Ballet Essay

Ballet has been around for over three hundred years. Ballet originates to the Renaissance of France and Italy. It was used to celebrate royal occasions, also it was a common ballroom dance. Some of ballet's greatest contributors are King Louis XIV, Pierre Beauchamps, George Balanchine, and Mikhail Baryshnikov. King Louis XIV was an avid supporter of early ballet. He was also a famous performer. His nick name was “Sun King” because he played the Greek Sun God Apollo in Le Ballet de la Nuitor (The Ballet of the Night). Pierre Beauchamps was the the director of the first ballet school in Paris. He is known as the creatorof the first five basic foot positions and the concept of turnout. These positions are used daily in ballet. George Balanchine

There are two types of ballet and three different styles. The two types of ballet are story and plotless. Story ballet obviously tells a dramatic yet heart felt story. They normally have descriptive actions, characters, and a beginning and end. Famous story ballets include The Nutcracker, Sleeping Beauty, and The Great Gatsby. Plotless ballets don”t have a story behind them. They are normally one act ballets. Plotless ballets use the body and theatrics of ballet to their advantage. They can construct images and arouse emotions while watching. It was also commonly used by George Balanchine. The three styles of ballet are classical, neo-classical, and contemporary. When people talk about or imagine ballet they are typically refering to classical ballet. Classical became famous during nineteenth century Russia. It is normally has light graceful moves, turn out, difficult pointe work, steadiness and consistency. Classical ballets have more of a

Neo-classical was popular during the twentieth century. It normally has fast attack energy and control of classical ballet. The off balance feel is known as a one act performance. They also have simplistic costumes and sets. Contemporary ballet is influenced mainly by modern dance. Contemporary might have ground work as well as turned in legs and feet. More range of motion is used and sometimes pointe work is used but mostly it is bare feet. In ballet the foot positions are measured on a mental protracter. Colorado.edu says, “The basis of ballet technique is the turned-out position of the legs and feet: Each leg is rotated outward from the hip joint so that the feet form a 180ｰ angle on the floor.” Ballet is strives to make th body look perfect by lowering the shoulders, tucking in the stomach, and straightening the back to the required length of the teacher. Ballet is very strenuous, so the best time to start advance ballet is around 8-10. At any other time the body would be too fraglie or too stiff. After the student becomes more skillful routines, and classes become more difficult. Ballet postions that are often seen frequently are arabesque,