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ballet

From The Columbia Encyclopedia
(băl'ā, bălā') [Ital. ballare =to dance], classic, formalized solo or ensemble dancing of a highly controlled, dramatic nature performed to music. See also dance ; modern dance . Foreshadowed in earlier mummeries and lavish masquerades, ballet emerged as a distinctive form in Italy before the 16th cent. The first ballet that combined movement, music, decor, and special effects was presented in France at the court of Catherine de' Medici in 1581. Organized by the violinist Balthasar de Beaujoyeux, it had a classical theme, lasted six hours, was performed among the guests (there were no elevated stages), and was entitled Le Ballet comique de la Reine. This production was the first ballet de cour , the ancestor of the modern ballet, which influenced the English court masque , a 16th-century entertainment with dance interludes. The first treatise on ballet dancing was the Orchésographie of Thoinot Arbeau (1588). The 17th cent. saw the major development of ballet in France. At first a court…
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Full text Article ballet

From Philip's Encyclopedia
Theatrical dance form set to music. The first formal ballet, Ballet comique de la Reine , was performed at the court of Catherine de' Medici (1581). In 1661 Louis XIV founded the Royal Academy of Dance. Exclusively performed by male dancers, ballet was confined to the French court. The Triumph of…
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Full text Article ballet

From Word Origins
Etymologically, a ballet is a ‘little dance’. English acquired the word, via French ballet , from Italian balletto , a diminutive of ballo ‘dance’, related to English ball (the diminutive of Italian balla ‘spherical ball’ is ballotta , whence English ballot ). The noun ballo came from the verb…
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Full text Article ballet

From The Columbia Encyclopedia
(băl'ā, bălā') [Ital. ballare =to dance], classic, formalized solo or ensemble dancing of a highly controlled, dramatic nature performed to music. See also dance ; modern dance . Foreshadowed in earlier mummeries and lavish masquerades, ballet emerged as a distinctive form in Italy before the 16th…
| 1,782 words
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Full text Article ballet

From Britannica Concise Encyclopedia
Theatrical dance in which a formal academic technique (the danse d’école ) is combined with music, costume, and stage scenery. Developed from court productions of the Renaissance, ballet was renewed under Louis XIV, who in 1661 established France’s Académie Royale de Danse, where Pierre Beauchamp…
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Full text Article ballet

From The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia with Atlas and Weather Guide
Theatrical representation in dance form in which music also plays a major part in telling a story or conveying a mood. Some such form of entertainment existed in ancient Greece, but Western ballet as we know it today first appeared in Renaissance Italy, where it was a court entertainment. From there…
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Full text Article ballet

From The New Penguin Dictionary of Music
Rehearsed dance, by highly trained professional dancers, normally in a theatre with live music. Ballet maintains, almost uniquely, an old view of music as an accessory experience, facilitating in this case the dance, just as music facilitated poetic drama in early opera and divine worship in works…
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Full text Article ballet

From The Oxford Companion to Theatre and Performance
A theatrical *dance genre and a dance technique. The technique, also known as classic dancing or danse d’école , developed out of *early modern and *neoclassic performances in Europe and crystallized in the late eighteenth century. Related to other bodily disciplines (such as fencing), ballet treats…
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Full text Article ballet.

From The Oxford Companion to British History
is a dramatic entertainment by dancers, usually in costume with scenery and accompanied by music. Originating as elaborations of social dances in the lavish court spectacles of Renaissance Italy, it developed in France following the marriage of Catherine de Medici to Henri II in 1533. The ballet de…
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Full text Article Ballet-Barre

From The Gale Encyclopedia of Fitness
(bezikus/Shutterstock.com) Several young...
The ballet-barre, sometimes called just the barre, is a long, stationary handrail used in ballet dancing for warming-up exercises and practicing of techniques and principles. The barre is a standard feature of a ballet or dance studio. However, ballet dancers sometimes substitute a chair, desk, or…
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Full text Article DANCE: BALLET

From Encyclopedia of the Romantic Era, 1760-1850
If Romanticism was rather late in exerting its influence on the world of ballet, this takes nothing from its effect in transforming ballet completely from the soulless classicism, evident at the beginning of the nineteenth century, to an emphasis on emotion and a more expressive style. This period…
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