Ballet
Ballet dance
Dance is the language which people from every corner of the globe understand and ballet is one of the oldest dance forms in this context. Ballet has its foundation root instituted in Italy and saw a skyrocketing growth in the Renaissance court. It further went on to develop and modify itself as the dance form with time and with change in the way dance was looked upon. It became popular in countries other than Italy and had its way to countries like France, Russia etc. as the dance presented to the court members and high officials.
The ballet dance evolved with time into two of it forms called neoclassical and contemporary ballet dance. Each of this dance form is uniquely different from each other and has its own specific technique and classical moves and precision, which is very hard to find in any other form of dancing.
The ballet dance is one of the most classical western dances ever known with its smooth moves and precision in body language. It is best known for flowing nature of the dance as it grips the audience with its natural captivating characteristics. The ballet dance form also includes mime and acting and is choreographed with great deal of detailing and caricature.
During the period of Louis XIV in 15th century the ballet dance form originated as the natural reflection and with the growing popularity became the significant part of the court entertainment functions and celebrations. With its root installed in different countries like Denmark, Russia, England and Western Europe, the dance form of ballet started getting modified by locals and regional culture and hence evolved as a new dance form altogether , however basic structure remained same.
With the process of evolution and modifications taking place over the period of time, gradually the dance form of ballet started branching out to many dance form as mentioned before and they started to be categorised as Russian ballet, Italian ballet, French ballet etc.
Most famous of the ballet dance form is Classical ballet because it has remained more or less same as in terms of techniques, moves and feel from the time of its origin. However, there are other styles of ballet which are also very famous and hold an important place with other styles. They are as follows:
1) Vaganova method
2) Russian method
3) Cecchetti method
4) Italian method
5) Bournville method
6) Danish method
7) Balanchine method
ABT method
9) Royal Academy of Dance method
10) R.A.D method
These are only some of the dance forms and all these dance form have been named after their mentors. Although classical form of ballet is the most formal form since it has some of the most basic style of ballet.
Then there is Contemporary form of ballet dance. In this form, as the name suggests, the technique used are contemporary and contains few of the steps which are the modified version of the classical steps. This dance concept of ballet had its development with the introduction of modern dance in 20th century.
Vocabulary is the most important part of the ballet dance and all the typical dance form of ballet has its own set of traditional ballet vocabulary and decorum in terms of music, tempo and moves. Neoclassical ballet dance has a very different and mist liked traditional vocabulary and the mime performed in this dance is such that grips the audience with its moves and the ambience that it creates.
Classical format of ballet dance is more rigid in terms of the technicalities involved with the dancing as it contains some of the most basic forms of ballet dancing. The dancers dance at extreme tempos and are more technical and the reason behind this is the classical system which actually sticks to old form of typical ballet dance.
George Balanchine and Serge Diaghilev were among the famous choreographer of early 20th century, the subsequent sequel of which is still performed in ballet theatres.
Becoming a ballet dancer is not an easy job. It requires lots of determination, hard work, love for the dance form, and practice. Ballet dance involves both pleasure and danger as if the steps are not learnt properly, it can be dangerous. Since for this form of dance, the dancer needs to have a composite and thin body, it often put pressure on the dancer leading to eating problems. Ballet dancers undergo extreme trainings to become perfect in this dance form. Ballet dancers do not usually have a high income but with practice and improvement, they tend to get high pays by getting good roles in performances.
The training for ballet dancers usually starts from as early as 8 to9 years old. They learn ballet dance and take part in competitions from around the world. Many dance competitions are arranged where the finest dancers from all around the world compete with each other. The ballet dancers need to adapt with the changing times and keep on learning more and more about the changing trends in this dance form.
Besides, there are special shoes worn by the ballet dancers called the “ballet shoes”, usually made of leather, canvas or satin, which helps in the graceful movements of this dance. Ballet shoes must be comfortable and not too tight so that the toes can be allowed to breathe. Good ballet shoes are flexible and easy to wear and are often decorated with bows and ribbons so that they look elegant and beautiful. The ballet dancers wear skimpy clothes so that the dance looks graceful.
Some of the most talented and famous dancers of ballet includes Anna Pavlova, Vaslav Nijinsky, Alicia Alonso, Briely Movric, Paloma Herrera, and Mikhail Baryshnikov and many others. Even though there was not much money in this field but they stayed for the love of this dance form.
Thus, it can be said that ballet is one of the most classical invention in terms of all the dance forms and it has special place in history as it keeps on changing and evolving with the course of time. However, still it has that touch of the ancient style of ballet with the assimilation of the modern dance form making it attractive package of recreational as well as intellectual source of entertainment for the audience.