Ballet is a beautiful art form that utilizes music, technique, and grace to create stories for an audience to enjoy. This is true for our youngest dancers in Twirl Babies, all the way to those who dance for a professional company. It is a type of dance that takes a great deal of effort, dedication, and precision. Ballet has also influenced many other types of dance, and you can see it’s impact in everything from jazz to modern to ballroom. At Turning Pointe, we definitely love ballet and our ballerinas!
Today on the blog, we wanted to highlight ballet and share five fun facts to inspire and encourage!
1. Ballet is over 500 years old!
Ballet started in the 1500s in Italy. We get the word “ballet” from the Italian word “ballare.” When Italian Catherine De Medici married the French King Henry II, she brought ballet into court life and made it popular in France.
2. King Louis XIV of France was a ballet enthusiast.
King Louis himself would perform many of the popular dances. He even hired professional dancers to continue dancing in the court after the king and other members of the court had stopped dancing each evening. He also founded the Academie Royal de Danse in 1661, which is now known as the Paris Opera Ballet.
3. Originally, women were not allowed to dance in the ballet.
Women weren’t allowed into the ballet until 1681. The first female ballerina was a young woman named Madameosielle De Lafontaine. She danced in Lully's Le Triomphe de L'amour and then went on to be the lead in at least 18 more ballets.
4. Professional Tutus can take 60-90 hours to make!
They also can cost up to $2,000 to make. They may even take up to 100 yards of tulle. They are also so precious and delicate that they aren’t washed. Instead, they are hung up in between shows and spayed with fresheners.
5. There are six technical methods of ballet instruction.
They are the French School, the Vaganova Method, the Cecchetti Method, the Bournonville method, the Royal Academy of Dance method (or English style), and the Balanchine Method. There are many other schools of thought in regards to how to teach and dance ballet, but these ones are the most widely accepted and recognized. Each has its own strengths and specialties.
Here a few fun books to read, if you want some more ballet in your life!
- Firebird by Misty Copeland
- Swan: The Life and Dance of Anna Pavlova by Laurel Snyder
- Boys Dance! By John Robert Allman
- Tallulah’s Tutu by Marilyn Singer
- I Want to be a Ballerina by Anna Membrino
- Ballet Shoes by Noel Streatfeld
- Bunheads by Misty Copeland
- Angelina Ballerina by Katharine Holabird