Ballet is a form of dance originated in Italy, consisting of attractive steps, graceful movements, and poses as well as leaps and spins. The word ballet traces back to the Latin word ballere which means to dance. The art of ballet began in Italy in late 1400s but it was in France that it flourished. French ballet gained prominence through the integration of famous Italian ballet traditions. It was also the French who first named and codified the ballet steps, to this day; French is the international language of ballet.
The French ballet de cour further shaped consisted of social dances performed by the upper class incorporated with lavish music, speech, verse, decor and costume. Notably, when Catherine de Medici, an Italian aristocrat married the French crown heir Henry II, her enthusiasm caused financial support from France. One of the first dance masters was Domenico da Piacenza who was trained in dance along with his students, Antonio Cornazano and Guglielmo Ebreo.
The first ballet produced and shown was Ballet Comique de la Reine (1581), a ballet comique (ballet drama by Balthasar de Beaujoyeulx.
In the 17th century, King Louis XIV instituted the Academia Royale de la Danse as a reverse in the declining dance standards of that period. An Italian composer named Jean-Baptiste Lully established the general direction of ballet who was supported and admired by King Louis XIV. His insightful understanding of ballet movements allowed him to compose elegant musical phrasings that complemented physical movements.
Lully also teamed up with the French playwright MoliFre and together they adapted an Italian theater style in their work they named the comedie-ballet. Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme (1670) was considered one of their greatest productions.
Russia also recognized the art of ballet, through the masters such as August Bournonville, Jules Perrot, Arthur Saint-Leon, Enrico Cecchetti and Marius Petipa. Albeit the little left in the country after the revolution, Russian Ballet emerged under the Soviet rule. Ballet gained popularity with the Moscow based Bolshoi and the St. Petersburg based Kirov ballet companies.
However, because of ideological pressure, ballet was removed later from both companies. Among the remarkable Russian ballet productions were the Romeo and Juliet by Prokofiev and Lavrovsky; the Flames of Paris, the Fountain of Bakhchisarai; and the famous Cinderella.
The United States also developed its own traditions of the dance through the choreographer George Balanchine who opened a ballet school in Chicago and later in New York. Balanchine also choreographed classics like Swan Lake And Sleeping Beauty and produced original interpretations William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, The Merry Widow and A Midsummer Night's Dream. Today, ballet remains one of the well-preserved dances in the world and the credit partly goes to Balanchine.
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