Ballet History

Ballet History The Beginning Through The 18th Century

The Beginning 15th and 16th Century • Ballet originated in the Italian Renaissance courts of the 15th century (1400s) • The dancing was an elaborate spectacle seen at lavish events and celebrations • Dance masters taught ballet steps only to nobility • In the 16th century (1500s) an Italian Noblewoman and patron of the art, Catherine de Medici, began to fund ballet in the French court.

The Beginning 17th Century • In the 17th Century (1600s) King Louis XIV helped to popularize and standardize the art form • He took ballet from a pastime for amateurs to an endeavor requiring professional training • By the late 1600s Louis XIV established the first ballet school, the Academie Royale de Danse (Royal Academy of Dance). • One of the Ballet Masters at the school, Pierre Beauchamps, is credited for developing the five positions of the feet which are still used worldwide today.

The Beginning 17th Century • A prominent dancer of that time, Jean-Baptiste Lully, is responsible for starting what is today known as the Paris Opera Ballet. • Lully is also well known for transitioning Ballet to performance by professional dancers rather than courtiers as well as the incorporation of women performers. Until then Ballet was only performed by men. • The French Opera began to incorporate Ballet in its performances and began a longstanding opera-ballet tradition in France.

The Beginning 18th Century • During the mid 18th Century (1700s) Jean Georges Noverre rebelled against Ballet accompanying Opera and believed that ballet could stand alone as its own art form. • He thought that ballet should contain expressive, dramatic movement, and that movement should reveal the relationships between characters. • His notions introduced the ballet d’action, a dramatic style of ballet that conveys a narrative. • Noverre’s work is considered the precursor to the narrative ballets of the 19th century (1800s).

Names to Remember • • • • •

Catherine de Medici King Louis XIV Pierre Beauchamps Jean-Baptiste Lully Jean Georges Noverre