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Pas De Deux
In ballet, a ( French, literally "step of two") is a dance duet in which two dancers, typically a male and a female, perform ballet steps together. The ''pas de deux'' is characteristic of classical ballet and can be found in many well-known ballets, including ''Sleeping Beauty'', ''Swan Lake'', and '' Giselle''. It is most often performed by a male and a female (a ''danseur'' and a ''ballerina'') though there are exceptions, such as in the film '' White Nights'', in which a ''pas de deux'' is performed by Mikhail Baryshnikov and Gregory Hines. ''Grand pas de deux'' A ''grand pas de deux'' is a structured ''pas de deux'' that typically has five parts, consisting of an ''entrée'' (introduction), an ''adagio'', two variations (a solo for each dancer), and a ''coda'' (conclusion). It is effectively a suite of dances that share a common theme, often symbolic of a love story or the partnership inherent in love, with the dancers portraying expressions of affectionate feelings an ...
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Dance Turns
In dance and gymnastics, a turn is a rotation of the body about the vertical axis. It is usually a complete rotation of the body, although quarter (90°) and half (180°) turns are possible for some types of turns. Multiple, consecutive turns are typically named according to the number of 360° rotations (e.g., ''double'' or ''triple'' turn). There are many types of turns, which are differentiated by a number of factors. The performer may be supported by one or both legs or be airborne during a turn. When supported by one leg, that leg is known as the ''supporting'' leg and the other as the ''free'', ''raised'', or ''working'' leg. During airborne turns, the first leg to leave the floor is the ''leading'' leg. Trunk, arm and head positions can vary, and in turns with one supporting leg, the free leg may be straight or bent. Turns can begin in various ways as well. For example, ballet turns may begin by rising to '' relevé'' (supported on the ball of the foot) or by stepping direc ...
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Le Corsaire
''Le Corsaire'' is a ballet typically presented in three acts, with a libretto originally created by Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges loosely based on the poem '' The Corsair'' by Lord Byron. Originally choreographed by Joseph Mazilier to the music of Adolphe Adam and other composers, it was first presented by the ballet of the Théâtre Impérial de l’Opéra in Paris on 23 January 1856. All modern productions of ''Le Corsaire'' are derived from the revivals staged by the Ballet Master Marius Petipa for the Imperial Ballet of St. Petersburg throughout the mid to late 19th century. The ballet has many celebrated passages which are often excerpted from the full-length work and performed independently: the scene ''Le Jardin animé'', the ''Pas d’esclave'', the ''Pas de trois des odalisques'', and the so-called ''Le Corsaire pas de deux'' (music mostly by Riccardo Drigo), which is among classical ballet's most famous and performed excerpts. Synopsis Act 1 Scene 1 ...
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La Sylphide
''La Sylphide'' (; ) is a romantic ballet in two acts. There were two versions of the ballet; the original choreographed by Filippo Taglioni in 1832, and a second version choreographed by August Bournonville in 1836. Bournonville's is the only version known to have survived and is one of the world's oldest surviving ballets. Taglioni version On 12 March 1832 the first version of ''La Sylphide'' premiered at the Salle Le Peletier of the Paris Opéra with choreography by the groundbreaking Italian choreographer Filippo Taglioni and music by Jean Schneitzhoeffer, Jean-Madeleine Schneitzhoeffer. Taglioni designed the work as a showcase for his daughter Marie Taglioni, Marie. ''La Sylphide'' was the first ballet where dancing ''en pointe'' had an aesthetic rationale and was not merely an acrobatic stunt, often involving ungraceful arm movements and exertions, as had been the approach of dancers in the late 1820s. Marie was known for shortening her skirts in the performance of ''La S ...
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Flower Festival In Genzano
''The Flower Festival in Genzano'' () is a one-act ballet by Danish choreographer and ballet master August Bournonville (1805–1879). Bournonville created the work for Denmark's Royal Ballet on December 19, 1858, at the Royal Danish Theatre, on the basis of Danes' general enthusiasm for Italy. The libretto, which is adapted from a tale in ''Impressions de voyage'' by Alexandre Dumas, tells the story of a pair of young lovers, Rosa and Paolo, which alludes to the festival still celebrated each June in Genzano, Italy. The music is by Edvard Helsted and Holger Simon Paulli. Bournonville was a dancer, choreographer, ballet teacher and director. He was son of the dancer and French ballet master Antoine Bournonville, who was a disciple of the great Noverre. Auguste was born in Copenhagen in 1805, studied with his father, and completed his training in France—with Vestris, the last virtuoso of the French classical style—before becoming a star of the Paris opera. Bournonville's co ...
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Tsar Kandavl Or Le Roi Candaule
''Le Roi Candaule'' ( en. ''King Candaules'') is a ''Grand ballet'' in four acts and six scenes, with choreography by Marius Petipa and music by Cesare Pugni. The libretto is by Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges and is based on the history of King Candaules the Ruler of Lydia, as described by Herodotus in his '' Histories''. History ''Le Roi Candaule'' was first presented by the Imperial Ballet on at the Imperial Bolshoi Kamenny Theatre, St. Petersburg, Russia. The ballet was a huge success, with Mlle. Henriette d'Or amazing the audience in her performance as Queen Nisia. Her incredible technical abilities were especially showcased in the celebrated ''Pas de Venus'' of the second act, in which she performed five pirouettes sur la pointe, which caused a great sensation among the audience. Two months later, Petipa moved his ballet to Moscow, where it was premièred on December 22, 1868, at the Imperial Bolshoi Theatre and it continued to be performed in Moscow and St. Pe ...
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Coppélia
''Coppélia'' (sometimes subtitled: ''La Fille aux Yeux d'Émail'' (The Girl with the Enamel Eyes)) is a comic ballet from 1870 originally choreographed by Arthur Saint-Léon to the music of Léo Delibes, with libretto by Charles-Louis-Étienne Nuitter. Nuitter's libretto and mise-en-scène was based upon E. T. A. Hoffmann's short story ''Der Sandmann'' (''The Sandman''). In Greek, ''κοπέλα'' (or ''κοπελιά'' in some dialects) means ''young woman''. ''Coppélia'' premiered on 25 May 1870 at the Théâtre Impérial de l'Opéra, with the 16-year-old Giuseppina Bozzacchi in the principal role of Swanhilda and ballerina Eugénie Fiocre playing the part of Frantz '' en travesti''. The costumes were designed by Paul Lormier and Alfred Albert, the scenery by Charles-Antoine Cambon (Act I, scene 1; Act II, scene 1), and Édouard Desplechin and Jean-Baptiste Lavastre (Act I, scene 2). The ballet's first flush of success was interrupted by the Franco-Prussian War and ...
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The Sleeping Beauty Ballet
''The Sleeping Beauty'' ( ) is a ballet in a prologue and three acts to music by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, his Opus 66, completed in 1889. It is the second of his three ballets and, at 160 minutes, his second-longest work in any genre. The original scenario was by Ivan Vsevolozhsky after Perrault's '' La belle au bois dormant'', or ''The Beauty Sleeping in the Forest''; the first choreographer was Marius Petipa. The premiere took place at the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg on January 15, 1890, and from that year forward ''The Sleeping Beauty'' has remained one of the most famous ballets of all time. History Tchaikovsky was approached by the Director of the Imperial Theatres in St. Petersburg, Ivan Vsevolozhsky on 25 May 1888 about a possible ballet adaptation on the subject of the story of ''Undine''. It was later decided that Charles Perrault's '' La Belle au bois dormant'' would be the story for which Tchaikovsky would compose the music for the ballet. Tchaikovsky ...
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Marius Petipa
Marius Ivanovich Petipa (; born Victor Marius Alphonse Petipa; 11 March 1818) was a French and Russian ballet dancer, pedagogue and choreographer. He is considered one of the most influential ballet masters and choreographers in ballet history. Petipa is noted for his long career as ''Premier maître de ballet'' (First Ballet Master) of the St. Petersburg Imperial Theatres, making him Ballet Master and principal choreographer of the Imperial Ballet (today known as the Mariinsky Ballet), a position he held from 1871 until 1903. Petipa created over fifty ballets, some of which have survived in versions either faithful to, inspired by, or reconstructed from his originals. He is most noted for ''The Pharaoh's Daughter'' (1862); ''Don Quixote (ballet), Don Quixote'' (1869); ''La Bayadère'' (1877); ''The Talisman (ballet), Le Talisman'' (1889); ''The Sleeping Beauty Ballet, The Sleeping Beauty'' (1890); ''The Nutcracker'' (choreographed jointly with Lev Ivanov) (1892); ''The Awakeni ...
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The Loves Of Mars And Venus
The ''Loves of Mars and Venus'' by John Weaver was arguably the first modern ballet, the first dance work to tell a story through dance, gesture and music alone. Its first performance was at London's Drury Lane Theatre on Saturday 2 March 1717. Background Before 1717 ballet had always been part of operas and plays and dependent on their words to narrate the drama. ''The Loves of Mars and Venus'' was a danced drama, equal to the plays seen on London’s stage, described in its own time as a ‘Dramatic Entertainment of Dancing’, “the first of this kind produced upon the British Stage or in the Kingdom”. All the action was conveyed in dance and mime alone, setting a pattern for future ballets”. The story Its immediate source was Peter Anthony Motteux's play, ''The Loves of Mars and Venus'', written in 1695. With six scenes full of dancing and gestures, It lasted an estimated 40 minutes. The performance At the first performances of ''The Loves of Mars and Venus' ...
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Baroque
The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from the early 17th century until the 1750s. It followed Renaissance art and Mannerism and preceded the Rococo (in the past often referred to as "late Baroque") and Neoclassicism, Neoclassical styles. It was encouraged by the Catholic Church as a means to counter the simplicity and austerity of Protestant architecture, art, and music, though Lutheran art#Baroque period, Lutheran Baroque art developed in parts of Europe as well. The Baroque style used contrast, movement, exuberant detail, deep color, grandeur, and surprise to achieve a sense of awe. The style began at the start of the 17th century in Rome, then spread rapidly to the rest of Italy, France, Spain, and Portugal, then to Austria, southern Germany, Poland and Russia. By the 1730s, i ...
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Acrobatics
Acrobatics () is the performance of human feats of balance (ability), balance, agility, and motor coordination. Acrobatic skills are used in performing arts, sports, sporting events, and martial arts. Extensive use of acrobatic skills are most often performed in acro dance, circus, gymnastics, and freerunning and to a lesser extent in other athletic activities including ballet, slacklining and Diving (sport), diving. Although acrobatics is most commonly associated with human body performance, the term is used to describe other types of performance, such as aerobatics. History Acrobatic traditions are found in many cultures, and there is evidence that the earliest such traditions occurred thousands of years ago. For example, Minoan civilization, Minoan art from contains depictions of bull-leaping, acrobatic feats on the backs of bulls. Ancient Greeks practiced acrobatics, and the noble court displays of the European Middle Ages would often include acrobatic performances that ...
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