The Ultimate Ballet Quiz

Ballet: A Summary

• Ballet is a type of performance dance that originated in the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia.

• Ballet has its own vocabulary and has influenced dance genres globally, with various schools around the world incorporating their own cultures.

• A ballet as a unified work comprises the choreography and music for a ballet production, and is performed by trained ballet dancers.

• Ballet has evolved in distinct ways, with traditional classical ballets performed with classical music accompaniment and elaborate costumes and staging, and modern ballets often performed in simple costumes and without elaborate sets or scenery.

• The word ballet comes from the French language, which had its origin in Italian balletto, a diminutive of ballo (dance) which comes from Latin ballo, ballare, meaning "to dance", which in turn comes from the Greek "βαλλίζω" (ballizo), "to dance, to jump about".

• Ballet originated in the Italian Renaissance courts of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, and was brought to France by Catherine de' Medici.

• French court ballet reached its height under the reign of King Louis XIV, who founded the Académie Royale de Danse to establish standards and certify dance instructors.

• Ballet started to decline in France after 1830, but it continued to develop in Denmark, Italy, and Russia.

• Stylistic variations and subgenres have evolved over time, including classical ballet, romantic ballet, neoclassical ballet, and contemporary ballet.

• Six widely used, internationally recognized methods to teach or study ballet are the French School, the Vaganova Method, the Cecchetti Method, the Bournonville method, the Royal Academy of Dance method, and the Balanchine method.

• Ballet instruction is generally not appropriate for young children, with creative movement and non-demanding pre-ballet classes recommended as alternatives.

• The French method is the basis of all ballet training, the Vaganova method is a style of ballet training that emerged from Russian ballet, the Cecchetti method emphasizes the understanding of anatomy as it relates to classical ballet, the Bournonville method is a Danish method first devised by August Bournonville, the Royal Academy of Dance method promotes academic training in classical ballet, and the Balanchine method is an American style of ballet training.Ballet: History, Costumes, Career, Health Effects and Criticism

• The Balanchine method is known for emphasizing speed, deep pliés, off-balance positions, and flexed hands and feet.

• Ballet costumes have been around since the early fifteenth century, beginning as court wear made of cotton and silk mixed with flax.

• During the seventeenth century, ballet costumes became more spectacular and eye-catching, with the use of silks, satins, and fabrics embroidered with real gold and precious stones.

• Jean-Georges Noverre's Lettres sur la danse et les ballets (1760) altered the emphasis in productions away from costumes and towards the physical movements and emotions of the dancers.

• During the early nineteenth century, ballet costumes included close-fitting body costumes, floral crowns, corsages, and jewels, reflecting Romantic ideals.

• Professional ballet dancers earn less money than a typical worker, with an average of US$19 per hour in 2020.

• Teenage girl ballet dancers are prone to stress fractures in the first rib, posterior ankle impingement syndrome, and eating disorders.

• Most ballet choreography is written so that it can only be performed by a relatively young dancer.

• The structure of ballet has been criticized as harming women by ignoring, objectifying, or silencing them.

• Ballet was centered in the Paris Opera during the eighteenth century, and European ballet influenced the transition of ballet costumes to knee-length tutus and more vibrant colors during the twentieth century.

• Ballet costumes play an important role in the ballet community and are often the only survival of a production, representing a living imaginary picture of the scene.

• Ballet as a career has a weak job outlook, with intense competition to get a job, and most jobs involve teaching in private dance schools.