The History of Ballet - Research Paper Example

 Outline 1. Introduction. a. The appearance of ballet 2. Early development of ballet in Europe. a. Court dances b. The development of ballet in France c. The popularity of ballet. d. Romanticism. 3. The development of ballet in Russia. a. The role of Peter the Great b. The first professional ballet masters. c. Ballet Russia. 4. The appearance of ballet in America. a. The contribution of Georgi Balanchivadze. b. The creation of Ballet Theatre. 5. Conclusion The History Of Ballet Ballet is a quite young art. It appeared a bit more than four hundred years ago, though dances have entertained humans since the most ancient times. The ballet was born in Northern Italy in the epoch of Renaissance. The Italian princes loved magnificent palace festivals, in which dances occupied an important place. Rural dancing didn't suit court ladies and gentlemen. Their clothes, as well as halls where they danced couldn’t allow unorganized movement. Special teachers — dancing-masters — tried to bring an order to court dances. They rehearsed certain movements of dance with noblemen beforehand and supervised the groups of the dancing people. Gradually dance became more and more theatrical. The ballet was developing even before it was called “ballet”. “Around the 1400s, as the court dances became more detailed and complicated, it became necessary to formally codify these dances to maintain consistency.  Special dance instructors or “Ballet Masters” began to appear.   These men were highly revered and considered to be the finest dance teachers. They also served as dance makers or choreographers, creating dances that were used throughout Europe” (The History of Ballet). The term "ballet" appeared at the end of the XVI century (from the Italian balletto — to dance). But at that time it did not stand for a performance, but only for dancing episode transferring a certain mood. Such "ballets" usually consisted of badly connected "performances", the characters of which were the heroes of the Greek myths. After such "performances" there was a common dance- "the big ballet". The "Comedy Ballet of the Queen" directed by the Italian ballet master Baltasarini di Belgioioso in France, 1581 became the first ballet performance. Further development of the ballet took place in France. At the beginning there were ballets-masquerades, and then grandiose melodramatic ballets with knightly and fantastic plots where dancing episodes were replaced by vocal arias and recitation of verses. At that time ballet was not only a dancing performance (Bland, 1976). In Louis XIV's reign performances of the court ballet reached special magnificence. Louis himself liked to participate in ballets, and the well-known name the Sun King was given to him after he performed the role of the Sun in "The Ballet of Night". In 1661 he created The Royal Academy of Dance, in which thirteen leading dancing-masters worked. Their task was to preserve dancing traditions. The director of academy, the teacher of dances Pierre Beauchamps, defined five main positions of classical dance. Soon after that the Parisian opera was opened with Beauchamps appointed as ballet master, the ballet troupe was created and acted under his supervision. At the beginning only men were dancing in the troupe. Women appeared on the scene of the Parisian opera only in 1681. At the theater operas-ballets of the composer Lully and the comedy ballets of the playwright Molière were performed. “Lully not only began distinguishing professional dancers from courtiers, he also included women Previously, ballet was almost exclusively performed by males” (the History of Ballet). The court participated in the performances at first, and these ballets almost did not differ from palace representations. They danced slow minuets, gavottes and pavanes. Masks, heavy dresses and high-heeled shoes prevented women from making difficult movements. Therefore namely men's dances were distinguished by grace. By the middle of the XVIII century the ballet gained great popularity in Europe. All aristocratic yards of Europe sought to imitate the luxury of the French Royal Court. Opera theaters were opened in the cities. Numerous dancers and teachers of dance could easily find a job. Soon under the influence of fashion the women's ballet suit became much lighter and freer, the lines of a body could be guessed under it. Dancers refused from footwear on a heel, having replaced it with light shoes. The men's suit became less bulky also: fitting drawers to knees and stockings allowed to make out the dancer's figure. Each innovation made the dances meaningful and improved the dancing technique. Gradually the ballet separated from the opera and turned into an independent art. Though the French ballet school was famous for its grace and plasticity, some coldness, formality of performance was peculiar to it. Therefore ballet masters and actors looked for other means of expression. At the end of the XVIII century the new direction in art — the romanticism, which had the strongest impact on the ballet, was born. In the romantic ballet the dancers started using pointes. For the first time they were used by Maria Talyoni, who had completely changed the previous ideas about the ballet. In the ballet "Sylph" she appeared as a fragile creature from another world. The success was great. Many remarkable ballet performances appeared by that time, but, unfortunately, the romantic ballet became the last period of blossoming of dancing art in the West. From the second half of the XIX century the ballet, having lost the former value, turned into an addition to the opera. Only in the 30th years of the XX century under the influence of the Russian ballet the revival of this form of art began in Europe. In Russia the first ballet performance — The ballet about Orpheus and Eurydice — was performed February 8, 1673 at the court of the tsar Alexey Mikhaylovich. Ceremonious and slow dances consisted of change of the graceful poses, bows and courses alternating with singing and the speech. The performance did not play any essential role in the development of scenic dance. It was only the next "fun" attracting by its novelty. A quarter of the century passed until, due to the reforms of Peter The Great, music and dance became typical for the Russian society. Noble educational institutions introduced the compulsory dance education. At the court of the tsar there were musicians, singers and ballet troupes invited from abroad (Au, 2002). In 1738 the Russia's first ballet school opened, and three years later twelve boys and twelve girls from the palace servants became the Russia's first professional dancers. First they worked in ballets of foreign masters as so-called “figurants”, and later played the main parties. The remarkable dancer of that time Timofey Bublikov had a great success not only in St. Petersburg, but also in Vienna. Ballet has been developed rapidly. “In the late 1800s with the choreography of Marius Petipa and his associate, Lev Ivanov. As the technical abilities of the dancers increased, Petipa created very challenging, full‐length classic ballets for them to dance. These classic ballets always included a pas de deux (dance for two) for the male and female lead dancers followed by a difficult solo for each one of them and a coda (a short quick finale). Women’s costumes became shorter, and the classical tutu (short, stiff skirt) became popular. This allowed the dancers to move more easily and also enabled the audience to see the dancers’ legs and feet as they executed the difficult steps” (The History of Ballet). At the beginning of the XIX century the Russian ballet art became highly developed. Russian dancers brought to dance the expressiveness and spirituality. The ballet occupied a special position among other forms of theater art at this time. The authorities paid much attention to it providing the state subsidies. Ballet troupes of Moscow and Petersburg worked at the well equipped theaters, and the graduates of theatrical schools were included into the staff of dancers, musicians and decorators every year (Vuillier, 2004). In 1908 Russian dances started working on the Parisian scene. Ballet Russia was created by Sergei Diaghilev in Paris. “This influential company had both strong Russian and French influences and was responsible for introducing such choreographers such as Vaslav Nijinsky, Enrico Checchetti, and Georgi Balanchivadze” (The History of Ballet). At that time the recovery of European ballet started due to Russian dances. In 1933 or 1934 Lincoln Kirsteyn and Georgi Balanchivadze founded the School of the American Ballet in Hartford, Konnetikut, where the first performance Serenade was made the same year. Balanchivadze developed the technique, having founded the school in Chicago. In 1934 The School of the American Ballet moved to New York. The Ballet Theatre was created in New York. “Anthony Tudor choreographed many great works for the Ballet Theatre, whose repertoire included a mix of classical and contemporary (more modern) ballets.  Adored dancers, such as Eric Bruhn and Rudolph Nureyev, often performed with the Ballet Theatre, boosting ticket sales” (The History of Ballet). Balanchivadze adapted the ballet to new means, movies and television. The productive worker, Balanchivadze also created new ballet performances. He made the original interpretation of dramas of Shakespeare — Romeo and Juliette, the Joyful widower, A Midsummer Night's Dream. In the ballet Jewelry Balanchivadze broke the tradition and dramatized a theme instead of graphical representation. Barbara Karinska, the emigrant from Russia, was the capable tailor and worked with Balanchivadze. She emphasized the role of the design of a suit. Barbara introduced slanting edge and simplified a classical ballet skirt that brought additional freedom of movements to dancers. With scrupulous attention to details, she decorated skirts with beads, embroidery, application. Ballet is a highly appreciated art all over the world. Due to Balanchivadze, the ballet appeared in America. Now, also due to him, the ballet became one of the most preserved dances in the world. Works cited Au, Susan. Ballet & Modern Dance (2nd ed. ed.). London: Thames & Hudson world of art, 2002 Bland, Alexander. A History of Ballet and Dance in the Western World. New York: Praeger Publishers, 1976 Vuillier, Gaston. History of Dancing from the Earliest Ages to Our Own Times. New York: D. Anderson and Company, 2004 The History of Ballet. Balletaustin.org Web. October 19, 2014 Read More