Ballet Dance History

Ballet was first developed in France as a codified dancing art form, derived from Italian court gestures and customs in the late 15th century.

Ballet was first developed in France as a codified dancing art form, derived from Italian court gestures and customs in the late 15th century.  As it spread around the world, the terminology remained almost entirely French, and thus became a unifying language for dancers from any country to communicate with each other, teacher to pupil, dancer to dancer, without knowing each others native language.  This is still true to this day. I could teach an advanced class in Beijing without knowing a word of Mandarin, or they English, and they’d still understand me even if I wasn’t demonstrating. Universal!

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