History of Ballet

Ballet is one of the most beautiful, graceful dances known to the dancing world. From the tutu to the pointe shoes the need to see the expression of the steps given. Being able to see how the illusion of a flying princess is one of the most mysteries that come with a ballet show. The history of Ballet has evolved into one of the most well-known type of dances in the world this is from only the men having roles in the ballet to women being able to express emotion. History Then: Ballet started in the late 1400s during the Renaissance. When Catherine de Medici who married King Henry the second of France know for throwing large parties. These parties would last for 8 hours straight of music, food, dancing and other entrainment. These parties would be held for the King, Queen and nobles plus military. With these big beautiful parties going many got interest in this dancing the people saw. Now by the many people of the noble and military began to study dance. This study of dance was now today called ballet. King Louis XlV the worlds first ballet school in 1661. Till this day the position that were used in school back then are used today to keep the tradition alive. Since ballet was born in France most of the position and steps are in French. For example Grande pose means big pose and this is when one arm is in second position, and the other is in third position. With the years over time around the 1800 the new style of type of ballet was born called Romantic ballet. The new style brought ballet to be more less with costumes because its a lot lighter and less restricting when it came to show skin for the females who were dancing. Plus women started dancing on pointe and preformed roles that were graceful and fairly like roles. With this came impressive partner work and lifts were added. There are three man types of ballet one is Italian Ballet it’s dancers are known for their ability to execute different steps and turns. Second is French and their known for how elegant and graceful the dancers are. And last but not least is the Russian ballet is known for their extreme emotional expression and is also the combination of the other two ballets. With ballet being going from all men to women, it has proven that this dance will continue to change. History now: Ballet has kept its classic and elegant movements the same but the way they see the female dancers has change the look of it. With ballet there are little dark secrets that are hidden and with it. No matter how nice the dance is there is going to be women that want look better than the next girl on the barre. The old look for dancers was to be short and have muscle because being on pointe is very hard. But now sense society wants girls to be all skinny so ballet with that took it to the extend. And with this many higher schools require their girls to not be on diets so that their fat they eat will be burned up by the end of practice. Having the thought many of the parents of young daughters are brought in to have a talk about how they can portion out their kid and also talk about the training they need to make a career out of this. But ballet is not all bad it has become to know with the more modern song, in which mean that ballet has became also fast beat and sassy when it came to the girls role. No matter what there is there is a fence with ballet that many love it or hate it just depends what side you’re on. Play one Giselle: Giselle is one of the few many famous ballets still know in the ballet world today. A little about this ballet is a peasant girl in a village that was surround by hills in the medieval days. With that there is a Count name Albrecht who dresses up as one of the peasants who lived at the village. So going down there he meets a village girl by the name of Giselle who was very much so pretty. The town didn’t like the noble Count to be dating this peasant girl and her mom didn’t think that her daughter could handle falling in love with someone so soon knowing that a heart break could happen. Giselle later goes to die because of being so mad and filled with grief. When she dies she has to be a ghost for her man from being thrown in the lake because the Queen wants him to dance. At the end she save him and returns back to her grave where she lays. This is a very beautiful ballet but the work the dancers do in the behind the sense is way more to make it the ballet it is. One of the activities is the main character has intermission which is a break in between plays and for this the ballerina must change in a gown and white powder also wings to get that ghostly affect. When dancing the ballerina will slam her pointe shoes on a hard surface so that they are soft, so when on the dance floor they will not make a sound. The dancer must transform the thoughts of a human to the thoughts of the spirit she will dance. A quote from the Cynithia Gregory stated that â€Å"Every step is like a sentence, with the dancer talking to her partner is the audience†. This quote means that dance is like a mine in which a dancer must be able to portray the right emotion and expression that the ballet set for them. Giselle is a love story many can and cannot relate to but many people say it is just beautiful to see. Play two Nutcracker: The Nutcracker is one of the Christmas tales that everyone can see. This ballet is about a family who has a Christmas Eve party at their house and a magician was invited to come. With that he brought gifts in which the gifts seem to come alive. So then there were life size toys that these boys at the party are attacking and Clara the main character doesn’t like the fighting and begins to cry. So the magician gives her a doll which is a Nutcracker doll, the little boys start to get jealous about the getting the doll and them nothing. Instead the boys take it and break it; Clara at night goes to bed and finds at that when she creeps down stairs to find a live size nutcracker doll fighting with toy mice and toy soldiers. Once the nutcracker fights all them he turns into a handsome price who takes Clara on an adventure kingdom and other places. At the end Clara gets back home and still doesn’t know whether the trip she took was a dream or not with her price. The Nutcracker is not just for young people, it’s all ages just because everything is there romantic, action, comedy this ballet is a great family one. Play three Swan lake: Physical Demands: Ballet it’s self is a physical demand on peoples bodies and can cause things to go wrong. Ballet movement aren’t in the human nature to do just off the back, that why training is so important. But don’t let the pretty tutus and the amazing make up fool you the pain a dancer goes through can wipe off of anyone. The lower legs and foot of ballet dancers is impact in their movements. This increases the pressure on the knees and can cause sprains real fast. In point shoes the toes nails split so this will happen when in a show where there is no time to switch shoes so they dance it out and most likely the toe nail is gone and you must peel it off and put a band aid on t and continue dancing with a smile. The pointe shoes in not comfortable for the dancers it is just a new way of dancing so there is a box shape in the shoe which can cause cramping and from that can cause blister that mainly burst right during a show or practice because you’re constantly on them. Some of the injures a ballet dancers get are hyperextension of the spine, hip tentinitis, and k nee and ankle complications. How other dances relate to ballet: 2 famous ballet dancers: Conclusion: