Music Appreciation

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Music Appreciation

2. Theatrical Dance

First Ballet Instruction To further define Paris as the capital of the ballet world, King Louis XIV, who ruled France during the late 1600s, and his nobles, took part in the ballets given at his court. In 1661, the Sun King, a name he acquired from a role he danced in high-heeled shoes with large guilt buckles complete with shining sun rays, founded the Royal Academy of Dance, which later became the Paris Opera Ballet, the first professional instruction for ballet. Oddly enough, the outward pointing of toes to show off his shiny shoe buckles laid the foundation for the five basic ballet positions set down by ballet master Pierre Beachamps. It should be noted that up until 1681 all female roles performed at RAD were danced by young men. This was supposedly a strength issue. Enormous headdresses, full heavy skirts and weighty corsets were thought incapable of being carried by the frame of a woman. It was not until the performance of Le Triomphe de l'Amour in 1681 that the first female dancers performed professionally.

3. Theatrical Dance

By 1700 many of the words we recognize to display movements were already in use, including jete, sissone, chasse, entrechat, pirouette, and cabriole. The French ballet master, Raoul Feuillet included steps and positions in his book Choregraphie much like the technique of today. Ballet companies developed throughout Europe. In Russia, the Imperial Ballet of St. Petersburg, whose school was founded in 1738, demonstrated superlative teachings. Six decades later, a metamorphosis was about to unfold. French choreographer Jean Georges Noverre criticized professional dancers in his book, Lettres sur la danse. He stated that the purpose of ballet was to express feelings. He urged dancers to stop wearing masks, bulky costumes and headdresses. He felt that a dancer's body should be able to express emotions such as anger or joy or love. Noverre developed the ballet d'action, a form of ballet that conveys a story through movement.

4. Theatrical Dance

Prominent Roles Assumed by Women In time, dramas and stories depicting mythology faded and more romantic themes emerged. By the early 1800's, women to assumed the primary roles in romantic ballet. The idea that a dancer could float angelically upon her toes, barely touching the earth, gave women newfound superiority over men. The role of men became that of porters whose purpose was to lift the ballerinas and make it look easy.

5. Theatrical Dance

Italian choreographer, Filippo Taglioni created the first romantic ballet for his daughter, Marie. She appeared in a costume style never before seen on stage by any ballerina as she danced the role of a fairy who allowed her heart to be broken by a mortal man. Dressed in white, her skirt cascaded halfway below her knees and her ankles. More astonishing was that, Marie Taglione's arms were not covered with heavy sleeves. In fact, there were no sleeves at all. She became the star of the Paris stage. Soon afterward, other ballerinas became known. From Austria, ballerina Fanny Elssler danced in La Gypsy. Italian ballerina, Carlotta Grisi played the spirit of a girl who died for love in the ballet, Giselle. Most notorious of all women's roles in ballet are those created in the 1890's by Marius Petipa, who left Paris to join the Russian Imperial Ballet of St. Petersburg, which later became the Kirov Ballet. The leading roles in his Sleeping Beauty and Swan Lake, both set to scores by Peter Tchaikovsky, are still the most loved and the most coveted by every ballerina.

6. Character Dance

Character dancing became a phenomenon in 19th century European ballet. A spirit of exploration and revived nationalism all over the continent resulted in an interest in people living in areas outside the main factory of ballet, Paris France. Choreographers began telling stories that centered on common people and injected stylized folk dances into their ballets. Jean Coralli and Jules Perrot would use stylized versions European folk dances in Giselle (1841). While those references have not completely survived in present-day restagings of the ballet, the idea continued and was an important part of many other Romantic Era ballets. The last great ballet of that era, Arthur Saint-L�on's Copp�lia (1870), saw the heroine Swanhilda dancing the folk dances of Europe to the delight of Dr. Coppelius.

7. Character Dance

Russia By the time French choreographer Marius Petipa was installed in St. Petersburg as ballet master in 1869, Russian dancers had already had a strong education in folk dancing. Unlike Renaissance-influenced Italy and France, Russia had no strong tradition of court ballets. Instead of celebrating a refined, understated type of dance, Russian students learned the folk dances of different regions. While he imported Italian ballerinas to dance the more classically technical roles in his ballets, Petipa chose to incorporate the Russian dancers' specialty. Realizing the value of such dances, he continued to encourage the study of character dancing in the ballet academy.

8. Theatrical Dance

Professional Ballet Dance Companies Emerge The St. Petersburg company experienced the seemingly effortless talents of Anna Pavlova and Vaslav Nijinsky. Both Pavlova and Nijinsky also danced with another famous Russian company, the Diaghilev Ballets Russes, established in 1909. Michel Fokine was the first choreographer of the Ballets Russes. He instructed a technique that used the dancer's entire body at all times while expressing the story. Over the next several years, the Ballets Russes performed many ballets that have since become famous including Scheherazade and Firebird in 1910, and Petroucha in 1911.One of the dancers of the Ballet Russes, Enrico Checchetti, later became famous as the creator of the Cecchetti method of teaching ballet.

9. Theatrical Dance

England had been a place where foreign ballet dancers performed, not a place where ballet was taught, until 1922, when a group of Checchetti followers, �douard Espinosa and Philip Richardson founded what would become the Royal Academy of Dancing. Agnes De Mille moved to London in 1932 where she received dance training at the Madame Marie Rambert's Ballet Club. She went on to become a prominent American ballet choreographer and dancer. The neice of famous producer, Cecil B. De Mille, Agnes De Mille brought ballet techniques to musicals, such as Oklahoma and The Sound of Music. She continued to be actively involved with artistic dance until her death in 1993.