Ballet

Ballet (Fr. ballet; Ital. balletto, from late Lat. ballare, 'to dance,' possibly connected with late Greek ballizein, 'to throw the legs about, to dance'), a theatrical exhibition, composed of dancing, posturing, and pantomimic action. Both the religious ceremonies of the Greeks, and the dramatic representations which sprang from them, were largely intermingled with Dancing (q.v.); and the Roman pantomimes bore a strong resemblance to our Ballet d'Action. In an entertainment given to celebrate the victory of Actium, the Trachiniæ of Sophocles, and an erotic interlude founded on the myth of Leda, were performed in dumb show, the dancers Pylaides and Bathyllus taking the leading parts; and the whole wound up with a Pyrrhic war-dance. Some tradition of this form of entertainment, doubtless, suggested the courtly dances which became fashionable in the early days of the Renaissance. The first on record was that given by Bergonzio di Botta, at Tortona, to celebrate the marriage of the Duke of Milan, in 1489, which was famous throughout the civilised world. From that time great events, such as royal marriages and births, were celebrated by grand productions of ballet on which enormous sums of money were lavished. These ballets were frequently historical in subject, treating of the Siege of Troy, the Conquests of Alexander, and similar events. There were also mythological, poetical, moral, and fantastic ballets, on such subjects as the Judgment of Paris, the Seasons, Truth, the Diversions of the Carnival, &c. All of these were in five acts, each of which consisted of three, six, nine, or twelve entries, and in all of them singing and recitation mingled with the dancing. Catherine de Medicis introduced the ballet into France, and encouraged lascivious dances by females to distract the attention of her son, Henry III., from state affairs. At this time Baltasarini introduced a certain regularity into this kind of spectacle, his most famous production being the Ballet Comique de la Reine, danced at the marriage of the Duc de Joyeuse in 1581. Henry IV. was a great supporter of the ballet, no fewer than eighty grand entertainments being given by him between 1589 and 1610. Louis XIII. and Louis XIV. carried their love of ballet to an extreme length, and themselves danced publicly. In 1661 the latter founded an Academy of the Dance, with Quinault as director, and Lully as composer. Quinault introduced considerable changes into the ballet, for he, being a poet, subordinated the dancing to the recitation and singing. It was not till 1681 that female dancers appeared in public, the first being four ladies, who danced in La Triomphe de l'Amour. In the early part of the 18th century we begin to meet with the names of professional female dancers, two of the most famous being Mdlles Sallé and Camargo, immortalised by Voltaire, the former of whom visited London in 1741, and apparently created a great sensation. The great male dancer of this time was Dupré, the predecessor of the universally known Gaetano Vestris. In 1697 De la Motte introduced some changes into the ballet, chiefly in the direction of more interesting subjects, and about the same time comic ballets were invented by Danchet; but no important alteration was made till the advent of Jean George Noverre in 1749. In his works, Noverre describes the conditions under which the dancers at this time performed. They wore masks, huge wigs and head-dresses, and, most extraordinary of all, hoops. The mask held its place till 1772, when Maximilian Gardel, a famous dancer, ventured to appear without one. Public conservatism caused a return to the old fashion for some months, but in 1773 the mask disappeared for ever. Noverre completely revolutionised the ballet. Hitherto the form had remained practically unchanged; each act being performed by different dancers, and, generally, in different styles of dancing. Noverre invented the Ballet d'Action, and revived the true art of pantomime. Dancing, which had previously been principally an exhibition of agility, now had dramatic meaning, and the most intricate plots were represented by pantomime alone. The principles of Noverre were carried to great perfection by Vincenzo Galleotti in Copenhagen, and by his successor Bournonville. Under the Directory a form of grand ballet was revived, in which patriotic songs were a distinctive feature; La Marseillaise being the title of one great ballet. But it cannot be said that the form introduced by Noverre has been improved or even much altered, and the history of the ballet since his time is a history of dancers, rather than of dancing. In England this class of entertainment has never been more than an exotic, and has practically no history. The word balette is first used in English by Dryden (1667), and the earliest attempt at a descriptive ballet seems to have been The Tavern Bilkers, played at Drury Lane in 1702. It is worthy of note that within the last few years an important revival of the ballet has taken place in Italy, where the famous Excelsior, by the Chevalier Luigi Manzotti, Messalina, Amor, &c., have furnished magnificent examples of the Ballet d'Action.