Throughout history, people fight, the economy shifts, empires collapse, and new ones rise from the ashes. In other words, societies change, sometimes in major ways and sometimes in ways barely noticeable. However, despite the constant transformations that our world undergoes, art remains the way a society expresses itself, and it evolves and changes along with society. Ballet is one such art form. Contrary to popular belief, ballet is not an art that lives in the past but one that has grown and changed so much that some aspects of it would be unrecognizable to its originators.
How has ballet evolved with society and culture throughout history, and how has it changed since its birth? Ballet began not as a stage performance like the ones we see today, but as a courtly pastime that the aristocracy both observed and participated in. Although the precursors of ballet–entertainments combining music, dance, painting and poetry—took place in Renaissance-era Italian courts, France was the true birthplace of ballet. (“Dancing Online, History of Ballet” para. ) In the 16th century, the Italian noblewoman Catherine de Medici married King Henry II of France and became a major patron of ballet in the French court; she brought the court entertainments of Italy to the aristocracy of France, where they were known as ballet de cour. (Minden pg. 14) A century later, King Louis XIV, remembered as the “Sun King”, revolutionized the art of ballet and ensured its place in French culture. (Erlanger para. 5) Louis XIV ruled from 1643 to 1715.
Under his enthusiastic support for the art of ballet, the first system of professional ballet training was created; he founded the Academie Royale de Danse in 1661 and the Academie Royale de Musique, the forerunner of the world-renowned Paris Opera Ballet, in 1669 (Minden pg. 40). He also codified ballet for the first time, identifying ballet steps and positions and essentially transforming the previously social court dance into an organized system of movements. The first raised stage as well as the first truly professional dancers appeared during this time.
He participated in many ballets himself; his appearance as the Greek deity Apollo in a ballet gave rise to the title of Sun King (Minden pg. 40). The advancement of ballet was definitely not King Louis’ only accomplishment in his lengthy reign. Under his rule, France achieved political and military power in France as well as cultural dominance. As a believer in divine right and absolute monarchy, he worked hard to increase the power on the monarchy in France and successfully created an absolute and centralized state.
His patronage of ballet can be seen as a further attempt to glorify himself and the monarchy: being viewed as the “Sun King”, a divine and magnificent being, must have done wonders for his popularity among his subjects. Ballet lost its acclaim during the Age of Reason and the French Revolution. As the idea of the aristocracy in France became less popular, ballet (which was after all associated with the aristocracy) nearly died out. It survived due to the efforts of Pierre Gardel, ballet master of the Paris Opera, and the fact that it was spreading to other countries (particularly Russia and Italy) (“Dancing Online, History of Ballet” para. ).
It was during the Romantic Era in the early 1800s that ballet gained popularity again. The Romantic era was a period in which people rejected the ideas of order, reason, and balance that defined earlier periods. Instead, romanticism was defined by emotion, imagination, human uniqueness, and spontaneity. The period was also marked with a renewed interest in nature and an interest in national and ethnic cultural origins. (“Kemp” para. 2-6) All these ideals led to increased attention to ballet (and all the arts in general); in fact, dancers during the Romantic period were idolized just as movie stars are today.
The changes that occurred in ballet during this period still define ballet today. For instance, ballet began, strangely enough, as a male-dominated art. In the Romantic period, female ballerinas were seen as the epitome of Romantic ideals: ethereal, otherworldly, and perfect. For the first time, female ballerinas outnumbered male dancers; this trend continues even today. (“Victoria and Albert Museum: Romantic Ballet” pg. para. 6) Another change was the development of the pointe shoe, which allows dancers to stand on their toes.
Female dancers, such as the famous Marie Taglioni, used pointe shoes to delight audiences by giving the illusion of balancing on “nothing”, once again exemplifying Romantic ideals by appearing to achieve the supernatural. Full-length ballets that remain popular today were created featuring characters that were (once again) ethereal and goddess-like, such as Giselle and La Sylphide. The Romantic era began to die down in the late 1800s, giving way to the Classical era of ballet, in which some of the ballets most widely known today—The Nutcracker, Sleeping Beauty, and Swan Lake—were created.
During the classical period, Russia took center stage in the ballet world, producing the period’s most famous dancers and choreographers, such as Anna Pavlova and Marius Petipa. Thus, the Russian Revolution of the early 1900s and the political upheaval that followed changed ballet yet again. Much as it did during the French revolution, ballet lost a good deal of its importance during the revolution. During the Soviet era that followed, dancers lost a good deal of their artistic liberty.
Just like everything else in Russia at the time, performing companies and training schools were placed under control of the state. Ballet reverted to a less expressive style. Soviet leaders used ballet as a device to force propaganda on the people: for example, the ballet The Flames of Paris is based on stories of the French Revolution and was used to spark revolutionary fervor in Russia. The political climate in the Soviet Union caused many dancers, frustrated by their lack of freedom, to defect to Western countries, particularly the U. S. where they had more independence (among them, the famous Mikhail Baryshnikov, Rudolph Nureyev, and Natalia Makarova). (“Dancing their Way to Freedom” para. 1-5) Ballet became popular in the United States in the early- to mid-1900s. The spirit of freedom, which has always been strong in America, was emphasized during this century, especially during the political tensions between the U. S. and the Soviet Union. Dancers and choreographers broke new ground in America during this time, experimenting with more contemporary techniques in ballet.
For example, George Balanchine, who is widely considered the “father of ballet” in the U. S. , immigrated to America from the Soviet Union and created a uniquely American style of ballet, called neoclassical ballet, which combines traditional ballet technique with more contemporary principles. (Balanchine founded the New York City Ballet, which is still considered one of the premier ballet companies in the world today, in 1948. ) (Minden pg. 70) In some ways, ballet still lives in the past.
For instance, in contrast to the diverse population in the U. S. , ballet remains relatively un-diverse: the dancers we see onstage in classical ballets are predominantly white. In many ways, though, ballet today looks very different than it did when it began in the 1600s. The art form itself has become more diverse, incorporating elements that one would never see in a conventional ballet production; when you go to see a ballet performance, there is no guarantee that you will see pointe shoes, tutus, and an orchestra. Different styles of ance have become less defined, and often a ballet will incorporate techniques and movements from jazz dance, ballroom, and even hip-hop and street dance.
Dancers themselves have become more daring than ever, attempting feats that would seem anatomically impossible to most “normal” people. In many ways ballet has become more inclusive. Ballet began as an upper-class art that was only available to the aristocracy and royalty; now, almost anyone can see a ballet and benefit from the experience. Ballet is an art that highly values tradition, and in many ways it lives in the past and resists the evolution of culture.
However, despite its appearance as a long-established, antiquated art, its style, audience, elements, and place in society have changed through the centuries in response to the shifts of society: the originators of ballet would have a hard time recognizing the art that it has become today. Ballet has remained a facet of many societies’ cultures, from its birth in the courts of France to its rise in Russia, its diversification in America and its place in modern society. In what ways, big or small, will ballet progress in the future?