1. The Renaissance Period
It was during the Italian Renaissance that ballet was first contrived. It all started around the year 1500 and “ballet” became a popular entertainment device. When Italian Catherine de Medici married the King of France at the age of fourteen, she single-handedly introduced the French to the ballet. The first endorsed “ballet” called Le Ballet Comique de la Reine or The Comic Ballet of the Queen was first performed for the court of Catherine de Medici on October 15, 1581. It was composed to rejoice in the marriage of Marguerite of Lorraine and Duc de Joyeuse. This first ballet production was not only expensive it lasted five hours. The King and Queen participated in the dance as well.
The word “ballet” and the word “ball”, the party, not the toy, are derived from the Italian word ballare, which means “to dance.” In these early days of ballet, dancers wore heavy costumes that included many layers of heavy silks embroidered together. The dancers also wore masks, pantaloons, head dresses that were heavy and jewelry that weighed them down. Due to the substantial clothing in the early days of ballet, the dance moves were not as sinewy and graceful as they are today. The shoes used in the earliest days of ballet dancing were not the pointed toe shoes modern ballet artists use. Past ballet dancers wore shoes with tiny heels and looked more like a shoe for a formal affair.
The most significant contribution this period made to the art of ballet is it established the five basic foot positions that are at the core of ballet today. They are still used as they were back then.
2. The Baroque Period
It was in the Baroque Period when troupes began to merge opera, ballet, and music together. This was the era when ballet began to tell a tale.
During Louis XIV’s sovereignty he loved to perform many of the trendy dances that entertained the courts. Once he was done dancing with his noblemen the professional dancers would come in and perform when he stopped.
Over the next one hundred years the face of ballet would change in many ways. The size of the dances in the courts became larger, they were also becoming more lavish, and this is when the performances began to be presented on raised stages with hopes to improve the sightline for a larger audience. The reason there was a need for a stage so viewers could experience the ever increasing pyrotechnics and ostentatious displays. Still, women were not permitted to perform in the art of ballet until 1681. Just like theatre, men dressed as women took on the female roles until then. Marie Camargo was one of the very first women to dance in the ballet. So, essence, she was one of the world’s first ballerinas. Camargo disliked the heavy costumes of the day so she took it upon herself to shorten the skirts and take away the excess. This enabled her to perform jumps that gave birth to the leaps we see in ballet today.
Some credit Jean-Georges Noverre with first putting story behind the ballet in the 1700’s. He educated his students on the importance of facial expression and mime as a tool for storytelling. This helped ballet evolve to what we know today from a series of random beautiful steps.
It was also during the Baroque period that Peter the Great is the person that first brought the ballet to Russia. He presented it as a dance of the upper crust. This happened in the early 1700’s.
3. The Classical Period
It was during the Classical Period that expressiveness in one’s performance became important. This evolutionary time in ballet’s history happened in the late 1700’s. From the Classical Period rose the use of emotions and character to tell the story and less of a dependence on costumes. Dancers began to utilize their movements and facial expressions.
Marius Petipa is thought to be the “father of classical ballet.” Although French born, Petipa relocated to Russia to create original works in the ballet. It was also at this time that Moscow and St. Petersburg were becoming important hubs in the world of ballet.
4. The Pre-Romantic Period
Ballet left the Classical Period in the early 1800’s and was destined to move on to the Romantic Era, still, it couldn’t do so without stopping in the Pre-Romantic Period. This short time is best known as the emergence of pointe work.
Marie Taglioni, born to an Italian father and Swedish mother, is credited as the first ballerina to ever dance en pointe.
The en pointe, or “on toe”, dancing we are familiar with seeing ballet dancers perform didn’t become popular until the early days of the nineteenth century, well into the Romantic Period of ballet.