The 19th Century

Moving History/Dancing Cultures is a collection of dance related essays and articles by various authors. The book was published in 2001. The article “Searching for Nijinsky’s Sacre” was written by Millicent Hodson. Hodson is a well-known choreographer and lecturer. She has also reconstructed multiple ballets; her most famous being Le Sacre du Printemps, originally choreographed by Nijinsky. As the title suggests, Hodson’s article is about her extensive research of Nijinsky’s Sacre, and the importance of remembering, preserving, and recreating such revolutionary ballets.

The history of ballet dates back to the 18th century starting with Baroque dance. Fabritio Caroso da Sermoneta was a famous Italian Renaissance dancing master. He was born around 1526-1535 and died around 1605-1620. His dance manual "Ballarino" was published in 1581, with a subsequent edition, significantly different, Nobiltà de dame, printed in 1600 and again after his death in 1630. In the 19th century there was the pre-romantic, romantic and the classical ballets. Anthony Tudor deserves an honorable mention for his choreography and teaching. Pre-romantic ballet occurred sometime circa ?? up to 1831. The romantic period covered the early to mid 1800's. This era also introduced the calf-length dress. A few of the great Romantic dancers were Marie Taglioni, Fanny Elssler and Carlotta Grisi. The tequnique became more developed, but the role

The corps de ballet should be used for plot development and as a means of expression.

When one thinks of a ballet they hear soft rhythmic notes and see elegantly dancing ballerinas softly tip-toeing around the stage. This is also what people in early 1900’s expected to see when they planned to attend a ballet. However, a couple of motivated artists in 1913 literally planned to change the design of ballet, music and dance forever. On May 29, 1913 a ballet named The Rite of Spring premiered in Paris, France. The original title as it translates from Russian to French is; Le Sacre du Printemps, meaning the rite of spring, but the literal translation from Russian to English means “Sacred Spring”. The ballet and music were composed by Igor Stravinsky, with the help of Nicholas Roerich, who proposed the general idea behind the

Ballet was rooted in court life, and it was not as widely available to the common people. As such, it had to adapt in order to survive this particularly deadly and brutal period in time. The ballet’s that the court was accustomed to seeing were disconnected from the lower class, just like the actual courtiers themselves. Ballet is just one example of why exactly the French people rose up against their government. They spent massive amounts of money on an opulent lifestyle while the peasants could not even afford bread.

As world has changed over the last century or so, the ballet world has been changing with it. There are many people who have helped shape that change. The changes in style were mainly influenced by George Balanchine. George Balanchine, a Russian choreographer and ballet dancer, also known as the father of American ballet, was the man who was said to have changed the style of ballet forever. Along with these changes in style came changes in visual design elements, inspirational figures, and changes in what the ballets themselves tend to rely on. Many of the features given to ballet in Russia in the 15th and 16th century still remain to this day, but many features have been altered to fit . Let’s take a closer look at what features truly

One of the most important and influential people in the world of ballet is George Balanchine. He became a legend long before he died. He brought the standards of dance up to a level that had never been seen before, and he created a new audience for ballet. Balanchine was one of the greatest and most prolific choreographers in ballet history, choreographing at least 300 ballets; he was rivaled in quantity only by Jules Perrot and Marius Petipa.

The result of his commission was the first real modern ballet. It set the example of the composer consulting both with the choreographer and the stage/costuming artist during the composition.

Mrs. Farrell’s book is quite technical when it comes to the lengthy descriptions of the dances she rehearses and performs; from a dancer’s view these varied conclusions of the types of movements she was dancing is quite astonishing. In fact, it adds a whole new level to the imagination that can come alive in a person’s thoughts when they read an expressive book. Although the technical explanations will excited, astound, and reveal how much passion and deep meaning ballet had in Suzanne Farrell’s life, but a reader, who may not be involved in the arts will be unfamiliar with the ballet and musical terms in

After the Romantic-era ballet had died out in Paris and Russia became the new focus. In 1738, the opening of the Imperial Ballet School in St. Petersburg attracted many great dancers and choreographers such as Marie Taglioni. This school was controlled by an aristocrat named Czar. The most well known 19th century choreographer, Marius Petipa, became the ballet master of the entire school, shaping imperial and classical ballet. Ideas such as increased focus on technique, formulaic choreography, mime and gesture, and lengthy ballets can be seen in Petipa 's most famous ballets. These famous ballets include The Sleeping Beauty, The Nutcracker, and Swan Lake. In the 20th century, Sergei Diaghilev introduced a traveling ballet company called Ballet Russes. Starting out in Paris, this company brings together Russian and Western ideas with a spark of modernism. This company brought together revolutionary collaborations between choreographers, dancers, composers, artists, and fashion designers. Through the development of Russian ballet, there has been rejection and embracement as well as changes in structure and choreography.

Marie Taglioni was born in September 1804 in Stockholm and moved to Vienna when she was little. Her family had very strong artistic background: her father- Filippo Taglioni- was a very famous dancer and choreographer, while her grandfather - Christopher Karsten – was a noted singer and dramatic author. However, things didn’t start out very smoothly for her because she didn’t have a very graceful appearance. A French ballet teacher rejected her at the age of six, remarking: “That hunchback will never learn to dance.” After the unfortunate rejection, her father decided to teach his daughter himself, putting her through six hours of rigorous pratice everyday. In 1822, she made her debut in her father’s ballet La Reception d’une

With emphasis on movement and method, Classical ballet also focuses on the five positions of ballet and emphasizes the turn out of the legs. The emphasis on technique is universal throughout Classical ballets; in addition, Fokine created five principles to follow. First, the choreography should not be pre-made, but instead be created for each new instance. Second, mimetic gestures must have a purpose within the ballet and must not be used for pure divertissement. Third, the dancer should be expressive from head to toe. Fourth, the entire stage of dancers should be expressive. Fifth, dance must have an alliance with the other arts and not be a slave to one specific form. For example, there is no specific style of music to use; instead, dance should be free to pair with any type of music. The five rules can be found in more detail in Jack Anderson’s book, Ballet & Modern Dance a Concise History on pages 134-135. The importance of full expression and the inclusion of other arts within the ballets are key to the intentions of Classical

French Ballet began in the 17th century. It was a flamboyant entertainment presented in front of the aristocracy and royalty in the courts. French Ballet was also performed when they were celebrating marriages and showing off the wealth and power of the ruler. Besides, Ballet was called “la belle danse”, and it means “the beautiful dance.” In order to help the audience to recognize the characters in the story, dancers usually wore extravagant costumes. Moreover, the idea of different ballet movements was based on the social dance of royal courts, like beautiful arm and upper body movements and floor patterns were included. Also, in the beginning, only men were allowed to dance ballet, and women played the first ballet with parts until 1681.

Giselle is a classical ballet performed by the Teatro Allo Scala Ballet Company and originally choreographed by Jean Coralli and Jules Perrot. The ballet company was founded in 1813 as an academy of ballet in Milan, Italy. The choreographers were famous French ballet dancers known for their choreographies in pinnacle performances such as Giselle and Childreich, King of the Franks. Giselle, a romantic ballet, was one of their most famous pieces created in 1841. It is the story of a naive peasant girl, named Giselle, who fell in love with a man that was betrothed to another. After a psychotic breakdown, she kills herself leaving her the man she loved feeling guilty about her death. After her death, Giselle was initiated into a group of supernatural beings known as the Wilis. These supernatural beings would lure men to their deaths by wooing them with their dances. Giselle finds it in her heart to forgive her guilty lover and does everything she can to save his life from the vengeful Wilis.

Born and raised in Germany, Pina Bausch joined the Folkwang Academy at age fifteen, and started dancing in the style of Tanztheater, a combination of theater and dance. When she was nineteen, Bausch move to New York, where she studied under some very prominent choreographers, including José Limón, Paul Taylor, and Alfredo Corvino. Although she worked with such noteworthy choreographers so young, this was just the start of her professional career. Later, Bausch became the artistic director of Wuppertal Opera Ballet, that of which was renamed Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch. Here, Pina created pieces that inspired, connected, and challenged the ideas of the modern world and its supporters. Pina dug directly into the emotions of the dancers, and focused more closely on the realness of the portrayed emotions than the physical image of the movement. She created a style of dance that pulled at the audience’s heartstrings because of its realness and ease to connect to.