Romantic Ballet

When we think of ballet dancing in the 19th century we think of romanticism. It was just after the French Revolution and the middle class was gaining power. This new middle class wanted to experience all the art world had to offer. They also wanted to escape. The themes of the ballets were often about man versus nature, the supernatural and exotic lands. This was because of the time, life was very down and industrialisation was taking place, so ballets were made using these themes to allow the audience to feel they can escape the real world.

Marie Taglioni was the first ballerina that made the public take notice to dancing on pointe. Dancing on pointe then became the norm for ballerinas. At this time as well ballerinas were taking over in the ballets. No longer were the men the stars. The public wanted to see the females float on air. The Austrian ballerina Fanny Elssler was one of Taglioni's rivals. She became well known for her role in Le Diable Boiteux in 1836. The epitome of the Romantic ballets is Giselle. It is about an aristocrat who is haunted by spirits. This gave another ballerina fame named Carlotta Grisi.

The scenery of the ballets at the time also helped to create the supernatural stories. Along with pointe work, wires were used to help suspend dancers for short periods. Other equipment that was used were trap doors, sliding painted flats and backdrops, and gas lighting. Music was used even more to evoke the atmosphere of each scene.

Costumes were still evolving and the Romantic tutu was now in vogue. Although the term tutu was not used until 50 years later. This was the skirt that Marie Taglioni made popular when she danced in La Sylphide. It was a white bell-shaped skirt that fell from her bodice. The skirt helped to create her spirit like character.

The romantic era of ballet has no specific end however the last romantic ballet is considered to be Arthur Saint-Léon's 1870 ballet Coppélia.


Information from:


http://www.wish-upon-a-ballet.com/the-1800s-and-the-romantic-ballet.html
Historical Context Lessons

Marius Petipa

Born: 1818
Died: 1910

Marius Petipa was born in 1818 in Belgium.

The family moved to Brussels where Petipa attended the Grand College and also studied music at the conservatoire. He disliked dancing as a youngster but made such progress that he appeared in his father's La Dansomanie n 1831. In 1838 Petipa became a principal dancer at the theatre in Nantes, France where he also staged opera dances for the theatre.

He had a great flair for staging, for writing imaginative scenarios and for developing the full-length ballet into a grand spectacle with a structured form: a set sequence of pas d’actions, divertissements, ensembles and pas de deux.

Under Petipa’s reign, dancers were encouraged to sustain longer balances, higher jumps and stronger pointe work. Yet, he was also the custodian of high academic standards and never sacrificed the essentials of elegance and grace for athletic virtuosity. His Imperial Russian court audiences demanded formality and elegance of classicism.

Inevitably the transmission from dancer to dancer over a century and a half has altered the fine details of Petipa's original steps, but the living tradition of ballet everywhere still bears Petipa's stamp and his authority.

Information from:

http://www.roh.org.uk/discover/artistdetail.aspx?id=434

http://www.the-ballet.com/petipa.php