The Romantic History of Ballet

The art of ballet dance is actually very old. It takes a disciplined and athletic body to perform the beautiful movements that tell us a story. Performances usually take place in a theater. Many young girls fantasize about becoming stars in the ballet world. In actuality it takes a lot of hard work and many years if they make it at all.

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.

Development of ballet and its popularity can be credited to the royalty. Popularity led to creation of beautiful dances, extravagant costumes, sets, and props. With passage of time, the costumes continued to become more intricate, and toe dancing was introduced. However, the dancers could only hold their positions for just a few seconds as block toe shoes were yet to be invented.

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.

As the 20th century advanced, ballet definitely became more representative of how humans actually move. This was due in part to the popularity of other dance forms. These changes continue today, as ballet often includes other dance styles when it's performed.

Some ballets today have even gone so far as to combine another style of dance into the ballet. In 1944 a ballet was introduced called Fancy Free that used jazz dance with the ballet steps to create a revolutionary ballet, and it was well received.

Today many more modern ballets are being performed, while at the same time audiences still love the classical and romantic forms. All of these styles are still taught and performed as ballet is immensely popular. People are constantly impressed at the variety and complexity of movements that humans are capable of. Even though most of us will never be able to perform these moves, we can marvel and dream when we see ballet on stage.

Article Source: http://www.articles.ask-me-about.com

About the author: Nadya Petronas is the your host at Ballet @, the best place on the internet when you are searching for the latest knowledge, accurate up to date advice and commentary to do with Ballet