Ballet is a kind of art in which the creator's idea is embodied by means of choreography. A ballet performance has a plot, theme, idea, dramatic content, libretto. Only in rare cases do plotless ballets take place. In the rest, by choreographic means, the dancers must convey the feelings of the characters, the plot, the action. A ballet dancer is an actor who, with the help of dance, conveys the relationship of the characters, their communication with each other, the essence of what is happening on the stage.

The history of the emergence and development of ballet

Ballet appeared in Italy in the 16th century. At this time, choreographic scenes were included as an episode in musical performance, opera. Later, already in France, ballet was developed as a magnificent, sublime court performance.

October 15, 1581 is considered to be the birthday of ballet all over the world. It was on this day in France that the Italian choreographer Baltazarini presented his creation to the public. His ballet was called Cercea or The Queen's Comedy Ballet. The performance was about five hours long.

First French ballets were based on courtiers and folk dances and melodies. Along with the musical, there were conversational, dramatic scenes in the performance.

Development of ballet in France

The rise in popularity and flourishing of ballet art was facilitated by Louis XIV. The court nobles of that time took part in the performances with pleasure. Even the radiant king got his nickname "The Sun King" because of the role he performed in one of the court composer Lully's ballets.

In 1661, Louis XIV founded the first ballet school in the world, the Royal Academy of Dance. The head of the school was Lully, who determined the development of ballet for the next century. Since Lully was a composer, he decided the dependence of dance movements on the construction of musical phrases, and the nature of dance movements - on the nature of the music. In collaboration with Molière and Pierre Beauchamp, the dance teacher of Louis XIV, the theoretical and practical foundations of ballet art were created. Pierre Beauchamp began to create the terminology of classical dance. To this day, the terms for designating and describing the main ballet positions and combinations are used in French.

In the 17th century, ballet was replenished with new genres, such as ballet-opera, ballet-comedy. Attempts are being made to create a performance in which the music would organically reflect storyline, and the dance, in turn, organically merged into the music. Thus, the foundations of ballet art are laid: the unity of music, dance and dramaturgy.

Beginning in 1681, participation in ballet performances became available to women. Until that time, only men were ballet dancers. Your finished look separate view art, ballet receives only in the second half of the 18th century thanks to the stage innovation of the French choreographer Jean Georges Nover. His reforms in choreography assigned an active role to music as the basis for a ballet performance.

Development of ballet in Russia

The first ballet performance in Russia took place on February 8, 1673 in the village of Preobrazhenskoye at the court of Tsar Alexander Mikhailovich. The originality of Russian ballet is formed by the French choreographer Charles-Louis Didelot. He affirms the priority of the female part in the dance, increases the role of the corps de ballet, strengthens the connection between dance and pantomime. A real revolution in ballet music was made by P.I. Tchaikovsky in his three ballets: The Nutcracker, Swan Lake and Sleeping Beauty. These works, and behind them the performances, are an unsurpassed pearl of the musical and dance genres, unparalleled in the depth of dramatic content and the beauty of figurative expression.

In 1783, Catherine II created the Imperial Opera and Ballet Theater in St. Petersburg and the Bolshoi Kamenny Theater in Moscow. On stages famous theaters Russian ballet was glorified by such masters as M. Petipa, A. Pavlova, M. Danilova, M. Plisetskaya, V. Vasiliev, G. Ulanova and many others.

The 20th century was marked by innovations in literature, music and dance. In ballet, this innovation manifested itself in the creation of dance - a plastic dance free from technique. classical choreography. One of the founders of modern ballet was Isadora Duncan.

Features of classical choreography

One of the main requirements in classical choreography is the eversion of the legs. The first ballet performers were court aristocrats. All of them mastered the art of swordsmanship, which used the eversion foot position, allowing better movement in any direction. From fencing, the requirements of turnout turned into choreography, which was a matter of course for the French courtiers.

Another feature of the ballet - the performance on the toes - did not appear until the 18th century, when Marie Taglioni first used this technique. Each school and each dancer brought their own characteristics to the art of ballet, enriching it and making it more popular.

Publications section Theaters

Famous Russian ballets. Top 5

Classical ballet is an amazing art form that was born in Italy during the mature Renaissance, "moved" to France, where the merit of its development, including the founding of the Academy of Dance and the codification of many movements, belonged to King Louis XIV. France exported the art of theatrical dance to all European countries, including Russia. AT mid-nineteenth century, the capital of European ballet was no longer Paris, which gave the world the masterpieces of romanticism "La Sylphide" and "Giselle", but Petersburg. Exactly at northern capital for almost 60 years, the great choreographer Marius Petipa worked, the creator of the system of classical dance and the author of masterpieces that still do not leave the stage. After the October Revolution, they wanted to throw the ballet off the ship of modernity, but they managed to defend it. Soviet time was marked by the creation of a considerable number of masterpieces. We present five domestic top ballets - in chronological order.

"Don Quixote"

Scene from the ballet Don Quixote. One of the first productions by Marius Petipa

Premiere of the ballet by L.F. Minkus "Don Quixote" Bolshoi Theater. 1869 From the album of the architect Albert Kavos

Scenes from the ballet Don Quixote. Kitri - Lyubov Roslavleva (center). Staging by A.A. Gorsky. Moscow, Bolshoi Theatre. 1900

Music by L. Minkus, libretto by M. Petipa. First production: Moscow, Bolshoi Theatre, 1869, choreography by M. Petipa. Subsequent productions: St. Petersburg, Mariinsky Theatre, 1871, choreography by M. Petipa; Moscow, Bolshoi Theatre, 1900, St. Petersburg, Mariinsky Theatre, 1902, Moscow, Bolshoi Theatre, 1906, all - choreography by A. Gorsky.

Ballet "Don Quixote" - full of life and jubilation theatrical performance, an eternal celebration of dance, which never tires adults and to which parents gladly lead their children. Although it is called the name of the hero of the famous novel Cervantes, it is based on one of its episodes, "The Wedding of Quiteria and Basilio", and tells about the adventures of young heroes, whose love eventually wins, despite the opposition of the heroine's stubborn father, who wanted to marry her to rich Gamache.

So Don Quixote has almost nothing to do with it. The whole performance is a tall, thin artist, accompanied by a short, pot-bellied colleague, depicting Sancho Panzu, paces around the stage, sometimes preventing you from watching the compositions of Petipa and Gorsky beautiful dances. Ballet, in essence, is a concert in costumes, a celebration of classical and characteristic dance, where all the artists of any ballet troupe have something to do.

The first production of the ballet took place in Moscow, where Petipa traveled from time to time to raise the level of the local troupe, which could not be compared with the brilliant troupe of the Mariinsky Theater. But in Moscow it was easier to breathe, so the choreographer, in essence, staged a ballet reminiscence of the wonderful years of youth spent in a sunny country.

The ballet was a success, and two years later Petipa moved it to St. Petersburg, which necessitated reworking. in the northern capital characteristic dances much less interested than pure classics. Petipa expanded "Don Quixote" to five acts, composed a "white act", the so-called "Dream of Don Quixote", a real paradise for lovers of ballerinas in tutus, owners of pretty legs. The number of cupids in the "Dream" reached fifty-two...

Don Quixote came to us in a reworking by the Moscow choreographer Alexander Gorsky, who was fond of the ideas of Konstantin Stanislavsky and wanted to make the old ballet more logical and dramatically convincing. Gorsky destroyed Petipa's symmetrical compositions, canceled the tutus in the "Dream" scene, and insisted on the use of swarthy make-up for the Spanish dancers. Petipa called him a "pig", but already in the first alteration of Gorsky, the ballet was performed on the stage of the Bolshoi Theater 225 times.

"Swan Lake"

Scenery for the first performance. Big theater. Moscow. 1877

Scene from the ballet "Swan Lake" by P.I. Tchaikovsky (choreographers Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov). 1895

Music by P. Tchaikovsky, libretto by V. Begichev and V. Geltser. First production: Moscow, Bolshoi Theatre, 1877, choreography by V. Reisinger. Subsequent production: St. Petersburg, Mariinsky Theatre, 1895, choreography by M. Petipa, L. Ivanov.

Everyone's favorite ballet, the classical version of which was staged in 1895, was actually born eighteen years earlier at the Moscow Bolshoi Theater. The score of Tchaikovsky, whose world fame was yet to come, was a kind of collection of "songs without words" and seemed too complicated for that time. The ballet took place about 40 times and sunk into oblivion.

After Tchaikovsky's death, Swan Lake was staged at the Mariinsky Theatre, and all subsequent productions of the ballet were based on this version, which became a classic. The action was given great clarity and logic: the ballet told about the fate of the beautiful Princess Odette, who was turned into a swan by the will of the evil genius Rothbart, about how Rothbart deceived Prince Siegfried, who fell in love with her, resorting to the charms of his daughter Odile, and about the death of the heroes. Tchaikovsky's score was reduced by about a third by the conductor Ricardo Drigo and reorchestrated. Petipa created the choreography for the first and third acts, Lev Ivanov for the second and fourth. This division perfect way responded to the vocation of both brilliant choreographers, the second of whom had to live and die in the shadow of the first. Petipa is the father of classical ballet, the creator of impeccably harmonious compositions and the singer of a woman-fairy, a woman-toy. Ivanov is an innovative choreographer with an unusually sensitive feel for music. The role of Odette-Odile was played by Pierina Legnani, “Queen of Milanese ballerinas”, she is also the first Raymonda and the inventor of 32 fouettes, the most difficult type of rotation on pointe shoes.

You may not know anything about ballet, but Swan Lake is known to everyone. AT last years existence Soviet Union, when the aged leaders replaced one another quite often, the heartfelt melody of the “white” duet of the main characters of the ballet and the bursts of wing-arms from the TV screen heralded the sad event. The Japanese love Swan Lake so much that they are ready to watch it in the morning and in the evening, performed by any troupe. Not a single touring troupe, of which there are many in Russia, and especially in Moscow, can do without Lebedinoy.

"Nutcracker"

Scene from the ballet The Nutcracker. First staging. Marianna - Lydia Rubtsova, Clara - Stanislava Belinskaya, Fritz - Vasily Stukolkin. Mariinskii Opera House. 1892

Scene from the ballet The Nutcracker. First staging. Mariinskii Opera House. 1892

Music by P. Tchaikovsky, libretto by M. Petipa. First production: St. Petersburg, Mariinsky Theatre, 1892, choreography by L. Ivanov.

From books and websites, erroneous information still roams that The Nutcracker was staged by the father of classical ballet Marius Petipa. In fact, Petipa wrote only the script, and the first production of the ballet was carried out by his subordinate, Lev Ivanov. An overwhelming task fell to Ivanov’s lot: the script, created in the style of the then fashionable ballet extravaganza with the indispensable participation of an Italian guest performer, was in obvious contradiction with Tchaikovsky’s music, which, although written in strict accordance with Petipa’s instructions, was distinguished by great feeling, dramatic richness and complex symphonic development. In addition, the heroine of the ballet was a teenage girl, and the ballerina-star was prepared only for the final pas de deux (a duet with a partner, consisting of an adagio - a slow part, variations - solo dances and a coda (virtuoso finale)). The first production of The Nutcracker, where the first - mostly pantomime act, differed sharply from the second - divertissement, was not very successful, critics noted only the Waltz of the Snowflakes (64 dancers participated in it) and the Pas de deux of the Dragee Fairy and Prince Whooping Cough , which was inspired by Ivanov's Adagio with a Rose from Sleeping Beauty, where Aurora dances with four gentlemen.

But in the 20th century, which was able to penetrate into the depths of Tchaikovsky's music, The Nutcracker was destined for a truly fantastic future. There are countless ballet performances in the Soviet Union, European countries and the USA. In Russia, the productions of Vasily Vainonen at the Leningrad State Academic Opera and Ballet Theater (now the Mariinsky Theater in St. Petersburg) and Yuri Grigorovich at the Moscow Bolshoi Theater are especially popular.

"Romeo and Juliet"

Ballet Romeo and Juliet. Juliet - Galina Ulanova, Romeo - Konstantin Sergeev. 1939

Mrs. Patrick Campbeple as Juliet in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. 1895

Finale of Romeo and Juliet. 1940

Music by S. Prokofiev, libretto by S. Radlov, A. Piotrovsky, L. Lavrovsky. First production: Brno, Opera and Ballet Theatre, 1938, choreography by V. Psota. Subsequent production: Leningrad, State Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre. S. Kirov, 1940, choreography by L. Lavrovsky.

If Shakespeare's phrase in a well-known Russian translation reads "There is no sadder story in the world than the story of Romeo and Juliet", then they said about the ballet of the great Sergei Prokofiev written on this plot: "There is no sadder story in the world than Prokofiev's music in ballet". Truly amazing in beauty, richness of colors and expressiveness, the score of "Romeo and Juliet" at the time of its appearance seemed too complicated and unsuitable for ballet. Ballet dancers simply refused to dance to her.

Prokofiev wrote the score in 1934, and originally it was intended not for the theater, but for the famous Leningrad Academic Choreographic School to celebrate its 200th anniversary. The project was not implemented due to the murder in 1934 in Leningrad of Sergei Kirov, in the leading musical theater the second capital came to change. Nor did the plan to stage Romeo and Juliet at the Moscow Bolshoi come to fruition. In 1938, the premiere was shown by a theater in Brno, and only two years later, Prokofiev's ballet was finally staged in the author's homeland, at the then Kirov Theater.

Choreographer Leonid Lavrovsky, within the framework of the “drambalet” genre (a form of choreographic drama characteristic of the ballet of the 1930-50s), highly welcomed by the Soviet authorities, created an impressive, exciting spectacle with carefully sculpted mass scenes and finely defined psychological characteristics of the characters. At his disposal was Galina Ulanova, the most refined ballerina-actress, who remained unsurpassed in the role of Juliet.

Prokofiev's score was quickly appreciated by Western choreographers. The first versions of the ballet appeared already in the 1940s. Their creators were Birgit Kuhlberg (Stockholm, 1944) and Margarita Froman (Zagreb, 1949). Famous productions of "Romeo and Juliet" belong to Frederick Ashton (Copenhagen, 1955), John Cranko (Milan, 1958), Kenneth MacMillan (London, 1965), John Neumeier (Frankfurt, 1971, Hamburg, 1973).I. Moiseev, 1958, choreography by Y. Grigorovich, 1968.

Without "Spartacus" the concept of "Soviet ballet" is unthinkable. This is a real hit, a symbol of the era. Soviet period developed other themes and images, deeply different from the traditional classical ballet inherited from Marius Petipa and the Imperial Theaters of Moscow and St. Petersburg. Fairy tales with happy endings were archived and replaced by heroic stories.

Already in 1941, one of the leading Soviet composers Aram Khachaturian spoke about his intention to write music for a monumental, heroic performance to be staged at the Bolshoi Theatre. The theme for it was an episode from ancient Roman history, an uprising of slaves led by Spartacus. Khachaturian created a colorful score using Armenian, Georgian, Russian motifs and full of beautiful melodies and fiery rhythms. The production was to be staged by Igor Moiseev.

It took many years for his work to come out to the audience, and it appeared not at the Bolshoi Theater, but at the Theater. Kirov. Choreographer Leonid Yakobson created a stunning and innovative performance, abandoning the traditional trappings of classical ballet, including pointe dancing, using loose plastique and ballerinas wearing sandals.

But the ballet "Spartacus" became a hit and a symbol of the era in the hands of choreographer Yuri Grigorovich in 1968. Grigorovich impressed the viewer with a completely built dramaturgy, subtle portrayal of the characters of the main characters, skillful staging of crowd scenes, purity and beauty of lyrical adagios. He called his work "a performance for four soloists with a corps de ballet" (corps de ballet - artists involved in mass dance episodes). Vladimir Vasiliev played the role of Spartacus, Crassus - Maris Liepa, Phrygia - Ekaterina Maksimova and Aegina - Nina Timofeeva. Card de ballet was predominantly male, which makes the ballet "Spartacus" one of a kind.

In addition to the well-known readings of Spartacus by Yakobson and Grigorovich, there are about 20 more productions of the ballet. Among them is the version by Jiri Blazek for the Prague Ballet, Laszlo Seregi for the Budapest Ballet (1968), Jüri Vamos for the Arena di Verona (1999), Renato Zanella for the Vienna Ballet State Opera(2002), Natalia Kasatkina and Vladimir Vasilev for the State Academic Theater of Classical Ballet in Moscow (2002) directed by them.

Submitted by copypaster on Wed, 15/08/2007 - 01:11

Ballet is a rather young art. It is a little over four hundred years old, although dance has been decorating human life since ancient times.

Ballet was born in Northern Italy during the Renaissance. The Italian princes loved magnificent palace festivities, in which dance occupied an important place. Rural dances were not suitable for court ladies and gentlemen. Their robes, like the halls where they danced, did not allow for unorganized movement. Special teachers - dance masters - tried to restore order in court dances. They rehearsed individual figures and movements of the dance with the nobles in advance and led groups of dancers. Gradually the dance became more and more theatrical.

The term "ballet" appeared at the end of the 16th century (from the Italian balletto - to dance). But then it did not mean a performance, but only a dance episode that conveys a certain mood. Such "ballets" usually consisted of little-related "outputs" of characters - most often the heroes of Greek myths. After such "outputs" a common dance began - the "big ballet".

The first ballet performance was the Queen's Comedy Ballet, staged in France in 1581 by the Italian choreographer Baltazarini di Belgiojoso. It was in France that further development ballet. At first, these were masquerade ballets, and then pompous melodramatic ballets on chivalrous and fantastic plots, where dance episodes were replaced by vocal arias and recitation of poems. Do not be surprised, at that time the ballet was not only a dance performance.

During the reign of Louis XIV, the performances of the court ballet reached a special splendor. Louis himself loved to participate in ballets, and received his famous nickname "The Sun King" after playing the role of the Sun in the "Ballet of the Night".

In 1661 he created the Royal Academy of Music and Dance, which included 13 leading dancing masters. Their duty was to preserve the dance traditions. The director of the academy, the royal dance teacher Pierre Beauchamp, identified the five basic positions of classical dance.

Soon the Paris Opera was opened, the choreographer of which was the same Beauchamp. Under his leadership, a ballet troupe. At first, it consisted of only men. Women on stage Paris Opera appeared only in 1681.

The theater staged opera-ballets by the composer Lully and comedies-ballets by the playwright Molière. At first, courtiers took part in them, and the performances almost did not differ from palace performances. The already mentioned slow minuets, gavottes and pavanes were danced. Masks, heavy dresses, and high-heeled shoes made it difficult for women to perform complex movements. Therefore, men's dances were distinguished then by greater grace and grace.

By the middle of the 18th century, ballet was gaining great popularity in Europe. All the aristocratic courts of Europe sought to imitate the luxury of the French royal court. opened in the cities opera houses. Numerous dancers and dance teachers easily found work.

Soon, under the influence of fashion, the women's ballet costume became much lighter and freer, the lines of the body were guessed under it. Dancers abandoned shoes with heels, replacing them with light heelless shoes. The men's costume also became less cumbersome: tight-fitting pantaloons to the knees and stockings made it possible to see the figure of the dancer.

Each innovation made dances more meaningful, and dance technique higher. Gradually, ballet separated from opera and turned into an independent art.

Although the French ballet school was famous for its grace and plasticity, it was characterized by a certain coldness and formality of performance. Therefore, choreographers and artists were looking for other means of expression.

At the end of the 18th century, a new trend in art was born - romanticism, which had a strong influence on ballet. In a romantic ballet, the dancer stood on pointe shoes. Maria Taglioni was the first to do this, completely changing the previous ideas about ballet. In the ballet "La Sylphide" she appeared as a fragile creature from underworld. The success was stunning.

At this time, many wonderful ballets appeared, but, unfortunately, romantic ballet became last period heyday dance art in the West. From the second half of XIX century ballet, having lost its former meaning, has become an appendage to the opera. Only in the 1930s, under the influence of Russian ballet, did the revival of this art form begin in Europe.

In Russia, the first ballet performance - "The Ballet of Orpheus and Eurydice" - was staged on February 8, 1673 at the court of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich. Ceremonial and slow dances consisted of a change of graceful postures, bows and moves, alternating with singing and speech. He did not play any significant role in the development of stage dance. It was just another royal "fun", which attracted with its unusualness and novelty.

Only a quarter of a century later, thanks to the reforms of Peter I, music and dance entered the life of Russian society. In the nobility educational establishments introduced compulsory dance instruction. Musicians discharged from abroad, opera artists and ballet troupes began to perform at the court.

In 1738, the first ballet school in Russia was opened, and three years later 12 boys and 12 girls from the palace servants became the first professional dancers in Russia. At first, they performed in the ballets of foreign masters as figurants (as the corps de ballet dancers were called), and later in the main parts. The remarkable dancer of that time, Timofey Bublikov, shone not only in St. Petersburg, but also in Vienna.

AT early XIX century, Russian ballet art has reached creative maturity. Russian dancers brought expressiveness and spirituality to the dance. Feeling this very accurately, A. S. Pushkin called the dance of his contemporary Avdotya Istomina "a flight filled with soul."

Ballet at this time occupied a privileged position among other types theatrical art. The authorities paid great attention to it, provided state subsidies. The Moscow and St. Petersburg ballet troupes performed in well-equipped theaters, and graduates theater schools annually replenished the staff of dancers, musicians and decorators.

Arthur St. Leon

In the history of our ballet theatre, there are often the names of foreign masters who played a significant role in the development of Russian ballet. First of all, these are Charles Didelot, Arthur Saint-Leon and Marius Petipa. They helped create the Russian ballet school. But talented Russian artists also made it possible to reveal the talents of their teachers. This invariably attracted the largest choreographers of Europe to Moscow and St. Petersburg. Nowhere in the world could they meet such a large, talented and well-trained troupe as in Russia.

In the middle of the 19th century, realism came to Russian literature and art. Choreographers feverishly, but to no avail, tried to create realistic performances. They did not take into account that ballet is a conditional art and realism in ballet differs significantly from realism in painting and literature. The crisis of ballet art began.

A new stage in the history of Russian ballet began when the great Russian composer P. Tchaikovsky first composed music for the ballet. It was Swan Lake. Prior to that, ballet music was not taken seriously. She was considered inferior musical creativity, just an accompaniment to dancing.

Thanks to Tchaikovsky, ballet music became a serious art along with opera and symphonic music. Previously, music was completely dependent on dance, now dance had to obey music. New means of expression were needed new approach to create a performance.

The further development of Russian ballet is associated with the name of the Moscow choreographer A. Gorsky, who, having abandoned the outdated techniques of pantomime, used the techniques of modern directing in a ballet performance. Attaching great importance to the pictorial design of the performance, he attracted the best artists to work.

But the true reformer of ballet art is Mikhail Fokin, who rebelled against the traditional construction of a ballet performance. He argued that the theme of the performance, its music, the era in which the action takes place, each time require different dance movements, a different dance pattern. When staging the ballet "Egyptian Nights" Fokine was inspired by the poetry of V. Bryusov and ancient Egyptian drawings, and the images of the ballet "Petrushka" were inspired by the poetry of A. Blok. In the ballet Daphnis and Chloe, he abandoned pointe dancing and, in free, plastic movements, revived antique frescoes. His "Chopiniana" revived the atmosphere of romantic ballet. Fokin wrote that he "dreams of creating a ballet-drama from ballet-fun, from dance - an understandable, speaking language." And he succeeded.

Anna Pavlova

In 1908, the annual performances of Russian ballet dancers in Paris began, organized by theatrical figure S. P. Diaghilev. The names of dancers from Russia - Vaslav Nijinsky, Tamara Karsavina, Adolf Bolm - became known all over the world. But the first in this row is the name of the incomparable Anna Pavlova.

Pavlova - lyrical, fragile, with elongated body lines, huge eyes - evoked engravings depicting romantic ballerinas. Her heroines conveyed a purely Russian dream of a harmonious, spiritualized life or longing and sadness for an unfulfilled one. "The Dying Swan" great ballerina Pavlova, is a poetic symbol of Russian ballet at the beginning of the 20th century.

It was then, under the influence of the skill of Russian artists, that Western ballet shook itself and gained a second wind.

After the October Revolution of 1917, many figures of the ballet theater left Russia, but despite this, the Russian ballet school survived. The pathos of the movement towards a new life, revolutionary themes, and most importantly the scope for creative experiment inspired the ballet masters. Their task was to bring choreographic art closer to the people, to make it more vital and accessible.

This is how the genre of dramatic ballet arose. These were performances, usually based on the plots of famous literary works, which were built according to the laws dramatic performance. The content in them was presented with the help of pantomime and pictorial dance. In the middle of the 20th century, dramatic ballet was in crisis. Choreographers made attempts to preserve this genre of ballet, enhancing the spectacle of performances with the help of stage effects, but, alas, in vain.

In the late 1950s, a turning point came. Choreographers and dancers of a new generation have revived forgotten genres - one-act ballet, ballet symphony, choreographic miniature. And since the 1970s, independent ballet troupes have arisen, independent of opera and ballet theaters. Their number is constantly increasing, among them there are studios of free dance and modern dance.

It all started over five hundred years ago in Northern Italy. It was the renaissance hallmarks which were the secular nature of culture, humanism and anthropocentrism, that is, interest, first of all, in a person and his activities.

During the Renaissance, the Italian princes held palace festivities, in which dance occupied an important place. However, the magnificent robes, like the halls, did not allow unorganized movement. Therefore, there were special teachers - dance masters who rehearsed movements and individual figures with the nobles, in order to then lead the dancers. Gradually, the dance became more and more theatrical, and the word "ballet" itself meant compositions that conveyed not a plot, but a property or state of character.

By the end of the 15th century, this kind of ballet was part of the spectacle created by famous poets and artists. In 1496, Leonardo da Vinci designed dancers' costumes and invented stage effects for the feast of the Duke of Milan.

In 1494, when King Charles VIII of France entered Italy claiming the throne of Naples, his courtiers were impressed by the skill of the Italian dance teachers. As a result, dance masters were invited to the French court. At the same time, there was a need for notation - a system for recording dance. The author of the first known system was Tuan Arbo. He recorded dance steps with musical signs.

Development continued in France...

The French Queen Catherine de Medici invited the Italian Baldasarino di Belgiojoso (in France he was called Balthazar de Beaujoieux) to stage court performances. Ballet then established itself as a genre, where drama, "singing story" (recitative) and dance formed a continuous action. The first in this genre and the most famous is considered "Circe, or the Queen's Comedy Ballet", delivered in 1581. The plot was borrowed from ancient mythology. Dances were performed in magnificent costumes and masks by noble ladies and nobles.

In the 16th century, as development instrumental music the technique of dance became more complicated. In France XVII century, masquerade ballets began to appear, and then pompous melodramatic ballets on chivalrous and fantastic plots, where dance episodes were interspersed with vocal arias and recitation of poems - “The Ballet of Alcine” (1610), “The Triumph of Minerva” (1615), “The Liberation of Rinaldo” (1617). Such ballets consisted of different numbers, which today resembles divertissement, and subsequently will become one of the important structural forms of the future ballet.

Later, King Louis XIII of France, who was fond of dancing and received an excellent musical education, was the author of the ballet performance "Merlezon Ballet" (March 15, 1635). The plot was adventures while hunting for thrushes - one of the king's favorite pastimes. The ballet consisted of 16 acts. His Majesty not only composed the libretto, music, choreography, sketched scenery and costumes, but also played two roles: a bait merchant and a peasant.

The first steps of young art. Great Pierre Beauchamp

The performances of the court ballet reached a special splendor during the time of King Louis XIV. Because only then the dance began to be performed according to certain rules. They were first formulated by the French choreographer Pierre Beauchamp (1637–1705).

His famous nickname "Sun King" Louis XIV received after playing the role of the Sun in the "Ballet of the Night". He loved to dance and participate in performances. In 1661, he opened the Royal Academy of Music and Dance, where 13 leading dancing masters were invited. Their duty was to preserve the dance traditions.

The director of the academy, Pierre Beauchamp, wrote down the canons of the noble manner of dance, the basis of which was the eversion of the legs (en dehors). This position gave the human body the opportunity to move freely in different sides. He divided all the movements into groups: squats (plié), jumps (skids, entresha, cabrioles, jeté, the ability to hang in a jump - elevation), rotations (pirouettes, fouettes), body positions (attitudes, arabesques). The execution of these movements was carried out on the basis of five positions of the legs and three positions of the hands (port de bras). All classical dance steps are derived from these foot and hand positions.

His classification is alive to this day, and the French terminology has become common for artists around the world, like Latin for doctors.

Beauchamp made an invaluable contribution to classical ballet by dividing dances into three main types: serious, semi-characteristic and comic. Serious dance (the prototype of modern classical) required academic rigor of performance, external beauty, grace - even on the verge of affectation. It was a "noble" dance that was used to play the role of a king, god, mythological hero. Semi-characteristic - combined pastoral, peisan and fantastic dances, which were to depict the forces of nature or personified human passions. The dances of the furies, nymphs and satyrs also obeyed his laws. Finally, the comic dance was remarkable for its virtuosity, allowing for exaggerated movements and improvisation. It was needed for the grotesque and exotic dances found in the comedies of the theater of classicism.

Thus began the formation of ballet, which XVIII century From interludes and divertissements it developed into an independent art.

First theatre. First troupe

Gaining more and more popularity, the ballet became crowded in the palace halls. Under the leadership of Beauchamp, the Paris Opera was created, where he was a choreographer, but the performances did not differ much from previous performances. They were attended by the same courtiers who performed slow minuets, gavottes and pavanes. Heavy dresses, high-heeled shoes and masks prevented women from performing complex movements. Then Pierre Beauchamp formed a ballet troupe of only male dancers. Their dances were more graceful and graceful. Women appeared on the stage of the Paris Opera only in 1681. Large groups of dancers began to perform complex movements in synchrony and accompanied the soloists; the solo dance meaningfully conveyed the loftiness of the characters, the strength of emotions; pair dance formed into a pas de deux. Highly conditioned, gravitating toward virtuosity, dance depended on music and achieved equal rights with it in practice and theory.

French choreography was greatly enriched by the playwright Molière and the composer J. B. Lully, who first collaborated with Molière as a choreographer and dancer in the comedies-ballets Marriage involuntarily (1664), Georges Dandin (1668), and The Tradesman in the Nobility (1670). ). Becoming a composer, Lully created the genre of musical tragedy, where the aesthetics of classicism affected: the monumentality of images, the clear logic of development, the severity of taste, the chasing of forms. Action lyrical tragedies reinforced by plastic and decorative processions, pantomimes, dances.

The reform of the ballet theater caused an upsurge in performing skills - dancers L. Pecourt and J. Ballon appeared. Mademoiselle Lafontaine became the first professional dancer, performing in Lully's opera-ballet Triumph of Love. She was later known as the "Queen of the Dance".

Serious dances were performed in a wide skirt, which was held on reed hoops. The toes of her shoes peeked out from under her. Men wore brocade cuirasses and short skirts on reed frames, which were called "barrels". Everyone wore high heels. In addition, they covered their faces with round masks of different colors, depending on the nature of the character.

In semi-characteristic ballets, the costumes were lightweight, but attributes that characterize the dance were added - sickles, baskets, shoulder blades, leopard skins and others. The costume for comic dances was not so strictly regulated - the director trusted the artist's imagination.

At the same time, a whole system of symbols was born. If an artist, for example, stroked his forehead with the edge of his hand, this meant a crown, i.e. king; cross-folded hands on the chest - "died"; pointed to the ring finger of the hand - “I want to get married” or “married”; hand image of wave-like movements - “sailed on a ship”.

Ballet enchants Europe

Simultaneously with the development of ballet in all major cities, their own theaters, choreographers and performers began to appear. So, the ballet returned to its homeland - to Italy, where by the 18th century its own style of performance had developed, which differed from the French mannerism in technical virtuosity and greater immediacy. French and Italian schools in classical ballet will continue for more than one century.

In the 17th century, ballet appeared in the Netherlands. In England, because of the bourgeois revolution and the ban on spectacles ballet theater developed a little later - only during the restoration of the monarchy. In 1722, the first court theater in Denmark was established, where professional dancers participated in Molière's comedies and ballets. And only to late XVIII century, Danish ballet gained independence. In the 18th century, ballet also existed in Germany, Sweden and Holland. The forms of execution, which were borrowed from the Italians and the French, were enriched with national color.

Ballet came to Russia later than to other European countries, but it was here that the heyday found it, and this is a story of other centuries, which deserves a separate chapter.

Based on dance. A ballet performance is based on a story called a libretto. Pantomime plays an important role in ballet. With its help, the dancers convey their feelings and the essence of what is happening.

Types of ballet

Initially, only classical dance was called ballet, but gradually this concept began to spread to folk dances, modern, characteristic, acrobatic.

There is also a ballet show with colorful sets and costumes. In addition, very popular view art is ballet on ice, where instead of ballet shoes called pointe shoes, skates are put on, and the artists themselves are professional figure skaters. Ballet is a wonderful art form, but it requires a certain amount of endurance, good health, endurance, willpower and diligence. In order to demonstrate the soaring movements on the stage, it is necessary to practice every day in the ballet hall.

Origin of ballet

The word "ballet" comes from the Latin word ballo, which means "I dance." Italy is considered to be the birthplace of this art form. In the sixteenth century, the first dance scenes appeared. After some time, court ballet became popular in France. Such masterpieces as the Swan Lake ballet were still very far away, and the dances performed in the palaces bore little resemblance to the art that can now be seen on the stage.

By the end of the eighteenth century, the ballet costume became shorter and more airy, and the first pointe shoes appeared - professional shoes for ballerinas.

The popularization of choreographic art begins, its lovers appear, who regularly attend performances. In those days, there were no separate institutions that were called the ballet theater, but great attention began to be paid to the art of dance. The great composers Ludwig van Beethoven, Leo Delibes, Minkus and others begin to create romantic music for ballets. The first full-fledged ballet performances.

Ballet in Russia

In Russia, the audience learned what ballet was in 1673. Then, under Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, the first ballet performance took place. The French ballet master and choreographer Charles-Louis Didelot had a great influence on Russian ballet. He connected dance and pantomime, gave great importance to the corps de ballet and emphasized female solo parts.

Ballet master Marius Petipa strengthened the Russian school of ballet, his name is still known to fans of choreographic art. The end of the nineteenth century in ballet circles is called the "Petipa era".

Then a new name thundered in Russia, which had a huge impact to the world of ballet. This is Mikhail Fokin. He became a real reformer and made significant changes to the performances. He changed the traditional construction of the ballet and the patterns in the dance. Fokine revived romantic ballets such as Chopiniana. His muse was the incomparable ballerina Anna Pavlova. Her "Dying Swan" is a symbol of Russian ballet of the early twentieth century.

Immortal performance "Swan Lake"

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky made a splash in the ballet world. He wrote music for several ballet performances, including the world-famous Swan Lake ballet. This work of art is well known to every person, even to those who are completely far from choreography.

The most popular ballet in the world was created in 1876. It is hard to believe that the first two productions did not have any popularity and did not impress the audience. Great composer during his lifetime he did not find the grandiose success of his creation. Only in 1895 was the revived ballet staged by choreographers Lev Ivanov and Marius Petipa shown on the stage of the Mariinsky Theatre. It was Lev Ivanov who revived the performance, first staging the second act, which included legendary dance little swans. Marius Petipa liked his vision of the plot, and they began to work together on the production.

A new version ballet "Swan Lake" was a resounding success. The choreography of the two great choreographers is classical; any opera and ballet theater in the world will definitely assign this performance the most important role in its repertoire.

Contemporary ballet

Speaking about what ballet is, one cannot fail to mention modern theatrical performances, which differ from classical ballet in more daring costumes and relaxed movements. If the classic assumes strict and clear movements, then modern represents a freer dance interpretation. In modern ballet, new movements have appeared that have become more plastic and acrobatic. Ballet connoisseurs react differently to innovation in choreography. Someone still perceives only the classics and believes that a real ballet performance should take place only in places such as the Opera and Ballet Theatre, while someone believes that ballet, like modern world must evolve and not stand in one place.

This is natural and natural, you can accept this fact or not, but this cannot be avoided. Modern ballet is multifaceted and multi-level, and many famous dancers are happy to participate in new productions in which they hone their skills.

The future of ballet

What is ballet? Many creative people love it and understand the movements. A true ballet lover cannot imagine life without dance. Some believe that ballet performances are created only for an amateur, and do not understand what is the point. this art. However, no country in the world imagines cultural life no ballet. It's that kind performing arts who will live forever. It will change, new productions will appear, new talented choreographers and dancers, new connoisseurs and just spectators, but its popularity will never disappear, because the dance is immortal.