10 Interesting Facts About Ballet

Ballet is one of the oldest dance techniques that is the foundation of all the other dance styles.

All movements must be controlled and must be performed with ease. Ballet is not only for the professionals, but also is an excellent activity for the recreationalists, and we bring you the most interesting facts about this dance…

Fact: Origin of ballet – Dance teachers who generously entertained Renaissance rulers did not know that actually they creating an art that millions of people will enjoy in the coming centuries around the world. Ballet was born in Italy in the 15th century when the noblemen began to hire professional dance teachers to entertain important guests at court parties.

Fact: The Dancing King – When King Louis XIV came to power, called the “King of the Sun”, he loved to dance and often participated in dance performances until he became too “fat”! Even his nickname came from Ballet dance, where he appeared as a “King of the Sun”.

Fact: First professional dancers – At the time of King Louis XIV, the distinction between amateur and professional dancing began to unfold, and in 1661 the Royal Dance Academy was founded. Later was also established the Royal Academy of Music, which later developed into the Paris Opera. At the Paris Opera, first professional dancers appeared at the then popular opera ballet.

Fact: In the ballet there is a exactly determined amount of figures and movements, and all movements used in choreographies are part of the ballet exercises that each dancer must learn during schooling and then repeat each day to keep the body in dance form.

Fact: Swan Lake – There are some ballets, such as the Swan Lake, which took place more than a hundred years ago and are still being performed today, and the choreography is almost the same as it was in its original form.

Fact: English Ballet Master John Weaver creates Ballet d’Action – a ballet without words. He thinks the movement is sufficient to understand the story. Jean Georges Noverre believes that the essence of dance is expressiveness and the use of masks in ballet is abolished; the audience could finally see the face of the dancer.

Fact: En pointe – Marie Taglioni, the famous ballet dancer, first danced on the fingertips – en pointe. Every time a dancer jumps three times her body weight is carried on the tip of her big toe. She danced in a bell-shaped dress that later became a famous “tutu” (it may be made of tarlatan, muslin, silk, tulle, gauze, or nylon).

Fact: Russian ballet – is one of the forms of ballet, which originates from Russia. This type of ballet achieved a true blossom, making it one of the characteristics of Russia and Russian art.

Fact: Prima bellerina – In Russian ballet, the title “prima ballerina absolute” rarely been awarded through history. Although she did not receive the first, the best known prima ballerina of Bolshevo Theater, Maya Plisetskaya, is one of the best ballet dancers of the 20th century.

Fact: Banned in Turkmenistan – Since 2001, ballet is banned in Turkmenistan described as its failure to conform with the Turkmen mentality. The closure was ordered by the Turkmen president, Saparmurat Niyazov, who described the ballet as highly artificial and immodest dance.