the History of Ballet

Introduction | Roots & History | The Musical Essence | Today | The Spread

Ballet today

Ballets first emerged as a separate entity in their own right in early 20th century France and were traditionally of the mythical romantic type sporting, more often than not, a hero - usually a prince - and a beautiful maidens in distress. The mythical beings of faerie and angels would be represented by the ballerinas from which evolved the elevated toe position used in this initial instance to represent the etheral floating of such beings - also introduced at this time were the iconic tutus and slippers so keenly identified today.

Ballet today can differ greatly from the ballet of the past. Yes, the crowd still flock in their multitudes to see Swan Lake and the like but it is equally possible to hear ballet performed to house and garage music, see dancers in street wear and suits and watch a ballet that consists entirely of a vocalist speaking a tale while a dancer (almost in a sign language theme) visually tells the tale and story through their dance...next page