An Overview of Dance Part I: History of Western Theatrical Dance

An Overview of DanceAn Overview of Dance

Part I: History of Western Theatrical Dance

BalletBallet

Court Dances to Professionalization: 1400s to 1700

Ballet’s BeginningsBallet’s Beginnings

Ballet derived from the Italian word Ballare for dance.

Beginnings during the Italian Renaissance in the late 1400s.

Ballet’s BeginningsBallet’s Beginnings

Dances based on social dances of the day and connected to Commedia Dell’Arte.

Ballet Arrives in FranceBallet Arrives in France

Catherine de Medici


Catherine de Medici was the daughter of a politically powerful and wealthy merchant family.

In 1533, Pope Clement VII arranged her marriage with Henry, Duke of Orleans. In 1547, he becomes King Henry the II of France.


To her new home land, Catherine brings her love of the arts. She made Italian pageants a part of the French court.

In 1581, Catherine de Medici arrange or produces the first known ballet, Le Ballet Comique de la Reine and commissions her head ballet master, Balthasar de Beaujoyeux to choreograph the spectacle.


Le Ballet Comique de la Reine was a celebration of the marriage between Duke de Joyeuse and Margaret of Lorraine as well as a demonstration of the French court’s political and economic power.

The Court Ballets of FranceThe Court Ballets of France Le Ballet Comique de la Reine

was a celebration of the marriage between Duke de Joyeuse and Margaret of Lorraine as well as a demonstration of the French court’s political and economic power.

The ballet was the most expensive and elaborate court events staged at the time.

The Court Ballets of FranceThe Court Ballets of France

These ballets were performed predominately by male nobility again a sign of political power as well as male prowess and virility.

The Court Ballets of FranceThe Court Ballets of France

The most prominent and well known dancer of court ballets was King Louis the IVX.

King Louis the IVX of FranceKing Louis the IVX of France

King Louis was a very proficient dancer and is recognized by dance historians today as the first ballet superstar.

He was also known as the Sun King as well as Louis the Great.


Ballet was so important in King Louis’ court that it was essential for French nobility to learn ballet technique, comportment and etiquette.

Proximity to the King during a his court ballets was a sign of one’s standing .

One mistake or error and an individual could find himself falling out of favor with the King and be far away from the King in the next court ballet.

During King Louis reign ballet became more standardized.

In 1661, King Louis establishes the first dance academy in Paris (Academie Royale de la Danse) and appoints Pierre Beauchamps as its first superintendent.

The academy is so successful that King Louis opens the Academie Royale de Musique et de la Danse and appoints composer and dancing master Jean Lully Baptiste as its head.


Pierre Beauchamp

Jean Lully Baptiste

Eventually the two schools are merged to form the Paris Opera Ballet which continues to be the oldest ballet and ballet academy in the world.

By the end of the 1600s, we see the development of the first proscenium stage or the modern theatrical stage.

Between the establishment of the academies and the proscenium stage led to major changes in ballet technique.

The Professionalization of BalletThe Professionalization of Ballet

Pierre Beauchamp begins to codify five basic ballet positions and adopting the outward rotation of the leg to better display dance movement in the new theatrical environment.


With these changes ballet becomes more technical requiring more precise training. It evolves into a theatrical art performed by professionals as opposed to the favored past-time of male nobility.

Aristocratic men take on the role of supporting ballet financially. Women (predominately poor women) enter the ballet academies and increasingly dominate the stage.


Mlle. LaFontaine is the first professional female dancer. She performs in many ballets created by Jean Lully Baptiste. Little is known about her other than she was admired for her elegance and grace. She later retired and became a nun.


Marie Salle becomes the next well known ballerina to grace the European stages.

She made her debut in 1718 in La Princesse Carisme.

Salle was a dance reformer altering the conventional dance costumer to promote ease of movement.


Marie de Camargo was Salle’s rival. She made her debut in Paris in 1726 at the age of 15.

Camargo was known for her elaborate footwork, and musicality.

She shortened her skirt so that she could display her footwork more readily. It was unheard of for a woman at that time to show her ankles.


Noverre was known as the “Shakespeare of Ballet. He created 150 ballets none of which have survived.

Today he is best known for his Lettres sur la danse et les ballets.

Jean-George NoverreJean-George Noverre

Lettres sur la danse et les ballets set the bar for ballet training, choreography and costuming.

Noverre’s influence is felt in the world of ballet and theatrical dance to this very day.

Jean-George NoverreJean-George Noverre

1725, French dancing master, Pierre Rameau writes Dancing Master

1738 Jean-Baptistes Lande founed the Imperial School of Ballet in St. Petersburg, Russia.

1791, first American ballet company performs in Charleston, NC.

Other Important DatesOther Important Dates

Andros on Ballet

History of Ballet

Metamorphoses of Court Ballet and Louis the IVX

Jean-Georges Noverre

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Documents

An Overview of Dance Part I: History of Western Theatrical Dance