4. History
• The history of ballet began in the Italian
Renaissance courts of the fifteenth and
sixteenth centuries. It quickly spread to the
French court of Catherine de' Medici where it
was further developed. The creation of
classical ballet as it is known today occurred
under Louis XIV, who in his youth was an avid
dancer and performed in ballets by Pierre
Beauchamp and Jean-Baptiste Lully.

5.  Ballet was originally developed in the 1600’s in
France.
 There is not one, main style. The style tends to
be dictated by the country it originated from.
(Russian ballet is more forceful, while French
ballet is more graceful and fluid)
 Ballet terms (such as arabesque) are mostly of
French origins.
 The first Prima Ballerina Assoluta (considered the
highest honor bestowed on a dancer) was
Pierina Legnani (Russian). She was famous for
performing 32 fouettes in a row.
 .

6. Etymology
• The word ballet comes from
the French and was
borrowed into English
around 1630. The French
word in turn has its origin in
Italian balletto, a diminutive
of ballo (dance) which
comes from Latin ballo,
ballare, meaning "to
dance",[1][2] which in turn
comes from the Greek
"βαλλίζω" (ballizo), "to
dance, to jump about

7. Styles
• Classical ballet
• is based on traditional
ballet technique and
vocabulary. There are
different styles of
classical ballet that are
related to their areas of
origin, such as French
ballet, Italian ballet and
Russian ballet.

8. • Neoclassical ballet
• is a ballet style that
conforms to classical
ballet technique and
vocabulary, but deviates
from classical ballet
through such differences
as unusually fast dance
tempos and its addition
of non-traditional
technical feats.

9.  Cinderella is a very popular story
due to its making into a movie by
Disney.
 It was actually a ballet before the
movie.
 The ballet was written by a famous
composer by the name of Prokiev.
 Children can play roles in this ballet
(they are typically casts as the
fireflies).
 Now we’ll listen to a track from the
CD of the ballet. See if you can get
a feel for what is going on. What is
the mood?

10.  Leotards (usually black, or another solid
color)
 Tights (usually “ballet” pink, but
sometimes a skin tone)
 Warm up clothing (consists of leggings
and dance sweaters)
› Warm-up clothing is tight fitting so that the
teacher is still able to visibly assess whether
the dancers are in form.