To understand the style of Ballet we see today we need to take a look at its history. Where did it start, why was it created, and what pushed it to what it is today?
Ballet started in the Italian Renaissance as dances at social gatherings, but Catherine de Medicis had a big impact on it when she became part of the French court. By throwing festivals she helped influence King Louis XIV to promote Ballet. Many people will look at France as the birthplace of ballet, the ballet we see today can be attributed to the French we must remember that it originally came from Italy. Ballet is derived from the word ballere meaning “to dance” in Italian. The first ballet school was started in Paris in 1669, this is where we truly start to see the solidification of technique. The Paris Opera Ballet was instructed by Pierre Beauchamps, he helped guide dance into this new era and helped make it today. Ballet began to expand and travel to different places, which led to having different styles. The different methods of ballet are described as the following; Bournville Method (Danish Style), French Method, Cecchetti Method (Italian Style), Balanchine Method (American style), Vaganova Method (Russian Method), and Royal Academy of Dance Method (English Style).
Since we have all these different methods of ballet there is no right way to dance ballet, this creates the beauty of dance that we see today. Ballet dancers are always growing and learning new things, you can tell what training a dancer has had by the way they dance so let's break down the methods of dance to help you further your understanding.
The Bournville Method, created by Antonie and August Bournville, emphasizes a dancer's epaulements and use of fifth position, with French influence.n the French Method, we can see the influence of Louis XIV and Rudolf Nurevye who helped the school in the 1980s, this method focuses on the fluid movement of the dancer as well as the clarity and elegance of the dancer. Next Cecchetti Method or Italian Style, this style is all about the anatomy of the dancer and how it works inside ballet, focusing mainly on the lines that are created in different steps. Balanchine method or the American style was started by George Balanchine for the New York City Ballet, he focused on pushing the athleticism of the dancer, and Balanchine was influenced by the Russian Technique. Speaking of Russian technique the Vaganova method is precise and a mixture of many different styles. Vaganova works to mix the best parts of each style to create it’s technique. Lastly, we have the Royal Academy of Dance method or the English style of dance, wanting the get the most out of the dancers they teach them slowly, putting them through a level program that allows them to teach in depth on their technique.
Misty Copeland once said, “Finding Ballet was like finding this missing piece of myself.” The history of ballet shows that with each step a missing piece is filled and each technique created allows for more expression from the dancer.
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