The Art Form Of Ballet

1289 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Ballet history quiz

Field Trip Essay On Saturday October 17th, I took a trip to San Jose’s Center for performing arts to see the ballet Giselle. The art form of ballet has been around for a very long time, it consists of very strict arm, feet, and leg and head positions. Full productions usually tell a story through movement and gestures. Ballet is defined as, “an artistic dance form performed to music using precise and highly formalized set steps and gestures. Classical ballet, which originated in Renaissance Italy and established present form during the 19th century, is characterized by light, graceful, fluid movements and the use of pointe shoes” , according to Webster Dictionary. The women ballet dancer wear special shoes called point shoes which allows the dancer to stretch all the way through their feet on to their toes. These shoes provide proper support needed to execute movement done all the way on the toes. Each dancer needs a very specific brand, size, and toe shape. Pointe work is something that takes a long time to accomplish, it takes many years of ballet training before a ballerina can then develop the strength for pointe shoes. While this art form appears easy, it is
When a ballet piece is created the artist and or choreographer links up with a musical artist who writes scores of music that a specifically for the ballet that is being choreographed. The ballet that I went to see was a reconstruction of Giselle since it was composed hundreds of years ago and are many different versions of it. I think that the goal of the artist who reconstructed it was to portray the original story line and variations along with the original music that was created just for this ballet. I felt that the artist did a very good job of that considering the fact that I chose to watch this ballet without knowing the plot ahead of time. I was able to easily follow along and could tell what the story

Show More
Related

  • An Analysis Of The Teacup Ballet

    527 Words  | 2 Pages

    The ‘Teacup Ballet’ is one of the first and best artworks Olive Cotton has exhibited outside Australia. It was created in 1935, a Gelatin Silver, 37.3cm x 29.6cm, photograph. Six identical teacups are laid out precisely, they each have pointed, triangular handles and slender bodies. Each teacup is placed on a circular saucer. In the centre, background two teacups are placed diagonally to each other, their handles pointing in the same direction, on the left hand side. In the middle ground, three teacups are placed in a diagonal line, parallel to teacups in the background. This time the teacup handles all point to the right hand side. In the foreground, right hand corner, there stands alone one teacup, its handle facing towards the left, pushed a little more inward, than the others. In the background, there is a light shining through lighting up the teacups, and shadows are formed. A curved line is also shaped contrasting the light from dark.

    Read More

  • Romantic Ballet

    3140 Words  | 7 Pages

    Ballet has been an art form since the late fifteenth century, but society did not truly see the impact of ballet until the nineteenth century. Modern day thinkers possess the idea that ballet began with tutus and pointe shoes, but it wasn’t until the nineteenth century that this opinion was observed. Ballet has come a long way. It has survived the turmoil of many wars and has changed itself by accepting new ideas and impressing the audience with its unique stylistic views.

    Read More

  • Complexions Contemperary Ballet

    818 Words  | 2 Pages

    “It is artistic directors Dwight Rhoden and Desmond Richardson’s lifelong appreciation for the artistic and aesthetic appeal of the multicultural that forms the cornerstone of Complexions Contemporary Ballet’s singular approach to reinventing dance”. During the month of February, the company, Complexions, traveled around the nation to perform to different audiences. Dwight Rhoden and Desmond Richardson are the Founding Artistic Directors of the company. This critique will be focusing on the performance at the South Miami Dade Cultural Art Center. It is a contemporary dance company that consists of 14 professional dances; seven are males and the other half are females. A performance by the Complexions consists of three acts. The acts in chronological order are: Moon Over Jupiter, choreographed by Dwight Rhoden; Recurs, choreographed by Jae Man Joo; and Innervisions, choreographed by Dwight Rhoden. When choreographing the dances, the choreographers had different incentives and ideas to bring forth to the audience.

    Read More

  • Marie Taglioni: A Form Of Dance

    1043 Words  | 3 Pages

    Ballet traces back to the 15-century Italian renaissance court; Ballet is known as the mother of all dance due to its influence on any style of dance no matter how small. In the 15th century ballet was a form of entertainment for the Italian Renaissance court. These performances took place in balls and banquets. (“Ballet”) Ballet one of its first performances included aristocratic amateurs with poetry and song alongside the production. (“Ballet”) During the 15th century, France also became influence with ballet. (“A Brief History of Ballet - Illustrated by Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre.”) The influenced of ballet in France was because of Catherine de Medici in 1533. (“Ballet”) She married the French King Henry II which allowed from French and

    Read More

  • Summary of the Ballet "Giselle"

    538 Words  | 2 Pages

    The element that stood out the most to me was how effectively the music and the footwork corresponded. The best examples of this are seen through the dancers solos. Especially Albrecht's solo, his feet glide on the stage at the same tempo as the music. Similarly, Giselle's graceful footwork is truly amazing. I really like the similarities between the choreographed footwork and the music, it makes Giselle seem much more elegant and beautiful. This also seems to make the work look more put together and in sync because the dancers are dancing in harmony with the orchestra. The choreography by itself is amazing. The footwork is rapid and intricate, however, at the same time it is delicate and graceful. The ballerina (Giselle) made it look very easy to do the choreography, when it rea...

    Read More

  • The Dancer's Gift and Sociology

    904 Words  | 2 Pages

    “The Dancer’s gift” is a love story between a young man and woman, Marcel and Samantha. But this novel was written not only to call feelings about love and passion; the main goal was to introduce students to sociological concepts. Overall, the book includes more than 180 sociological terms that flow with the story and closely connected to happening events. Marcel, a black man, arrives from Martinique (an island in the Caribbean Sea), and Samantha, a rich American girl, meet each other in college and fall in love. Both of them face obstacles in their lives: Marcel was grown up in a poor extended but a friendly family, while Samantha was a daughter of rich but divorced parents. Marcel comes to the U.S. to become a professional dancer, while Sam decided to become an attorney at law just like her father. Being lovers they decide to spend their Christmas holidays together and go to New York. Next holidays they go to Marcel’s homeland, Martinique, where they realize that there lives a woman who is pregnant by him. At that time all dreams of Sam just collapse due to this bitter disappointment, which becomes one of the reasons why they break up. Throughout the story, they both meet with numerous social issues such as education, marriage, gender issue, racism, deviance, divorce, religion, race and ethnicity. In this essay, the three main reasons why this novel is an effective tool for learning sociological concepts will be discussed.

    Read More

  • La Fille Mal Gardee Dance Essay

    763 Words  | 2 Pages

    “La Fille Mal Gardee” was a comic ballet choreographed by Jean Deuberval, and premiered in Bordeaux, France on July 1st, 1789. The ballet was a Ballet d’ action, and was very important because it was the first ballet choreographed to be about regular citizens, and not just about the monarchy. In many ways, the ballet was a representation of the growing dissatisfaction that regular citizens were really feeling towards the rich in France. Turns out that

    Read More

  • Misty Copeland: Ballet Dance For American Ballet Dance

    870 Words  | 2 Pages

    Classical ballet is a traditional and a formal style that required a vigorous technique such as pointe work and turnout of the legs. Ballet can be combined with other types of music and movement like hip hop, jazz, tap and more. I believe that ballet is an elegant and flowing dance that can be combined with music and body movements. One of my favorite ballet dancer is Misty Copeland. She learned ballet very quickly when she stared, one technique that takes long time to learn is pointe, which is to support all the body weight in your feet, and Copeland learned to do it in just of three months.

    Read More

  • The History of Ballet and Beginner's Techniques

    1601 Words  | 4 Pages

    How did ballet come about and what are some of the beginner’s steps? To understand the roots of ballet, one must first look at the roots of dance in general. Dance has roots in early civilizations. People once used moves and gestures to communicate before the spoken language was invented. Many dance terms and aspects of ballet theaters originated in Greece. Ballet has a long history that leads up to the current style and techniques taught today.

    Read More

  • The History of Ballet

    1350 Words  | 3 Pages

    Pointe shoes are special shoes the women wear to dance on their toes. The tip of the shoe, called the box is made out of tightly packed layers of paper mache, fabric, or cardboard. This needs to be very sturdy, because the dancer will be putting all of her weight on it. The sole of the shoe, or the shank, is made out of leather board or red board, it is important for this to be sturdy, because it supports your ankles. In some professional companies pointe shoes are custom made to fit the dancer’s foot perfec...

    Read More

  • Ballet Essay

    691 Words  | 2 Pages

    The first major figure’s in ballet according to the textbook name is Catherine de’ Medici. She is important because she married into France and brought a few dance masters along with her which effectively started court ballet. Another Major figure of ballet was King Louis 14th. He established the first academy of dance along with having a huge love for dance, thus giving huge state support to dance. Another reason Louis instituted ballet was a political, instead of fighting people would dance. Finally, King Louis was considered the first ballet star. The next person who has influenced ballet’s name is Marie Salle. She is famous for being very talented along with being the first female choreographer. Jean Georges Noverre is the next person to influence ballet. His main contribution is writing the Letters on Dancing and Ballet which was used in the Balled D’ Action. After Georges the next influential person’s name is Carlo Blasis. He is important because he shaped ballet how ballet was taught and wrote some instructional books. Anna Pavlova was the next influential person. She is one of the most famous ballerinas for her dramatic dancing. The ballet ruesses were importatnt to the longevity of contemporary ballet because

    Read More

  • Body Image and Eating Disorders Among Young Ballerinas

    1808 Words  | 4 Pages

    Ballet is a beautiful and romantic type of performance art. It originated in the Italian court systems in the 15th century (Jonas). Since its origination, ballet has undergone many changes and gained worldwide recognition. Filled with elaborate costumes, cheering audiences, lights, weightless movements and beauty; ballet is admired by many. On the magical stage ballerinas can become whoever they wan to be, and perform in a world of fantasy. For these reasons, children, especially little girls, all over the world dream of becoming ballerinas when they grow up. However, becoming a professional ballerina is an extremely difficult accomplishment, in which few will achieve (Kelso 1). The world of ballet may seem to be filled with glitz and glamor but, behind the curtain there is an entirely different story. There are extreme demands and pressures put on these young dancers to be very thin and nearly perfect. Some of which include body and weight demands, competition, and social pressures. These constant pressures can lead to a negative body-image and even debilitating eating disorders (Price and Pettijohn).

    Read More

  • Ballet And Classical Chinese Dance

    1184 Words  | 3 Pages

    When one thinks of different dance forms, one would tend to look at the beauty of it and how it makes people feel. But understanding the origin of some of the dances should help one to appreciate the importance the art form of dance has made in history. Through both of the dance forms there would be a discussion between the origins as well as the similarities and contrast of ballet and classical Chinese dance.

    Read More

  • Analysis of The Sleeping Beauty by Tchaikovsky

    573 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Sleeping Beauty by Tchaikovsky is another ballet that is based on a fairy tale, and was first presented to the Tsar of Russia.

    Read More

  • The History of Dance

    550 Words  | 2 Pages

    Dance, it is a big part of our world and it always has been. Dance is used to show something, really anything something that happened in history, something that would never really happen in real life. But in dance that does not matter because you show pictures and images with the movement of your body. People have always danced since the beginning of time to show what they are feeling.

    Read More

More about The Art Form Of Ballet

Open Document