Ballet: The facts, and only the facts
Whenever someone mentions dance, our brains tend to jump to a strict, mean old lady with a bun, screaming at ballet dancers. Or we think of little five-year-olds on-stage dancing to “Lollipop” by Chordettes. However, dance is so much more than that.
Dance originates back in 6000 BC in India. It started all with different forms of communication between human beings. It has now spread to, the ballet, and even TikTok and Fortnite. Dance is all about emotion, which is why there are so many styles.
The word “ballet” stems from the Italian word “ballare” which means “to dance”.
Ballet started back in 1500 in Italy (I know. Most people think it’s French. It’s Italian. Trust me.) with the House of Medici. They were a very rich banking family in Florence. They used to hold shows at their home, where people would watch the performers dance. Keep in mind, dance was not as intricate as it is today.
They then began making the dances easier, so the audience members could join in. This is when general waltzes started becoming famous. In 1553, Lorenzo de Medici arranged that his daughter, Catherine de Medici, would marry Henry II of France. When Catherine moved to France, they brought the parties that they had in Italy, to France.
Years later, Louis XIV (also known as the Sun King), started dancing. He was a young child at the time. Decades later, he opened up the Royal Academy of Dance in London, along with another dancer. The Royal Academy of Dance started a new technique of ballet, which is now the most commonly used technique.
Now there are many more schools, techniques, and styles of ballet. Many more commonly know schools of ballet are the Joffrey Ballet, Royal Winnipeg Ballet, Paris Opera Ballet, and more. Some schools choose to teach the famous Royal Academy of Dance technique of ballet, some choose to teach the Cecchetti method (founded by Enrico Cecchetti in Italy), as well as the Vaganova method (founded by Agrippina Vaganova in Russia). These are only three of the thousands of methods of ballet.
In ballet, there are three styles of ballet. There is the traditional method, also known as the classical method. The classical method is what you see in most ballets, such as Swan Lake, La Bayadere, and more. It doesn’t tend to tell a story the way that character ballet does. When dancing character ballet, you are portraying a character that is telling a story. You don’t tend to do the same steps you would do in classical ballet, as you are portraying a character. You can combine the two styles and get demi-character.
The third and final style, is contemporary ballet. It tends to be a lot more flowy, and a lot less strict. In ballet, you use turnout, and you point your feet, but in contemporary ballet, those rules are ignored. It’s more about the emotion you portray, and less about the technique you show off.
The pointe shoe was created in 1795 by Charles Didelot. It is made of densely packed fabric, cardboard, and paper hardened by glue. It is important that the box is supportive enough that the dancer can stand on the tips of their toes with the least amount of pain possible. Sometimes, the shoe will start dying. This means that the shoe is no longer supportive enough for the dancer to go on pointe.
Each brand has their own variation on how to build a pointe shoe. When a dancer chooses their pointe shoes, they tend to tick with that line of shoes as long as possible. This provides the dancer with comfort, and allows their body to get used to how that shoe specifically feels. All dancers choose to prepare their shoes differently. Some dancers choose to darn their shoe. This means they take yarn, and thread it onto the flat pointe of the shoe. They also have their own variation of sewing their ribbons on the shoe.
Dance isn’t about just moving around and going on your tiptoes. It’s about communicating and expressing emotions. Dance has a rich history. If it wasn’t for the technology we have today (such as TikTok) dance wouldn’t have the influence on people that it does. All in all, dance is in no way simple. It is hard, and stressful. However, once you finally figure out that step, or you finally figure out the counts, it’s so worth it.
