a syst ematic way of training dancers. This training became more intense as the dancers’ skill and ability increased. More difficult and spectacular feats were added as dancers and teachers experimented with the possibiliti es of what the human body could do. However, they remained faithful to the classic ideal of the court and peas ant dances that inspired the earliest ballets. In 1669 King Louis opened the first opera house in Paris. Until this time, ballets had only been pe rformed at court. Now ballet was performed in public as part of the opera. The first opera featuring ballet was entitled Pomone. The first official ballet company (a group of dancers who tr ...
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