Ballet

I always wanted to learn ballet; thinking about each dancers fluid movements and how spectacular the show would look on a whole. I went to a few lessons when I was younger, but the other students would be much younger than me, making me feel really awkward, and so I never really got around to learning.

Ballet is a theatrical dance form with a codified technique. Developed from the Renaissance, ballet was renewed under Louis XIV's control, who in 1661 established France's Académie Royale de Danse, where Pierre Beauchamps developed the five feet positions.

Image from: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/carla-escoda/mariinsky-ballet_b_1963829.html

There were many significant developments in the early 19th century, including pointe work (this is balance on the extreme tip of the toe) and the rise of the prima ballerina. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Russia became the centre of ballet production and performance, since then, ballet has appeared on stages and in dance schools around the world.

Ballet in Canada got a huge boost when schools sent performance groups to the six Canadian Ballet Festivals that took place between 1948 and 1954.

These are some categories of ballet dancing seen today:

Ballet d'action tells a story, usually a sad one.

Ballet jazz is a fusion of classical ballet and some elements of jazz dance.

Comédie-ballets are comedic plays that contain considerable amounts of music and dancing.

Ice ballet is the art of ballet on skates.

Neoclassical ballet is from the 20th Century. It is has been extracted from 19th Century Russian Imperial dancing.

Psychological ballets reveals the emotions of characters and studies feelings, such as grief and anger.

Rock ballet is ballet performed to rock music.

Here is a short exerpt from the Nutcracker:

Sources:
http://www.artsalive.ca/en/dan/dance101/forms.asp
https://prezi.com/mnar7ub0hkza/the-geography-of-ballet/