Ballet Essay

The first major figure in ballet, according to the textbook, is Catherine de’ Medici. She is important because she married into France and brought a few dance masters along with her, effectively starting court ballet. Another major figure in ballet was King Louis 14th. He established the first academy of dance and had a huge love for dance, thus giving significant state support to it. Another reason Louis instituted ballet was political; instead of fighting, people would dance. Finally, King Louis was considered the first ballet star. The next person who influenced ballet was Marie Salle. She was famous for being very talented and the first female choreographer. Jean Georges Noverre is the next person to influence ballet. His main contribution was writing the Letters on Dancing and Ballet, which were used in the Ballet D’ Action. After Georges, the next influential person was Carlo Blasis. He is important because he shaped how ballet was taught and wrote some instructional books. Anna Pavlova was the next influential person. She is one of the most famous ballerinas for her dramatic dancing. The Ballets Russes were important to the longevity of contemporary ballet because. Lore Fuller, Isadora Duncan, and Ruth St. Denis are important figures in the history of modern dance. Isadora Duncan is widely considered to be the first modern dancer because she abandoned traditional techniques and drew inspiration from nature. Her style of dance was eventually accepted by Americans, paving the way for other modern dancers. Ruth St. Denis, who came after Isadora, is also a significant figure. Along with Ted Shawn, she founded the Denishawn school of dance. The school's unique approach drew influence from all around the world, giving its dancers a more holistic view of dance and inspiring them to create their own ideas that would later influence the art form....

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...I will create a dance addressing the topic of "Almost Death by Lethal Injection." The cast will be of mixed gender and race to show that anyone can be a victim or perpetrator of violent crime. The piece will be narrative, telling the story of a person who commits a crime and is punished but undergoes a long ordeal. In the first part, there will be two main dancers, one to simulate the victim and one to simulate the attacker. The victim will dance organically with smooth, continuous movements to represent innocence, while the attacker will have sharp, start-stop movements to create unease in the audience.