Posted on February 7, 2015
I always think of France and Russia when I think of ballet dancing. The terms for the various ballet steps - such as arabesque, balancé devant, and plié - are French. Some of my favorite ballets - The Nutcracker, The Sleeping Beauty, Swan Lake - were created by Russians Marius Petipa and Pyotr Tchaikovsky.
But of course ballet is a worldwide dance form. And it started in the 15th Century courts of Italy.
Ballet was never a sort of folk dance that everybody learned and did. Instead, it was always more performance oriented, more technical. Dancers learned and performed ballet for audiences. Ballet dancing requires years to learn and master, and even people who know ballet must practice long and hard to keep up their ability to do this difficult form of dancing.Ballet is the foundation for many other forms of dance. It is not that people cannot learn jazz, lyrical, or modern dance without first knowing ballet...rather, it is that ballet steps and techniques form the basis of many of the other dance styles.
Celebrate!
- Try a ballet class! It's great for strength, flexibility, and posture!
Also on this date:
Plan ahead:
Check out my Pinterest boards for:
And here are my Pinterest boards for: