音樂欣賞
Music Appreciation
Theatrical Dance
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First Ballet Instruction
To further define Paris as the capital of the ballet world, King Louis
XIV, who ruled France during the late 1600s, and his nobles, took part
in the ballets given at his court. In 1661, the Sun King, a name he
acquired from a role he danced in high-heeled shoes with large guilt
buckles complete with shining sun rays, founded the Royal Academy of
Dance, which later became the Paris Opera Ballet, the first professional
instruction for ballet. Oddly enough, the outward pointing of toes to
show off his shiny shoe buckles laid the foundation for the five basic
ballet positions set down by ballet master Pierre Beachamps. It should
be noted that up until 1681 all female roles performed at RAD were
danced by young men. This was supposedly a strength issue. Enormous
headdresses, full heavy skirts and weighty corsets were thought
incapable of being carried by the frame of a woman. It was not until the
performance of Le Triomphe de l'Amour in 1681 that the first female
dancers performed professionally.
Theatrical Dance
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By 1700 many of the words we recognize to display movements were
already in use, including jete, sissone, chasse, entrechat, pirouette, and
cabriole. The French ballet master, Raoul Feuillet included steps and
positions in his book Choregraphie much like the technique of today.
Ballet companies developed throughout Europe. In Russia, the Imperial
Ballet of St. Petersburg, whose school was founded in 1738,
demonstrated superlative teachings.
Six decades later, a metamorphosis was about to unfold. French
choreographer Jean Georges Noverre criticized professional dancers in
his book, Lettres sur la danse. He stated that the purpose of ballet was
to express feelings. He urged dancers to stop wearing masks, bulky
costumes and headdresses. He felt that a dancer's body should be able
to express emotions such as anger or joy or love. Noverre developed the
ballet d'action, a form of ballet that conveys a story through movement.
Theatrical Dance
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Prominent Roles Assumed by Women
In time, dramas and stories depicting mythology faded and
more romantic themes emerged. By the early 1800's,
women to assumed the primary roles in romantic ballet.
The idea that a dancer could float angelically upon her toes,
barely touching the earth, gave women newfound
superiority over men. The role of men became that of
porters whose purpose was to lift the ballerinas and make it
look easy.
Theatrical Dance
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Italian choreographer, Filippo Taglioni created the first romantic ballet
for his daughter, Marie. She appeared in a costume style never before
seen on stage by any ballerina as she danced the role of a fairy who
allowed her heart to be broken by a mortal man. Dressed in white, her
skirt cascaded halfway below her knees and her ankles. More
astonishing was that, Marie Taglione's arms were not covered with
heavy sleeves. In fact, there were no sleeves at all. She became the star
of the Paris stage. Soon afterward, other ballerinas became known.
From Austria, ballerina Fanny Elssler danced in La Gypsy. Italian
ballerina, Carlotta Grisi played the spirit of a girl who died for love in
the ballet, Giselle. Most notorious of all women's roles in ballet are
those created in the 1890's by Marius Petipa, who left Paris to join the
Russian Imperial Ballet of St. Petersburg, which later became the Kirov
Ballet. The leading roles in his Sleeping Beauty and Swan Lake, both set
to scores by Peter Tchaikovsky, are still the most loved and the most
coveted by every ballerina.
Character Dance
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Character dancing became a phenomenon in 19th century European
ballet. A spirit of exploration and revived nationalism all over the
continent resulted in an interest in people living in areas outside the
main factory of ballet, Paris France. Choreographers began telling
stories that centered on common people and injected stylized folk
dances into their ballets.
Jean Coralli and Jules Perrot would use stylized versions European folk
dances in Giselle (1841). While those references have not completely
survived in present-day restagings of the ballet, the idea continued and
was an important part of many other Romantic Era ballets. The last
great ballet of that era, Arthur Saint-Léon's Coppélia (1870), saw the
heroine Swanhilda dancing the folk dances of Europe to the delight of
Dr. Coppelius.
Character Dance
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Russia
By the time French choreographer Marius Petipa was installed in St.
Petersburg as ballet master in 1869, Russian dancers had already had a
strong education in folk dancing. Unlike Renaissance-influenced Italy
and France, Russia had no strong tradition of court ballets. Instead of
celebrating a refined, understated type of dance, Russian students
learned the folk dances of different regions. While he imported Italian
ballerinas to dance the more classically technical roles in his ballets,
Petipa chose to incorporate the Russian dancers' specialty. Realizing the
value of such dances, he continued to encourage the study of character
dancing in the ballet academy.
Theatrical Dance
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Professional Ballet Dance Companies Emerge
The St. Petersburg company experienced the seemingly
effortless talents of Anna Pavlova and Vaslav Nijinsky. Both
Pavlova and Nijinsky also danced with another famous
Russian company, the Diaghilev Ballets Russes, established
in 1909. Michel Fokine was the first choreographer of the
Ballets Russes. He instructed a technique that used the
dancer's entire body at all times while expressing the story.
Over the next several years, the Ballets Russes performed
many ballets that have since become famous including
Scheherazade and Firebird in 1910, and Petroucha in
1911.One of the dancers of the Ballet Russes, Enrico
Checchetti, later became famous as the creator of the
Cecchetti method of teaching ballet.
Theatrical Dance
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England had been a place where foreign ballet dancers
performed, not a place where ballet was taught, until 1922,
when a group of Checchetti followers, Édouard Espinosa
and Philip Richardson founded what would become the
Royal Academy of Dancing.
Agnes De Mille moved to London in 1932 where she
received dance training at the Madame Marie Rambert's
Ballet Club. She went on to become a prominent American
ballet choreographer and dancer. The neice of famous
producer, Cecil B. De Mille, Agnes De Mille brought ballet
techniques to musicals, such as Oklahoma and The Sound
of Music. She continued to be actively involved with artistic
dance until her death in 1993.