-
Period: 1519 to
Catherine De'Medici
Originally Italian, she married Henry II of France and moved there. She brought her love of the arts to the French courts. -
Period: 1538 to
Balthasar de Beaujoyeulx
He was an Italian violinist, dancing master, and choreographer. He “moved to Paris in 1555, where he became a servant at the court of Catherine de’ Medici. He tutored two of her sons and displayed a talent for arranging elaborate entertainments for the court.”3 -
1573
Ballet de Polonais
One of the first events recognized as a court ballet. The Ballet de Polonaiswas created to honor the Polish ambassadors visiting Paris and celebrate the ascension of Henri de Valois to the throne of Poland. -
1581
Ballet Comiquede la Reine
CONSIDERED TO BE THE FIRST TRUE BALLET -
Period: to
Pierre Beauchamp
Born to a family of Parisian musicians and dance masters, Beauchamp has a lengthy career as a dancer, teacher, and choreographer. Beauchamp became Louis XIV’s personal dance master. According to Rameau, the king took daily lessons from Beauchamp for 20 years.
Codified the 5 positions. -
Period: to
Jean-BaptiseLully
Italian musician, composer, and dancer. Joined Louis XIV’s court and composed many ballets in which he and the king danced. -
Period: to
Louis XIV
Absolute Monarch. Known as "The first star of ballet" and "the sun king"
The court ballet sprang from the fertile soil of the Renaissance, and it is during the Baroque period that the court ballet reached its peak under the reign of Louis XIV. Louis expanded the propaganda potential of ballet that was initiated by Catherine de Medici and carried out by his father Louis XIII. He understood dance has ideological potential and used it as an instrument to exemplify his complete reign. -
Le Ballet de la Nuit
Created by Jean Baptiste LullyThe ballet was in four parts and each part was three hours. The ballet began at 6 pm and ended at 6 am. Louis was 14 at the time and performed several roles throughout the ballet. In the final entrance, dawn called him forth and he appeared to rise as the sun. He was Apollo, God of the sun. -
Period: to
Mlle De Lafontaine
French ballerina who was the first women to be allowed into the Royal Academy of Dance. She debuted in 1681 at the in Lully's Le Triomphede l'amour. She is often regarded as the first female professional dancer. -
Royal Academy of Dance established
Established by Louis XIV, it aimed to improve the quality of dance instruction and created a place where professional dancers can train. It was the first dance institution in the western world. Louis stated that the purpose of the academy was “to restore the art of dancing to its original perfection and to improve it as much as possible,” since “as the result of the disorders caused by the latest wars, many people were now teaching dance without qualifications,” -
Period: to
Claude Balon
“Dancer whose extraordinarily light, elastic leaps reputedly inspired the ballet term “ballon” used to describe a dancer’s ability to ascend without apparent effort and to land smoothly and softly.” -
King Louis XIV Retired from the Stage
-
Period: to
John Weaver
He was an English dancer, dance master, choreographer, and theorist. Weaver wanted to raise the status of ballet by letting go of its dependence on words. He created the first ballet d’action and helped establish ballet as an independent art form in England. -
Period: to
Françoise Prévost
Pupil of Lully and Beauchamp, “the leading dancer of her generation. Her precision, lightness, and grace helped establish the technique of classical ballet; she was also noted for her mime and dramatic ability.” -
Royal Academy of Dance begins to accept women
-
Mlle De Lafontaine's Debut in Lully's Le Triomphede l'amour
The first performance of the Royal Academy of Dance to contain/star a woman. -
Period: to
Louis Dupré
“Known as Le Grand Dupréand admired for his elegant physique and noble dancing, he did not retire from his position as premier danseur until 1751 and continued dancing into his sixties.” Called the “god of dance.” -
Period: to
Marie Sallé
Student of Prévost, she was an “innovative French dancer and choreographer who performed expressive, dramatic dances during a period when displays of technical virtuosity were more popular. The first woman to choreograph the ballets in which she appeared.” -
Period: to
Marie Camargo
Also a student of Prévost, she is known a the first great female technician. She was noted for her speed and agility and for her perfection of jumping steps previously executed chiefly by men. To obtain the necessary freedom of movement and to display her rapidly moving feet, she became the first danseuse to shorten her ballet skirts to calf-length, to remove the heels from ballet slippers, and to wear close-fitting drawers (that evolved into ballet’s basic “tights”) while dancing.” -
John Weaver Publishes An Essay Towards an History of Dancing
-
The Loves of Mars and Venus
The entire story was told through movement and gesture without spoken or sung explanation. -
John Weaver Publishes Anatomical and Mechanical Lectures upon Dancing
-
Period: to
Jean-Georges Noverre
A French dancer, choreographer, and theorist who is known as “the Grandfather of the Ballet." He is considered a reformer, due to the revolutionary ideas he presented in Lettressur danseet sur les ballets (Letters on Dancing and Ballets) in 1760. Stressing the importance of dramatic motivation, which he called ballet d-action, and decrying overemphasis on technical virtuosity.” He was influenced by Marie Salle and her ideas about freedom and expression in dance. -
Period: to
Gaétan Vestris
Born in Italy, joined the Paris Opera in at 19 studying under Dupré. Known as “the finest French male ballet dancer of his time.” -
Marie Sallé appears as Venus in Pygmalion
First premiered in London. She shocked audiences by not wearing a mask and when she discarded the elaborate, restrictive costume typical of 18th-century ballet for a Grecian-style muslin dress and loose, unornamented hair.” She also choreographed the ballet. -
Nouverre's Lettressur danseet sur les ballets (Letters on Dancing and Ballets) Published
-
Period: to
Auguste Vestris
Son of Gaétan Vestris, considered a virtuoso in jumps and turns. His father said “It is only through pity of his comrades that my son consents to touch the earth.” As he grew older his dramatic powers increased and he was able to combine virtuosity with expressiveness. -
Jason et Médée
Ballet d'action choreographed by Noverre -
Period: to
Charles Didelot
Swedish-born French dancer, choreographer, and teacher is credited with the innovation flying dancers on stage using a wire system. As the dancers touched down on the stage, they stayed suspended high on their toes as though they were floating. This is said to have inspired the use of point work. -
Period: to
Jean Coralli
French dancer and choreographer who was the ballet master at the Paris Opera from 1831-1850. -
Flesh Colored Tights introduced to the Opera
These become commonplace during the romantic era. -
Period: to
Carlo Blasis
“Italian dancer, choreographer, and codifier of classical technique who was arguably the most important ballet teacher of the 19th century. He studied with Dauberval(where he learned the theories of Noverre) and Gardelin Paris.” He taught many of the stars of the Romantic valet.
He wrote A Elementary Treatise upon the theory and practice of the art of dancing (1820) and The code of Terpsichore (1828), which helped to codify ballet technique. -
Charles Didelot Becomes Dance Master at the Imperial Ballet
-
Period: to
Marie Taglioni
Born into an Italian dance family, she became the premiere Ballerina of the era. She is considered to be the first dancer to dance on pointe. While it had been done before, she is credited with weaving the use of pointe into the fabric of dance technique so that it became a means of expression. She showed how pointe could be used to an artistic end, to convey an illusion of weightlessness and to express ethereal spirituality. -
Period: to
Jules Perrot
Key figure of the Romantic era, known as a virtuosic dancer and the choreographer of many major works. He first became known at the Paris Opera, but due to a conflict with administration over money, he worked throughout Europe. -
Period: to
Fanny Elssler
She was born in Vienna and made her debut at the Paris Opera in 1834. She was described as a fiery, and spirited dancer. After performing a Spanish variation in Le Diableboiteux1836, she became known as “La Cachucha.” A rivalry was created between Elsslerand Taglioni. Elssler was known as “the pagan dancer” in contrast to Taglionibeing “the Christian dancer.” -
Period: to
François Delsarte
He created the Delsarte method which was a method for movement.
He sought the “eternal truth about the nature of man, and how it is expressed in his gestures and speech.” -
Period: to
Théophile Gautier
Poet, journalist, and critic. He was a prominent dance critic and wrote the libretto for several Romantic ballets. -
Period: to
François Delsarte
Created the Delsarte method; it is “a theory o rsystem
for improving musical and dramatic expression through the mastery of various bodily attitudes and gestures.” He sought the “eternal truth about the nature of man, and how it is expressed in his gestures and speech.” -
Period: to
Fanny "Cherry-Toes" Cerrito
Italian ballerina who found success performing as a principle at La Scala, and then in London at Her Majesty’s theater. -
Period: to
Marius Petipa
The father of Classical ballet”. Built upon the ideas set forth in the Romantic Ballets, and established Russia as a leader in ballet in the late 1800s. A French man born into a family of dancers. He danced in many ballets as the romantic lead to several of the leading ballerinas of the Romantic era.
Petipa became the ballet master in 1871. His career spanned 60 years, and he created over 47 original ballets and revived 17. -
Period: to
Lucile Grahn
One of the great ballerinas of the era. She was the first Danish dancer to find international success. -
Period: to
Carlotta Grisi
Italian ballerina and singer who met Jules Perrot as a young ballerina and became his pupil, muse, and lover. She achieved fame after creating the title role in Giselle. -
Carlos Blasis Publishes A Elementary Treatise upon the theory and practice of the art of dancing
-
Gas Lighting Came to the Paris Opera
It allowed for dark theaters and advancements in stage lighting. Helped to create illusions such as moonlight and nocturnal landscapes. -
Carlos Blasis Publishes The code of Terpsichore
-
Period: to
Golden Era of Ballet
Also known as the romantic era. Bookended by the Ballets La Sylphide (1832) and Giselle (1841) -
Period: to
The Romantic Era
During this short time theatrical dance, in the form of ballet, was rendered a powerful medium of expression. -
La Sylphide(The Sylph) Premiers at the Paris Opera
It was choreographed by Filippo Taglioni, with music composed by Jean-Madeleine Schneitzhoeffer. Marie Taglioniplayed the sylph. -
Period: to
Lev Ivanov
Premier danseur who became Petipa’s assistant. While Petipa generally got all the credit, Ivanov was an innovative choreographer who worked with Petipa in the creation of many ballets. Most notably, he choreographed portions of Swan Lake and took over the choreography for The Nutcracker when Petipa fell ill. -
Male Dancers Banned from Parisian Stages
By the 1830s male dancers were being reviled as disgraceful and effeminate creatures, and by the 1840s they had been banned from Parisian stages.”3 -
Period: to
PyotrIlyich Tchaikovsky
World-renowned Russian composer.
worked with Petipa on his 3 most famous ballets: Sleeping Beauty, The Nutcracker, and Swan Lake
Controversy surrounding his death from "cholera" -
Giselle Premiered at Paris Opera
Choreographed by Jean Coralliand Jules Perrot (although Perrot was not given credit at the time due to backstage politics). Libretto was written by Jules Saint-Georges and Théophile Gautier. Music composed by Adolphe Adam. Carlotta Grisi danced the first Giselle -
Period: to
Emma Livry
Emma Livry (illegitimate daughter of a dancer and baron) was a new star with such promise that Marie Taglioni came out of retirement to mentor her and choreographed Le Papillon for her.
In 1862 her tutu caught fire from touching the flame of a gaslight, and she suffered for eight months before dying. -
Pas de Quatre
Choreographed by Jules Perrot. Music by Cesare Pugni. Danced by: Marie Taglioni, Lucile Grahn, Carlotta Grisi, and Fanny Cerrito. Premiered in London to great success.
A milestone because it presented dancing for the sake of dancing -dance without a narrative. -
Period: to
Genevieve Stebbins
She taught the Delsarte Method in the US.
American Delsarte system developed new principles of movement based on relaxation, controlled and limited tension, easy balance, and natural flow of breath. It emphasized the spiral curve, successional movement, and movements suggestive of Greek art. -
Period: to
Genevieve Stebbins
She taught the Delsarte Method in the US. and is credited with creating the American version.
She added steps, rhythmic elements, and expressiveness to the method.
The American Delsarte system developed new principles of movement based on relaxation, controlled and limited tension, easy balance, and natural flow of breath. It emphasized the spiral curve, successional movement, and movements suggestive of Greek art. -
Gale Sisters Immolated
an audience filled the Continental Theatre for the first night performance: Shakespeare’s The Tempest, adapted as a ballet.
.At the end of Act One, the Gale sisters began to change costumes. Ruth climbed upon a settee to retrieve her gauzy costume, but the hem caught on the gas jet and within seconds Ruth was ablaze. Ruth ran through the dressing room and dashed herself into a glass mirror, adding to her horrific injuries. Her sisters, in trying to help her were caught up in the blaze.” -
Emma Livry's Tutu Catches fire
she dies 8 months of agony later. -
Period: to
Loïe Fuller
One of the pioneers of modern dance, she is known for her work with fabric and light.
“born in America, but made in France.” -
Period: to
Marie "La Loie/ Loïe" Louise Fuller
Not a trained dancer but she used new technological inventions, lighting effects, and material to create spectacular designs.
She is known for her work with fabric and light.
born in America, but made in France
poster child for the art nouveau movement.
Fuller changed the form of woman by draping, even could be said by using science to change the image of woman. -
Period: to
Émile Jaques-Dalcroze
Created Eurhythmics (Greek for "good rhythm"): A system of developing music skills through bodily movement. -
Period: to
Léon Bakst
Revolutionized theatrical design both in scenery and in costume. His designs for the ballets Russes, especially during its heyday were opulent, innovative, and extraordinary, and his influence on fashion and interior design was widespread.
He designed the sets for many works, including Schéhèrazade(1910), Le Spectre de la rose (1911), and L’Après-midi d’un faune(1912). -
Period: to
Pierina Legnani
Italian ballerina whose virtuoso technique inspired Russian dancers. She created the dual role of Odette-Odile in Swan Lake. She is known as the first dancer to perform 32 consecutive fouettés on stage (first in Cinderella, then in Swan Lake).
She was named Prima Ballerina Assoluta. -
Coppélia, The Girl with Enamel Eyes
Coppéliapremiered in Paris and was choreographed by Arthur Saint-Léon (married to Fanny Cerrito) with music composed by Léo Delibes. It was a comic ballet about a man who falls in love with a doll. Giuseppina Bozzacchi danced as the first Swanhilda. -
Period: to
Alexandre Benois
A Russian artist who worked on stage décor and costumes for pieces such as Les Sylphides(1909), Giselle(1910), and Petrushka(1911). -
Petipa Becomes Dance Master of the Imperial Ballet
He found success in Russia, debuted at the Marinsky Theater in a Joseph Mazilier’s Paquita. He became the assistant to Jules Perrot who was the ballet master in the 1850s. After Perrot left St. Petersburg, Arthur Saint-Léon replaced him as ballet master, which sparked a rivalry with Petipa. He contributed to choreography in the repertory, and in 1862 created The Pharaoh’s Daughter. It was a huge success, and he was named second dance master under Saint-Léon. -
Don Quixote
Choreographed by Petipa with music composed by Ludwig Minkus, it is a ballet in four acts and based on the famous novel by Miguel de Cervantes -
Period: to
Serge Diaghilev
The founder of the Ballets Russes
He wanted to bring the very best artists together to create works that would revolutionize ballet. -
Period: to
Matilda Kschessinskaya
-
La Bayadère
La Bayadère (The Temple Dancer) was set to the music composed by Ludwig Minkus. Russian ballerina Yekaterina Vazem (1848-1937) danced the role of Nikiya in the original production. -
Period: to
Isadora Duncan
She believed the body was the medium for the mind and soul.
She stressed the torso, rather than the legs
She meditated, standing still with her hands on her solar plexus “seeking to discover the central spring of all movement.” From these meditations “emotions came as movement without volition, and the dances seemed to create themselves.” -
Period: to
Rudolf Von Laban
He was a Hungarian “dance theorist and teacher whose studies of human motion provided the intellectual foundations for the development of central European modern dance. Laban also developedLabanotation, a widely used movement-notation system.”
He also wanted to free dance from both music and drama. -
Period: to
Ruth St. Denis
She connected dance with spirituality was a way to ennoble it, to make it high art, and claim it as a respectable and even refined occupation for women.
she believed dance was in the consciousness, not the body”
was inspired by a cigarette poster featuring an Egyptian Goddess,
was inspired by a Japanese solo actress and dancer Sada Yaccowho danced characters who were women that acknowledges their sexuality without European or American overlays of Victorian guilt” -
Period: to
The Golden Age of Russian Ballet
The 1880s and 1890s were known as the golden age of the Imperial ballet. This was the time of Petipa’s greatest works, and a time of the “greatest dancers the world had ever seen.” -
Period: to
Mikhail "Michel" Fokine
More commonly referred to as Michel, he was a Russian dancer and choreographer who was the chief choreographer for the Ballets Russes from 1909-1914
Fokine helped to usher in the modern era of ballet, he “ was one of the first Russian choreographers to challenge the classical approach to ballet and move beyond the stereotypical traditions.” -
Period: to
Olga Preobrajenska
-
Period: to
Anna Pavlova
“studied at the Imperial School of Ballet at the MarinskyTheaterfrom 1891, joined the Imperial Ballet in 1899, and became a prima ballerina in 1906. In 1909 she went to Paris on the historic tour of the Ballets Russes. After 1913 she danced independently with her own company throughout the world.” -
Period: to
Igor Stravinsky
“Russian-born composer whose work had a revolutionary impact on musical thought and sensibility just before and after WWI, and whose compositions remained a touchstone of modernism for much of his long working life.” -
Period: to
Adolph Bolm
Studied at the Imperial school, and danced at the MarinskyTheater from 1903-1911, and was one of the lead dancers of the Ballets Russes. -
Period: to
Tamara Karsavina
Graduated from the Imperial School in 1902, danced to great success at the MarinskyTheater, and to great acclaim with the Ballets Russes. -
Period: to
Mary Wigman
A student of Laban and Dalcroze, she was a German dancer who is a pioneer of the modern expressive dance developed in Europe.
“opposes the notion of ‘representing’ something while dancing, in a search for a truthful experience: dance should not represent; dance should be.” -
Period: to
Enrico Cecchettitaught at the Imperial School
He was a student of Giovanni Lepri, who was a student of Carlo Blasis. The Cecchetti Method system of training ballet dancers was a continuation of the ideas set forth by Blasis. -
The Sleeping Beauty
First truly Russian ballet.
Choreography: Petipa
Music: Tchaikovsky
Known for: The fairy variations, Aurora's variations (including the Rose Adagio), Character dances, The Bluebird pas de deux, and The grand pas de deux in act III -
Period: to
Vaslav Nijinsky
A legendary dancer who studied at the Imperial Ballet and joined the MarinskyTheater as a soloist in 1907. He is known as one of the most virtuosic dancers of all time. By the time he was 16 he was called the “eighth wonder of the world” and the “Vestrisof the North.” -
Period: to
Bronislava Nijinska
Nijinsky’s sister who trained at the Imperial Ballet and danced with the Ballet Russes. She choreographed ballets for the Ballet Russes, includingLes Noces(1923),The Blue Train(1924), andLes Biches(1924). -
Period: to
Ted Shawn
Partner and Husband of St. Denis. Toured and started a school with her before separating after 15 years. -
The Nutcracker
Not super well-liked at first. many criticized certain elements like the transition from real to fantastical as well as the fact the prima ballerina was only in the second act.
Choreography: Petipa/ Ivanov
Music: Tchaikovsky
finally, it began to enjoy popularity when George Balanchine choreographed his version for the New York City Ballet in 1954 -
Fire Dance
Performed on a glass plate lit from bellow (her own invention)
"Shaking and twisting in a torrent of incandescent lava, her long dress spouting flame and rolling around in burning spirals, she stood in blazing embers and did not burn.” -
Swan Lake
The ballet received a mixed, but better reception than the 1877 production with Legnanienchanting the audience in the dual role of Odette/Odile
Choreography: Petipa/Ivanov
Music: Tchaikovsky -
Period: to
Léonide Massine
“Massine studied acting and dancing at the Imperial School and had almost decided to become an actor when Diaghilev, seeking a replacement for Nijinsky, invited Massine to join his company. After a few months of study under Italian dancer and teacher Enrico Cecchetti, Massine made his Paris debut in La Légende de Josephin 1914 and received favorable comment on his dramatic dance ability and commanding stage personality.”
he created ballets such as Parade (1917) and Le Tricorne(1919 -
Founding of Mir iskusstva(World of Art) Magazine
Co-founded by Diaghilev, Benois, and Bakst in 1899 in St. Petersburg. The art magazine “attacked the low artistic standards of the realist PeredvezhnikiSociety (Russian realist artist) and the deadening influence of the Russian Academy and stressed individualism and artistic personality. -
Period: to
Kurt Jooss
“German dancer, teacher, and choreographer whose dance dramas combined Expressionistic modern-dance movements with fundamental ballettechnique”
He is often regarded as the creator of dance theater. -
Period: to
George Balanchine
He studied at the Imperial Ballet School and joined the Ballet Russes in 1925.
After Nijinska left, he began to choreograph for the Ballet Russes, most notable Apollo (1929) and The Prodigal Son (1929) -
Russian Revolution of 1905
An uprising that was instrumental in convincing TsarNicholas II to attempt the transformation of the Russian government from an autocracy into a constitutional monarchy. -
The Dying Swan
Fokine created The Dying Swan for Pavlova as a solo.
Choreographer: Fokine
Music: Saint-Saëns's cello solo, Le Cygne.
Dancer: Anna Pavlova -
Radha
performed by St. Denis
“She is tall and of entrancing proportions...the ensemble of her body is a flawless lyric. And yet there is this to be said that to some might be paradoxical: although her body is of woman divinely planned, there is no atmosphere of sex about her whether she is immovable upon her alter—a picture of beauty never to be forgotten—or dancing the sense of touch.” -
Les Sylphides
Choreographed by Fokine, it was first names Chopiniana. Set to music by Frederic Chopin. did not have a plot. Was meant to be a tribute to the romantic era. -
Period: to
The Ballets Russes
Astonish Me! -
Ballet Ruses Premiers
With 55 dancers, including Vaslav Nijinsky, the Ballets Russes opened a new era in ballet dancing, bringing the Russian ballet to the Western world. Produced by Sergei Diaghilev, the tour opened at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris.
The dancers Diahgilev brought included Mathilde Kschessinska, Anna Pavlova, Tamara Karsavina, Ida Rubinstein, Michel Fokine, Vaslav Nijinsky and Bronislava Nikinska, Adolph Bolm, Michel Mordkin. -
Laban Opens his First School
Munich, Germany -
Scheherazade
Choreographed by FokineDesign by BakstScore by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov -
Le Spectre de la Rose
Choreographed by Fokine and based on a poem by Théophile Gautier. Vaslav Nijinsky played the Rose and Tamara Karsavina played the Young Girl -
Petrushka
Choreography by Fokine, score composed by Stravinsky, sets and costume by Benois, and starring Nijinksyand Karsavana. -
Firebird
Choreography by Fokine, composed by Stravinsky, starring Karsavana. -
L'Après-midi d'un Faune(Afternoon of the Faune)
Choreographed by Nijinsky with music by Debussy and designed by Bakst.
Nijinsky performed and was absolutely amazing -
Le Sacre du printemps (The Rite of Spring)
Choreographed by Nijinsky to a score composed by Stravinsky.
was an absolute failure with audiences and critics.
said about it: “Nietzchehad already made his case for the death of God; Freud was telling terrible things of the soul; Einstein and his friends were making unintelligible jokes about relative time and space. Instinctively, or however, Nijinsky for his generation murdered beauty.” -
Hexentanz (Witch Dance)
one of wigman's most famous dances. -
Denishawn School Opens
-
Parade
Choreographed by Massine to a score by Erik Satie and designed by Picasso. -
Russian Revolution of 1917
when the peasants and working-class people of Russia revolted against the government of Tsar Nicholas II. They were led by Vladimir Lenin and a group of revolutionaries called the Bolsheviks. The new communist government created the country of the Soviet Union -
Les Noces
Choreographed by Bronislava Nijinska to a score by Stravinsky -
Le Train Bleu
Choreographed by Nijinska with costumes by Coco Chanel. -
Laban Publishes Choreographie
this was the beginnings of labanotation -
Jooss establishes a school in germany
-
Laban Publishes Schrifttanz (“Written Dance”)
In this book, labanotation is codified. -
Jooss establishes a company known as Ballets Jooss
-
The Green Table
Considered to be Jooss's greatest (possibly only) masterpiece.
