Ballet

I chose to do research on this topic because I have been dancing ballet since I was little, and I love doing it and I find it fun. Since I like it so much, I decided that I wanted to learn more about and its background and history. I learned that ballet was originally created as a dance to entertain guests at a wedding in Italy in 1459. It didn’t become super popular until in the 1600’s, the king of France, King Louis XIV performed the part of Apollo in a ballet called “le ballet de la nuit”. After that, ballet became popular among the European people, especially in France. Every ballet move, step, and position has a French name. For example: grand jeter (big jump/throw), pas de chat (step of the cat). As time passed, ballet attire has changed. When it first started, ballerina’s wore long and heavy skirts that were difficult to dance in. A dancer named Marie-Anne de Cupis de Camargo wanted people to see her feet while she danced so she decided to make her skirt shorter just so you could see her ankle. After that, skirts became even shorter, lighter, and stiffer just until they could stick straight out. This is called the classic tutu and it is still used today. While doing this research, I learned many new things and some things surprised me too. I hope to continue to do ballet once things get better.