The History of Ballet

Ballet can be traced back to early Italian Renaissance when lavish dances that incorporated many arts were performed in banquet halls and based on the dances of the day. During the first ballets, poets recited their writings, artists painted and singers sang. It was more of a collective celebration of the arts, so to speak. However, ballet as we know it today, was polished by the French. It was the French Pierre Beauchamp who developed the five positions of the feet, still used today as the basis for all ballet moves.

Professional ballet did not make its debut in history until the 1600s under the reign of Louis XIV. Louis established a professional dance organization called the Acadamie Royale de Danse. When the organization was established, most dancers were men. Even the female roles in ballet were performed by men dressed as women. The first female dancer in the history of ballet did not perform until 1681 in a ballet entitled “The Triumph of Love” or “Le Triomphe de ’lamour”.

It wasn’t until the 1700s that the idea of ballet linked with music came about when ballet was combined with opera. Often, ballet would be performed between courses at an opera and eventually within the opera itself. Only later did the two separate and ballet became its own entity.

French dancer Marie Camargo revolutionized ballet when she sent the costumes of the dance into history. Until Marie shortened her skirts and wore slippers on her feet, dancers wore elaborate costumes and headdresses for ballet. Marie changed all of that. Pointe shoes were introduced around 1830. These shoes allowed a woman to float in her dance, which was ideal, as many roles of the female dancer were that of spirits and other unearthly beauties.

Russia quickly caught on to the beauty of ballet and soon, in the 1900s, dancers were attending ballet schools from a young age, training to be professional ballet dancers.