Ballet developed out of 15th-century Italian court dances. In the Renaissance period, Italian dukes from rivaling city-states competed giving exquisite entertainments. These included dances. Nobles danced to please their ruler in these performances.
An Italian heiress, Catherine de Medici became queen of France in 1547. The French courts were introduced to these dances by de Medici. Her dances were staged by Balthazar de Beaujoyeulx. His dance, the Ballet Comique de la Reine, is considered to be one of the first ballets. It was performed in 1581 in honor of a royal wedding and lasted 5 1/2 hours. Technique was limited, so impressive costumes and scenery were used.
The ballet established Paris as the ballet capital of the world, after other royal courts performed the ballet. King Louis XIV of France (1643-1715) was a dance enthusiast, and took part in all the dances in his court. The King founded the Royal Academy of Dancing in 1667 to provide dancers for his court. Professional ballet began with the king's academy. Similar countries founded their own dance schools, such as the Russian Imperial Ballet of St. Petersburg.
Ballet technique evolved to express new ideas. Women learned how to dance on their toes; Men became porters for the women. Romantic ballet represented women at a greater importance than men. Romantic ballets became an escape from the toils of daily life into a sort of dreamlike world.
The first romantic ballet, La Shylphide (1832), was choreographed by Fillipo Taglioni starring his daughter, Marie. The Austrian dancer Fanny Elssler was Marie's biggest rival and debuted La Gypsy (1839). Carlotta Grisi combined Taglioni's dreamlike qualities with Fanny Elsser's humanness and debuted Giselle in 1841.
Paris remained the capital of the ballet world in the early 1800s, but Purgaris-trained dancers moved to other countries and started or worked for other schools. Marius Petipa went from France to St. Petersburg and joined the St. Petersburg Imperial Ballet (now the Kirov Ballet). He staged the most successful and lasting choreography for ballets such as Sleeping Beauty, Swan Lake, Don Quixote, and La Bayadere. The Imperial Ballet produced some of the greatest dancers of all time, like Ana Pavlova and Vaslav Nijinsky. Both dancers danced with Sergei Diaghilev's Ballet Russes, who produced The Firebird (1910) and Petrouchka (1911).
Ballet in the United States was virtually nonexistent before people like George Balanchine and Mikhail Mordkin. Balanchine, along with Lincoln Kirstein, founded the School of American Ballet and the American Ballet (now the New York City Ballet). Mordkin founded the company that became know as American Ballet Theater. American-born choreographers, such as Jerome Robbins and Agnes de Mille, and dancers, such as Maria Tallchief and Edward Villella, helped to shape and develop American dance.
Conemporary ballet showed up in America in the US in the late 1800s. It is characterized by more upper body movement and less pointe work, though some dances are en pointe. Most contemporary ballets are abstract. When George Balanchine founded his company, he choreographed some ballets with no costuming or sets, to put the focus back on the dancer.
Ballet has gone from an aristocratic court dance, to a highly professional and respected art form, with an experimental side.
Sources
"The History of Ballet." The Charleston Ballet. The Charleston Ballet, 1 Jan. 2014. Web. 13 Jan. 2015. <http://www.thecharlestonballet.com/educationOutreach.pdf>.
Picture of Hong Kong Ballet
"The History of Contemporary Ballet." Keeping History Alive. Keeping History Alive, 15 Nov. 2013. Web. 13 Jan. 2015. <https://keephistoryalive.wordpress.com/2013/11/15/the-history-of-contemporary-ballet/>.
Picture of Hong Kong Ballet
"The History of Contemporary Ballet." Keeping History Alive. Keeping History Alive, 15 Nov. 2013. Web. 13 Jan. 2015. <https://keephistoryalive.wordpress.com/2013/11/15/the-history-of-contemporary-ballet/>.