Ballet

• Ballet came from the Italian words Ballare and Ballo
• Ballare: to dance
• Ballo: refers to dances performed in a ballroom
• Arnold Haskell (1965): Said that "combination of the arts of dancing, poetry, music and painting. The essential quality of the ballet dancers is grace that is phrasing, fluidity, harmony, the making of words into a poetic whole; bound up with the reaction to music that goes far deeper than a purely rhythmic reaction."
• Burian (1963): said that "ballet is an artistic, programmatic, scenic dance accompanied by music. It is basically a special and generically unique form, which resulted from the synthesis, collaboration and equilibrium of several different types of art."
• 1672:

  • The 5 basic dance positions were written down.
  • Ballet became professional because King Louis XIV (the fourteenth) allowed professional dancers to perform it.
  • Nobles and aristocrats participated in ballet.
  • Minimal Ballet movements
• 15th Century Ballet:

  • also known as the Renaissance period.
  • Ballet began in Italy as a performance in the royal court.
  • Male servants were the ones to execute movements by using the menu that they would be serving.
• Romantic Era:

  • Ballet started to evolve and became more broad
  • Ballet became prominent in other countries in Europe
  • Dancers of golden age influenced all of Europe
• 19th Century:

  • People became more liberated and started to rely more on art and music.
  • Stopped following rules
  • Female dancers or Balerina became more popular
  • Balerina pretended to be fairies
• end of 19th Century:

  • Gave birth to classical ballet in Russia
  • The rapid growth of ballet in Russia
  • Marius Petipa, became one of the most famous choreographer and became a dictator of Russian ballet, and created a formal structure in ballet
  • Classical Ballet became known for its jumps
• 20th Century:

  • Dancers and Choreographers experimented with different movements and costumes
  • This marks the beginning of a new phase in ballet because it became free
  • Ballet became spread out in United States
• Ballet Today:

  • Has a lot of variations that can be linked together to form modern ballet.
• Classical Ballet: is known for its exactness of technique that highlights pointed toes and turnouts, high extensions, and gracefulness.
• Contemporary Ballet or Modern Ballet: mainly uses ballet steps and more natural movement to convey meaning.
• American introduced Classical ballet in the philippines
• Luva Adameit (1927): a choreographer which came to the Philippines and started a ballet school.
• Ballet Philippines: World Class ballet performers of the philippines
• Composition of Ballet Class:

  1. Warm-up
  2. Barre Exercise
  3. Center work exercise
  4. Corner Drills (Grand Allegro)
• Basic Dance Exercises Performed in Barre:

  1. Plié
  2. Relevé
  3. Développés
  4. Battement Tendu
  5. Battement Dégagé
  6. Grand Battement
• Basic Ballet Movements (Center Exercises):

  1. Port de bras
  2. Arabeque
  3. Sauté arabesque
  4. Attitude
  5. Pas de bourrée
  6. Glissade
• basic ballet movements (Corner Exercises):

  1. Ballet walks
  2. Chassé
  3. Sauté
  4. Jeté
  5. Grand Jeté
  6. Assemblé
• Warm Up: is the best start to a ballet; to stretch and condition the body
• Barre Exercises: students hold a bar to improve their balance, leg exercises, bending, stretching, and small movements of the legs.
• Center work exercises: more stretching and relaxing exercises to loosen the back and the muscles in other parts of the body, exercises without the use of bar
• Corner drills (Grand Allegro): consist of sequence of steps where in big jumps and different movements are involved in the exercise; It is done in an open space or dance floor
• Plié: To bend or to bend the knees
• Relevé: to lift or rise up our heels or feets
• Développés: should be slow and controlled, where you bring your feet to its highest possible position
• Battement Tendu: "stretch beating" stretch arms and legs to side while not letting heels touch the ground.
• Battement Dégagé: Jumping sideways in a disarranged position
• Grand Battement: "Large Beating" Big kicks while throwing legs as high as possible, not slow.
• Port de Bras: any movement of the arm from one position to another
• Arabesque: body position, one arm raised, one leg is raised and extended behind the body
• Sauté Arabesque: similar to arabesque but has a hop or jump or in the air
• Attitude: bended legs is raised in front or behind the body
• Pas De Bourrée: Stuffed steps or bag of steps, variation of steps
• Glissade: sliding or gliding
• Ballet Walks: Most basic and simple, its just walking using pointed heels and toes.
• Chassé: chasing steps
• Sauté: to Jump or to hop