1 00:00:01,120 --> 00:00:04,080 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff you missed in History Class from how 2 00:00:04,120 --> 00:00:13,480 Speaker 1: Stuff Works dot Com. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. 3 00:00:13,480 --> 00:00:17,599 Speaker 1: I'm Polly Fry and I'm Tracy V. Wilson. So we 4 00:00:17,640 --> 00:00:21,720 Speaker 1: are continuing our talk about a brief history of ballet 5 00:00:21,840 --> 00:00:24,680 Speaker 1: which I put along precursor to you in the first 6 00:00:24,720 --> 00:00:27,159 Speaker 1: episode about how brief means brief and a lot of 7 00:00:27,160 --> 00:00:29,760 Speaker 1: things will get left out unfortunately because it is a very, 8 00:00:30,320 --> 00:00:33,520 Speaker 1: very long and storied tradition. Uh. And in the first 9 00:00:33,520 --> 00:00:36,400 Speaker 1: part we covered ballet's origins and early evolution, but we 10 00:00:36,400 --> 00:00:39,520 Speaker 1: didn't even make it to the eighteenth century yet, so 11 00:00:39,880 --> 00:00:42,279 Speaker 1: we still have plenty of ground to cover today. And 12 00:00:42,280 --> 00:00:44,720 Speaker 1: that also means that if you haven't listened to part one, 13 00:00:44,800 --> 00:00:47,040 Speaker 1: you really should because you might then be like, wait, 14 00:00:47,040 --> 00:00:49,000 Speaker 1: who is this? How do we get here? What is 15 00:00:49,000 --> 00:00:51,839 Speaker 1: going on? I don't know what ballet decorus? Uh. We 16 00:00:52,080 --> 00:00:54,840 Speaker 1: left off with the founding of the Academy Royal Music 17 00:00:55,160 --> 00:00:58,440 Speaker 1: and the ways that it's leader, Jean Baptiste Lully, worked 18 00:00:58,480 --> 00:01:01,440 Speaker 1: to ensure that his academy as much power and prestige 19 00:01:01,520 --> 00:01:05,319 Speaker 1: as possible. In sixteen eighty one, Louis Stage had a 20 00:01:05,319 --> 00:01:09,279 Speaker 1: milestone women who were professional dancers appeared on the stage 21 00:01:09,319 --> 00:01:12,480 Speaker 1: for the first time in the ballet La Trio de 22 00:01:12,600 --> 00:01:15,560 Speaker 1: la Moor. While women of the court had performed the 23 00:01:15,640 --> 00:01:19,240 Speaker 1: roles written as women in the performances at the Royal Court, 24 00:01:19,680 --> 00:01:22,480 Speaker 1: once productions were being mounted on a stage in a 25 00:01:22,520 --> 00:01:25,280 Speaker 1: more theatrical setting, it had been men dressed as women 26 00:01:25,319 --> 00:01:30,120 Speaker 1: filling these roles up to sixty one, and although ballets 27 00:01:30,120 --> 00:01:32,960 Speaker 1: were continuing at court, these were decreasing in frequency as 28 00:01:33,000 --> 00:01:36,360 Speaker 1: the performances staged by the opera were becoming more and 29 00:01:36,440 --> 00:01:40,120 Speaker 1: more prominent. By seventeen thirteen, the Paris Opera had a 30 00:01:40,200 --> 00:01:44,280 Speaker 1: regular core of two dozen professional dancers. By the time 31 00:01:44,360 --> 00:01:48,280 Speaker 1: Louis the fourteenth died two years later in September seventeen fifteen, 32 00:01:48,720 --> 00:01:53,080 Speaker 1: ballet had become entirely its own theatrical entity outside of 33 00:01:53,080 --> 00:01:55,520 Speaker 1: the realm of court, and by that time it had 34 00:01:55,560 --> 00:01:59,400 Speaker 1: also spread throughout Europe and beyond Great Britain, Italy, Russia, 35 00:01:59,680 --> 00:02:01,920 Speaker 1: the tier ratories of the German States and many other 36 00:02:01,960 --> 00:02:05,760 Speaker 1: places were all uh starting their own ballet traditions, and 37 00:02:05,800 --> 00:02:08,400 Speaker 1: the ballet of France was to some degree starting to 38 00:02:08,400 --> 00:02:10,800 Speaker 1: be seen as a little bit passe. It was the 39 00:02:10,919 --> 00:02:14,280 Speaker 1: art of a bloated and overly indulgent royal court, although 40 00:02:14,600 --> 00:02:17,440 Speaker 1: it was still revered as the birthplace of the art 41 00:02:17,480 --> 00:02:21,800 Speaker 1: form after England's monarchy was restored under Charles the Second 42 00:02:21,840 --> 00:02:25,240 Speaker 1: in sixteen sixty. He had brought French ballet masters to 43 00:02:25,320 --> 00:02:27,560 Speaker 1: England and an effort to add some of the trappings 44 00:02:27,560 --> 00:02:30,480 Speaker 1: that were expected of a royal court, but ballet was 45 00:02:30,560 --> 00:02:33,800 Speaker 1: being seen as a married diversion. It was not really 46 00:02:33,800 --> 00:02:37,280 Speaker 1: a cultural institution in the early eighteenth century, though a 47 00:02:37,400 --> 00:02:41,720 Speaker 1: dance teacher named John Weaver helped bring more serious thoughts 48 00:02:41,760 --> 00:02:44,840 Speaker 1: a ballet in England. Weaver had become something of a 49 00:02:44,919 --> 00:02:48,800 Speaker 1: dance scholar. He translated Foyet's notation in seventeen o six, 50 00:02:48,800 --> 00:02:51,120 Speaker 1: and then wrote his own book on the subject, called 51 00:02:51,440 --> 00:02:54,320 Speaker 1: An Essay Towards and a History of Dancing, in which 52 00:02:54,320 --> 00:02:57,480 Speaker 1: the whole art and its various excellencies are in some 53 00:02:57,680 --> 00:03:02,079 Speaker 1: measure explained, containing the several sorts of dancing. I think 54 00:03:02,120 --> 00:03:05,760 Speaker 1: one of my favorite things on the podcast are those long, 55 00:03:06,080 --> 00:03:09,000 Speaker 1: crazy book titles. They're my favorites. And I like how 56 00:03:09,040 --> 00:03:12,400 Speaker 1: this is long and it has both towards with an 57 00:03:12,480 --> 00:03:17,079 Speaker 1: s on it and and history. Yeah yeah. Uh. Weaver, 58 00:03:17,520 --> 00:03:21,200 Speaker 1: though saw so much potential in ballet. He really thought 59 00:03:21,200 --> 00:03:24,639 Speaker 1: that if England could reform French ballet into its own art, 60 00:03:24,720 --> 00:03:28,720 Speaker 1: it could foster civility and regulate passion, and draw people 61 00:03:28,760 --> 00:03:32,000 Speaker 1: together and offer this shared experience that could make all 62 00:03:32,080 --> 00:03:36,119 Speaker 1: viewers equal as they watched. He believed in staging serious 63 00:03:36,200 --> 00:03:40,440 Speaker 1: pantomime ballets, and he had some early commercial success with them. 64 00:03:40,480 --> 00:03:43,080 Speaker 1: But even so, a lot of the ballet performed on 65 00:03:43,120 --> 00:03:45,560 Speaker 1: the stages of Britain in the eighteenth century were still 66 00:03:45,600 --> 00:03:49,280 Speaker 1: French or Italian in origin. But what really bolstered the 67 00:03:49,320 --> 00:03:51,920 Speaker 1: British ballet during this time was actually its lack of 68 00:03:51,960 --> 00:03:56,119 Speaker 1: regulation and etiquette requirements in comparison to that of France, 69 00:03:56,680 --> 00:04:00,520 Speaker 1: and this resulted in one of Paris's most famous dancers, Resale, 70 00:04:01,200 --> 00:04:04,320 Speaker 1: leaving France to perform on the London stage for several years. 71 00:04:05,080 --> 00:04:08,200 Speaker 1: In London, Salih was able to work outside the bounds 72 00:04:08,240 --> 00:04:12,279 Speaker 1: of the Paris Opera's rules. She started performing narrative solos, 73 00:04:12,320 --> 00:04:15,680 Speaker 1: where her ability to convey emotion through acting and movement 74 00:04:15,760 --> 00:04:19,719 Speaker 1: without words could be expressed without that formality. She was 75 00:04:19,839 --> 00:04:23,080 Speaker 1: really beloved by audiences in Britain, but still went back 76 00:04:23,080 --> 00:04:26,040 Speaker 1: to France in seventeen thirty five, when she tried to 77 00:04:26,080 --> 00:04:28,640 Speaker 1: innovate in Paris the way she had done in London, 78 00:04:28,800 --> 00:04:33,040 Speaker 1: the King threatened to have her arrested. She retired from 79 00:04:33,040 --> 00:04:36,040 Speaker 1: the stage in seventeen forty one, but continued to appear 80 00:04:36,040 --> 00:04:38,760 Speaker 1: in performances at court, but she had left her mark 81 00:04:38,800 --> 00:04:41,680 Speaker 1: on the dance world by bringing less formal and more 82 00:04:41,760 --> 00:04:46,560 Speaker 1: emotive modes of movement into the performances. Another frenchwoman was 83 00:04:46,640 --> 00:04:49,600 Speaker 1: also innovating at the same time in a rival position 84 00:04:49,640 --> 00:04:52,720 Speaker 1: to Salleh, and that was Marie Anne Coupie de Camargo. 85 00:04:53,520 --> 00:04:56,080 Speaker 1: And whereas Salih relied on a motion to draw in 86 00:04:56,080 --> 00:04:59,800 Speaker 1: her audience, La Camargo, as she was called, achieved levels 87 00:04:59,800 --> 00:05:04,040 Speaker 1: of technical proficiency beyond all of her peers, including steps 88 00:05:04,040 --> 00:05:07,919 Speaker 1: that had historically belonged to men's roles. She even raised 89 00:05:07,960 --> 00:05:10,080 Speaker 1: the hems of her skirts so that the audience could 90 00:05:10,120 --> 00:05:15,000 Speaker 1: fully appreciate her incredible and very precise footwork. For the record, 91 00:05:15,040 --> 00:05:16,960 Speaker 1: there is debate about whether she was the first to 92 00:05:17,000 --> 00:05:19,320 Speaker 1: do that to raise the hem of the skirt um. 93 00:05:19,560 --> 00:05:22,440 Speaker 1: Keep in mind, these are still regular clothes for the 94 00:05:22,440 --> 00:05:25,560 Speaker 1: most part that people are wearing, uh, not what we 95 00:05:25,560 --> 00:05:29,560 Speaker 1: would see as tootoose now, Uh, but she definitely did 96 00:05:29,600 --> 00:05:31,000 Speaker 1: do it, although we don't know if she was the 97 00:05:31,040 --> 00:05:33,320 Speaker 1: first or not. I'm thinking about all the folks for 98 00:05:33,360 --> 00:05:37,880 Speaker 1: whom two twos are regular clothes. Well that too. In 99 00:05:37,920 --> 00:05:41,040 Speaker 1: the mid eighteenth century, ballet went through a transition led 100 00:05:41,080 --> 00:05:46,799 Speaker 1: by dancer and choreographer Jean George Novare. In seventeen sixty, Novare, 101 00:05:46,880 --> 00:05:49,560 Speaker 1: who was in his early thirties, had been performing and 102 00:05:49,600 --> 00:05:52,400 Speaker 1: composing ballet since he was a teenager. He had published 103 00:05:52,440 --> 00:05:55,039 Speaker 1: his book Letters on Dance and Ballets, and in it 104 00:05:55,279 --> 00:05:58,080 Speaker 1: he pushed to move this art away from spectacle, so 105 00:05:58,120 --> 00:06:01,080 Speaker 1: that things like costume and sets would be less important 106 00:06:01,120 --> 00:06:05,240 Speaker 1: and the expressiveness of the dancers would come to the forefront. Now. 107 00:06:05,320 --> 00:06:08,720 Speaker 1: Vere's writing was really influential and it sparked a movement 108 00:06:08,839 --> 00:06:14,240 Speaker 1: called ballet dat and no Vera was critical of just 109 00:06:14,400 --> 00:06:17,240 Speaker 1: about everything in the dance world in his writing, and 110 00:06:17,320 --> 00:06:20,440 Speaker 1: because he was famous throughout Europe as an accomplished dancer 111 00:06:20,440 --> 00:06:23,520 Speaker 1: and a composer of ballet's a lot of people read 112 00:06:23,560 --> 00:06:27,240 Speaker 1: this book and he was very open about his opinions 113 00:06:27,279 --> 00:06:30,760 Speaker 1: on the productions and the dancers at the Paris Opera. Uh. 114 00:06:30,800 --> 00:06:35,279 Speaker 1: Some critiques were favorable, others were utterly scathing. This is 115 00:06:35,360 --> 00:06:38,320 Speaker 1: kind of like if a very famous actor today wrote 116 00:06:38,320 --> 00:06:41,360 Speaker 1: a book and broke down how he thought other actors 117 00:06:41,360 --> 00:06:43,840 Speaker 1: stunk in their rules, but some were really good. I mean, 118 00:06:43,880 --> 00:06:46,160 Speaker 1: it was that level of like, and everyone bought the 119 00:06:46,200 --> 00:06:48,360 Speaker 1: book and read it. It was that level of critique. 120 00:06:49,000 --> 00:06:52,679 Speaker 1: He was also very critical of Lacademy Royale de Dance. 121 00:06:53,440 --> 00:06:57,640 Speaker 1: He pointed out that despite the organization's mission, no comprehensive 122 00:06:57,680 --> 00:07:00,839 Speaker 1: formal writing on dance at material us from their work, 123 00:07:01,440 --> 00:07:04,719 Speaker 1: and that criticism continued even as he joined the organization 124 00:07:04,800 --> 00:07:07,960 Speaker 1: in seventeen seventy five. At that point, as we mentioned 125 00:07:07,960 --> 00:07:10,640 Speaker 1: at the end of the previous episode, the King's other 126 00:07:10,800 --> 00:07:14,600 Speaker 1: established academy, l Academy Royal the Music, which evolved into 127 00:07:14,640 --> 00:07:18,040 Speaker 1: the Paris Opera, was taking on most of those matters 128 00:07:18,040 --> 00:07:22,200 Speaker 1: of dance documentation, and Lacademy Royal the Dance was left 129 00:07:22,240 --> 00:07:26,840 Speaker 1: with certifying teachers. Yeah, their power was diminished progressively and 130 00:07:26,880 --> 00:07:29,840 Speaker 1: they were kind of just just left running a certification 131 00:07:29,880 --> 00:07:34,680 Speaker 1: program while the opera staged all of their productions, and 132 00:07:34,680 --> 00:07:37,960 Speaker 1: while Nolvaire was criticizing the empty and wooden nature that 133 00:07:38,040 --> 00:07:40,640 Speaker 1: dance had taken on in the years after Marie Sallet's 134 00:07:40,680 --> 00:07:45,200 Speaker 1: generation had retired. Others, including Jean Jacques Rousseau, thought that 135 00:07:45,240 --> 00:07:49,200 Speaker 1: having ballet's within operas was what was no good. To Rousseau, 136 00:07:49,360 --> 00:07:52,520 Speaker 1: this idea of stopping for dancing ruined the story and 137 00:07:52,560 --> 00:07:57,360 Speaker 1: the rhythm of the entire production. To just throw these 138 00:07:57,360 --> 00:08:00,680 Speaker 1: in periodically. Ballet was really getting a bad mutation as 139 00:08:00,720 --> 00:08:04,680 Speaker 1: an easily dismissible art, and never wanted to reform and 140 00:08:04,720 --> 00:08:07,760 Speaker 1: revitalize it, and part of that was separating it out 141 00:08:07,840 --> 00:08:11,360 Speaker 1: into its own production and writing ballets that contained their 142 00:08:11,360 --> 00:08:14,320 Speaker 1: own stories in their entirety that did not depend on 143 00:08:14,360 --> 00:08:18,080 Speaker 1: the story being explained in a song or a spoken word. Additionally, 144 00:08:18,120 --> 00:08:22,080 Speaker 1: he wanted dancers to stop wearing court clothes and hairstyles 145 00:08:22,120 --> 00:08:24,040 Speaker 1: and to move to garments that allowed them to move 146 00:08:24,120 --> 00:08:27,960 Speaker 1: elegantly and expressively. Up until that point, dancers were still 147 00:08:28,000 --> 00:08:31,680 Speaker 1: wearing hoops under their skirts to create volume. He also 148 00:08:31,720 --> 00:08:33,880 Speaker 1: wanted ballet to be staged in a way that the 149 00:08:33,920 --> 00:08:37,320 Speaker 1: audience watched it and was drawn entirely into the world. 150 00:08:37,800 --> 00:08:41,199 Speaker 1: No longer should there be boxes for royalty on the stage, 151 00:08:41,200 --> 00:08:43,800 Speaker 1: and the sight line of the spectators taking in the 152 00:08:43,840 --> 00:08:46,960 Speaker 1: story and things like set changes and effects, he said 153 00:08:47,000 --> 00:08:50,880 Speaker 1: should happen discreetly so that they didn't break the illusion 154 00:08:51,000 --> 00:08:54,320 Speaker 1: of the story. Yeah, we mentioned previously that, you know, 155 00:08:54,400 --> 00:08:56,680 Speaker 1: as it became like a stage the way we would 156 00:08:56,679 --> 00:08:59,280 Speaker 1: think it helped create that illusion. But they still had 157 00:08:59,320 --> 00:09:01,760 Speaker 1: some weird p actuses like they would have a stage 158 00:09:01,760 --> 00:09:06,800 Speaker 1: manager blow a whistle to start like scenery changes, and 159 00:09:06,960 --> 00:09:09,160 Speaker 1: so no Va was like, why are we doing this? 160 00:09:09,280 --> 00:09:12,920 Speaker 1: Be cool, you guys, like be quiet, step carefully backstage, 161 00:09:13,960 --> 00:09:18,120 Speaker 1: don't tromp around back there having loud conversations. Everyone who's 162 00:09:18,160 --> 00:09:21,079 Speaker 1: ever been shushed in a backstage area can kind of think, 163 00:09:21,160 --> 00:09:23,400 Speaker 1: no there a little bit. Uh. We're going to talk 164 00:09:23,400 --> 00:09:26,520 Speaker 1: about Novare and his influence some more in the next segment, 165 00:09:26,559 --> 00:09:37,040 Speaker 1: but first we are going to pause for a sponsor break. So, 166 00:09:37,080 --> 00:09:39,960 Speaker 1: as we mentioned before in reference to England's Charles the 167 00:09:40,000 --> 00:09:44,120 Speaker 1: Second Ballet had become something of a French export. Royal 168 00:09:44,160 --> 00:09:47,040 Speaker 1: courts of other countries were often eager to hire French 169 00:09:47,120 --> 00:09:50,640 Speaker 1: dance teachers and choreographers to come and stage productions for 170 00:09:50,679 --> 00:09:53,800 Speaker 1: them and also teach. In this way, ideas such as 171 00:09:53,840 --> 00:09:58,360 Speaker 1: Novair spread beyond the stages of Paris. Novair himself traveled 172 00:09:58,360 --> 00:10:01,080 Speaker 1: throughout the European continent on a variety of jobs in 173 00:10:01,120 --> 00:10:04,880 Speaker 1: other countries, to mixed reception before he was appointed the 174 00:10:04,920 --> 00:10:08,000 Speaker 1: ballet master at the Paris Opera by Marie Antoinette in 175 00:10:08,120 --> 00:10:11,319 Speaker 1: seventeen seventy six. Because time at the Paris Opera was 176 00:10:11,400 --> 00:10:15,280 Speaker 1: controversial but also exciting, some of the dancers viewed him 177 00:10:15,280 --> 00:10:17,920 Speaker 1: as an interloper after all of his time away in 178 00:10:17,960 --> 00:10:23,000 Speaker 1: other countries, they would deliberately sabotage his productions. Critics weren't 179 00:10:23,040 --> 00:10:25,520 Speaker 1: always wild about the stories that he was telling in 180 00:10:25,559 --> 00:10:29,040 Speaker 1: his ballets. They found them too emotional and sometimes frightening, 181 00:10:29,600 --> 00:10:31,800 Speaker 1: but he really drew in the crowds and was generally 182 00:10:31,800 --> 00:10:35,559 Speaker 1: a success. Even still, he only stayed at the Paris 183 00:10:35,600 --> 00:10:38,520 Speaker 1: Opera for five years, and three years after his exit 184 00:10:38,559 --> 00:10:42,480 Speaker 1: in seventeen eighty four, the Paris Opera was formally endowed 185 00:10:42,840 --> 00:10:45,960 Speaker 1: with a ballet school by King Louis the sixteenth. The 186 00:10:46,000 --> 00:10:50,120 Speaker 1: French Revolution, of course, impacted the arts. As the rebellion began. 187 00:10:50,200 --> 00:10:52,360 Speaker 1: The opera house was even looted at one point for 188 00:10:52,400 --> 00:10:56,160 Speaker 1: any props that looked like weapons. After a brief suspension 189 00:10:56,160 --> 00:10:59,240 Speaker 1: of performances, the show at the opera went on, but 190 00:10:59,360 --> 00:11:01,360 Speaker 1: it did shifted a bit. Up to the time of 191 00:11:01,400 --> 00:11:04,400 Speaker 1: the revolution, it had been closely linked to the nobility, 192 00:11:04,960 --> 00:11:07,079 Speaker 1: and as a consequence, it was seen as a very 193 00:11:07,120 --> 00:11:11,160 Speaker 1: wasteful and corrupt institution. The National Assembly was kind of 194 00:11:11,240 --> 00:11:14,680 Speaker 1: uncertain about what exactly to do with the opera. Pierre 195 00:11:14,720 --> 00:11:17,760 Speaker 1: Gardell was the man who steered ballet through these times 196 00:11:17,760 --> 00:11:20,840 Speaker 1: in Paris and enabled it to survive as an institution 197 00:11:20,880 --> 00:11:24,480 Speaker 1: of the people. And this wasn't because he was a revolutionary. 198 00:11:24,559 --> 00:11:27,199 Speaker 1: He'd been loyal to the crown and he had inherited 199 00:11:27,240 --> 00:11:29,560 Speaker 1: the position of ballet master at the opera when his 200 00:11:29,640 --> 00:11:34,000 Speaker 1: brother Maximilian died in sev seven. But he was really 201 00:11:34,120 --> 00:11:37,400 Speaker 1: excellent in navigating the shift from one government to the other, 202 00:11:37,520 --> 00:11:40,360 Speaker 1: and he staged heroic stories in which he and his 203 00:11:40,400 --> 00:11:44,559 Speaker 1: wife often start. The wholesome reputation of the Guardels is 204 00:11:44,600 --> 00:11:48,240 Speaker 1: an upstanding and moral family, and the move to simpler, 205 00:11:48,360 --> 00:11:52,520 Speaker 1: more Grecian style costumes really signal signal a dismissal of 206 00:11:52,559 --> 00:11:55,400 Speaker 1: the artifice from the French court. It gave the opera 207 00:11:55,400 --> 00:11:58,320 Speaker 1: an image that moved forward with the political times. Yeah, 208 00:11:58,360 --> 00:12:02,000 Speaker 1: people often spoke about what people they were, which was 209 00:12:02,240 --> 00:12:05,280 Speaker 1: almost just as important at this period as them actually 210 00:12:05,280 --> 00:12:08,560 Speaker 1: being good dancers, which they both were. Guardell held his 211 00:12:08,600 --> 00:12:11,240 Speaker 1: post at the Opera House for more than forty years, 212 00:12:11,240 --> 00:12:14,200 Speaker 1: although at times he and other artists were suspected of 213 00:12:14,240 --> 00:12:17,320 Speaker 1: still being royalists and had to swear their loyalty to 214 00:12:17,320 --> 00:12:22,400 Speaker 1: the revolutionary cause. He weathered these times by staging productions 215 00:12:22,440 --> 00:12:26,000 Speaker 1: for revolutionary festivals and ballets that supported the ideals of 216 00:12:26,040 --> 00:12:30,080 Speaker 1: the cause and celebrated liberty from the monarchy. In seventeen nine, 217 00:12:30,600 --> 00:12:34,680 Speaker 1: during the Terror, Guardell and several other artists formally promised 218 00:12:34,679 --> 00:12:37,360 Speaker 1: that they would not produce any more works that originated 219 00:12:37,400 --> 00:12:40,680 Speaker 1: with the aristocracy. Uh Those stories that had been part 220 00:12:40,679 --> 00:12:43,960 Speaker 1: of the repertoire developed under the aristocracy, though, went right 221 00:12:43,960 --> 00:12:47,320 Speaker 1: back into production after the Terror ended. After the Revolution, 222 00:12:47,360 --> 00:12:50,480 Speaker 1: the simplicity and virtue that had been central to French 223 00:12:50,559 --> 00:12:53,000 Speaker 1: productions came back to the stage once again, but it 224 00:12:53,080 --> 00:12:56,280 Speaker 1: was also commingled with the aesthetics of a surge of 225 00:12:56,440 --> 00:13:00,720 Speaker 1: decadence that blossomed very briefly after the Terror and that 226 00:13:00,800 --> 00:13:05,200 Speaker 1: gave birth to the romantic ballet. There was some fabulous 227 00:13:05,440 --> 00:13:10,200 Speaker 1: fashion and sartorial uh daring nous going on at this time, 228 00:13:10,280 --> 00:13:13,520 Speaker 1: largely among people who had been part of the aristocracy, 229 00:13:13,640 --> 00:13:15,959 Speaker 1: had had to go into hiding or beyond the downlow, 230 00:13:16,000 --> 00:13:17,360 Speaker 1: and then when it was all over, they were like 231 00:13:17,600 --> 00:13:20,400 Speaker 1: back to craziness and they like amped it up to eleven. 232 00:13:21,960 --> 00:13:24,160 Speaker 1: But there are some great stories of crazy clothes that 233 00:13:24,200 --> 00:13:26,920 Speaker 1: appeared during this time. And as ballet moved into the 234 00:13:27,000 --> 00:13:30,000 Speaker 1: nineteenth century, it's narratives started to take shape in the 235 00:13:30,000 --> 00:13:33,960 Speaker 1: stories of woodland spirits and fairies. Often the stories of 236 00:13:34,000 --> 00:13:37,160 Speaker 1: these ballets were about man's relationship to the mystical or 237 00:13:37,200 --> 00:13:41,640 Speaker 1: spiritual aspects of nature. And once again social dance influenced 238 00:13:41,640 --> 00:13:44,800 Speaker 1: the development of new steps for performance, just as it 239 00:13:44,880 --> 00:13:48,720 Speaker 1: had in Louis the fourteenth court. The waltz became very 240 00:13:48,760 --> 00:13:52,319 Speaker 1: popular at masked balls hosted by the Paris Opera and 241 00:13:52,400 --> 00:13:56,079 Speaker 1: inspired a shift in the way couples danced together in ballet. 242 00:13:56,600 --> 00:13:59,920 Speaker 1: The pas de dou became a more dynamic dance. Couple 243 00:14:00,280 --> 00:14:03,400 Speaker 1: faced and engaged each other during the dance, when before 244 00:14:03,440 --> 00:14:07,240 Speaker 1: they had normally stayed facing the spectators. Yeah, it was 245 00:14:07,280 --> 00:14:10,080 Speaker 1: like a side to side thing that was performed strictly outwardly, 246 00:14:10,080 --> 00:14:12,520 Speaker 1: whereas now when you think of a potida, it's often 247 00:14:12,600 --> 00:14:15,600 Speaker 1: very passionate or very romantic, and they're clearly engaged with 248 00:14:15,640 --> 00:14:18,440 Speaker 1: each other, and it's about their relationship. But that was 249 00:14:18,480 --> 00:14:21,600 Speaker 1: all new born out of this time. There were other 250 00:14:21,680 --> 00:14:26,520 Speaker 1: influences also from government offices. So after Napoleon became Emperor 251 00:14:26,560 --> 00:14:29,520 Speaker 1: of France in eighteen o four, he actually instituted an 252 00:14:29,560 --> 00:14:34,160 Speaker 1: approval process for all Paris opera productions, both musical and ballet. 253 00:14:35,000 --> 00:14:38,240 Speaker 1: Joseph Fouche, as Minister of Police, had the final word 254 00:14:38,320 --> 00:14:42,560 Speaker 1: on which ballet's could be staged. But after Napoleon was defeated, 255 00:14:42,600 --> 00:14:46,800 Speaker 1: the tone of ballet shifted even more towards romanticism. The 256 00:14:46,880 --> 00:14:49,680 Speaker 1: new middle class, with new prosperity, was starting to go 257 00:14:49,720 --> 00:14:53,040 Speaker 1: to the opera, which privatized in eighteen thirty, since it 258 00:14:53,120 --> 00:14:57,160 Speaker 1: wasn't being overseen by a government office or by royal tastes. 259 00:14:57,640 --> 00:15:02,480 Speaker 1: The Paris Opera, which was by Louis desire Von, started 260 00:15:02,720 --> 00:15:06,520 Speaker 1: starting in one entered this golden age. It really fully 261 00:15:06,800 --> 00:15:11,760 Speaker 1: embraced romanticism. In eighteen thirty two. Previous podcast subject Marie 262 00:15:11,800 --> 00:15:15,880 Speaker 1: Taglioni charmed audiences in her starring role in Law Suil Feed, 263 00:15:16,240 --> 00:15:20,400 Speaker 1: which was choreographed by her father Felippo Taglioni. Marie is 264 00:15:20,440 --> 00:15:23,680 Speaker 1: often credited with ushering in and shaping the Romantic era 265 00:15:23,760 --> 00:15:27,000 Speaker 1: in dance, which was due in large part to how natural, airy, 266 00:15:27,080 --> 00:15:30,880 Speaker 1: and spirit like her technique appeared on stage. This is 267 00:15:30,880 --> 00:15:32,960 Speaker 1: a little bit ironic, since she had, as you may 268 00:15:33,000 --> 00:15:35,560 Speaker 1: recall if you listen to that episode, not taken to 269 00:15:35,680 --> 00:15:40,240 Speaker 1: dance naturally. She had had to train rigorously with her 270 00:15:40,280 --> 00:15:44,400 Speaker 1: father to achieve physical skills that appeared effortless to observers 271 00:15:44,440 --> 00:15:48,280 Speaker 1: at the ballet. Marie's portebra, or the manner that her 272 00:15:48,440 --> 00:15:52,240 Speaker 1: arms were carried, was considered especially beautiful because they framed 273 00:15:52,240 --> 00:15:54,840 Speaker 1: the head and face and an oval when her arms 274 00:15:54,840 --> 00:15:57,800 Speaker 1: were raised overhead, and this is rumored to have been 275 00:15:57,920 --> 00:16:00,560 Speaker 1: a style her father developed too high had a less 276 00:16:00,600 --> 00:16:05,640 Speaker 1: than graceful back. Marie also appeared in this ballet on point. 277 00:16:05,760 --> 00:16:08,360 Speaker 1: Although it's probably not the first time she danced that way, 278 00:16:08,640 --> 00:16:11,440 Speaker 1: it was definitely different from the way that a ballet 279 00:16:11,520 --> 00:16:16,160 Speaker 1: dancer's toe shoes work today. Yeah, and Taglioni was not 280 00:16:16,240 --> 00:16:18,680 Speaker 1: the first dancer to use full point as part of 281 00:16:18,680 --> 00:16:22,400 Speaker 1: a performance that is normally credited to Amalia Brunioli. In 282 00:16:23,200 --> 00:16:27,520 Speaker 1: three Taglioni saw Brunoli's work and thought it had potential, 283 00:16:27,560 --> 00:16:30,520 Speaker 1: but she also thought it looked really laborious that uh, 284 00:16:30,720 --> 00:16:32,880 Speaker 1: you know, you could see her kind of using momentum 285 00:16:32,960 --> 00:16:35,560 Speaker 1: of her arms to swing up into that position, and 286 00:16:35,640 --> 00:16:37,920 Speaker 1: she thought it robbed the movement of its grace. So 287 00:16:38,080 --> 00:16:41,520 Speaker 1: for Taglioni, point work was sort of pepper did as 288 00:16:41,560 --> 00:16:44,280 Speaker 1: a transitional technique. It was used to create the illusion 289 00:16:44,320 --> 00:16:47,920 Speaker 1: of gliding as she subtly changed her the level that 290 00:16:47,960 --> 00:16:50,720 Speaker 1: she was at on stage, and the shoes used to 291 00:16:50,760 --> 00:16:53,680 Speaker 1: achieve full point at that point. We're not the residence 292 00:16:53,720 --> 00:16:56,320 Speaker 1: diff point shoes of today. They were soft satin with 293 00:16:56,360 --> 00:16:59,040 Speaker 1: a leather sole and a toe with darning stitches right 294 00:16:59,080 --> 00:17:02,320 Speaker 1: there at the tip, and the toe like full point 295 00:17:02,360 --> 00:17:07,280 Speaker 1: really was a very tiny, tiny, almost pinpoint compared to 296 00:17:07,400 --> 00:17:10,520 Speaker 1: like the more squared off toe of a shoe today. 297 00:17:10,960 --> 00:17:13,200 Speaker 1: Taglioni is said to have burned through two to three 298 00:17:13,200 --> 00:17:17,600 Speaker 1: pairs of shoes in any given performance. Marie Taglioni also 299 00:17:17,720 --> 00:17:21,679 Speaker 1: created something entirely new aside from technique or skill, and 300 00:17:21,720 --> 00:17:25,320 Speaker 1: that was the celebrity ballerina. Women of the day saw 301 00:17:25,359 --> 00:17:29,000 Speaker 1: her and her relatively simple loss of feed costume, and 302 00:17:29,040 --> 00:17:32,840 Speaker 1: they saw her as an aspirational figure. They were really 303 00:17:32,880 --> 00:17:36,040 Speaker 1: captivated by this dancer with whom they all identified, and 304 00:17:36,080 --> 00:17:41,399 Speaker 1: they also envied her very expressive life. Taglioni inspired fashions 305 00:17:41,440 --> 00:17:44,760 Speaker 1: of the day because women emulated the ethereal style that 306 00:17:44,800 --> 00:17:47,480 Speaker 1: she became known for on stage. There was even, very 307 00:17:47,520 --> 00:17:52,000 Speaker 1: briefly a fashion magazine called Lasso Feed that Taglioni consulted on. 308 00:17:52,320 --> 00:17:55,479 Speaker 1: It was printed on scented paper. I find that so 309 00:17:55,560 --> 00:17:58,439 Speaker 1: delightful to think about. I would hate it because some 310 00:17:58,520 --> 00:18:04,000 Speaker 1: fragrances give me a headache. I would love it. Marie 311 00:18:04,040 --> 00:18:07,520 Speaker 1: Taglioni's success and celebrity stature paved the way for other 312 00:18:07,560 --> 00:18:11,240 Speaker 1: women to achieve similar levels. One of her contemporaries, the 313 00:18:11,280 --> 00:18:14,320 Speaker 1: Austrian dancer Fanny Ellsler, was able to carve out her 314 00:18:14,359 --> 00:18:17,359 Speaker 1: own celebrity as a sort of counter to taglione style. 315 00:18:18,200 --> 00:18:21,400 Speaker 1: Where Marie was the ethereal sylph, Fanny was very much 316 00:18:21,440 --> 00:18:24,160 Speaker 1: of the earth and she was a much more sensual dancer. 317 00:18:24,800 --> 00:18:27,600 Speaker 1: When the ballet Gazelle debut in eighteen forty one, it's 318 00:18:27,640 --> 00:18:31,480 Speaker 1: star Carlotta Greasy achieved her own fame as the lovelorn 319 00:18:31,560 --> 00:18:33,680 Speaker 1: woman brought back from the dead to dance the man 320 00:18:33,720 --> 00:18:37,200 Speaker 1: who had wronged her to death. La Sulfeed and Giselle 321 00:18:37,240 --> 00:18:39,800 Speaker 1: gained their own levels of fame as ballets as they 322 00:18:39,840 --> 00:18:43,000 Speaker 1: continue to be staged in the modern era, and they 323 00:18:43,000 --> 00:18:46,280 Speaker 1: are sometimes recognized as two of the first quote modern ballets. 324 00:18:46,720 --> 00:18:50,119 Speaker 1: The Romantic era also established things like Romantic two two's 325 00:18:50,280 --> 00:18:53,320 Speaker 1: that continue to be used today, but but didn't last forever. 326 00:18:53,560 --> 00:18:56,000 Speaker 1: And coming up, we'll get into the culture and politics 327 00:18:56,000 --> 00:18:59,280 Speaker 1: that led to its decline along with what followed. First, though, 328 00:18:59,280 --> 00:19:10,600 Speaker 1: we will take a little sponsor break Taglioni and Elsler 329 00:19:10,720 --> 00:19:13,720 Speaker 1: retired just a few years apart, the former in eighteen 330 00:19:13,720 --> 00:19:17,080 Speaker 1: forty seven and the latter in eighteen fifty one, and 331 00:19:17,160 --> 00:19:20,280 Speaker 1: as women had become the stars of the Paris ballet stage, 332 00:19:20,800 --> 00:19:24,000 Speaker 1: male dancers had receded in importance, and with the end 333 00:19:24,080 --> 00:19:26,960 Speaker 1: of the eighteen fifties and the retirement of its most 334 00:19:27,000 --> 00:19:30,520 Speaker 1: prominent dancers, Paris began to decline in importance as well, 335 00:19:31,000 --> 00:19:33,720 Speaker 1: due in part to the ongoing political struggles that the 336 00:19:33,760 --> 00:19:37,720 Speaker 1: country went through leading into the Second French Empire. As 337 00:19:37,800 --> 00:19:40,199 Speaker 1: France had struggled with the ups and downs and the 338 00:19:40,280 --> 00:19:43,639 Speaker 1: evolving identity of its ballet over the years leading up 339 00:19:43,680 --> 00:19:47,680 Speaker 1: to the mid nineteenth century, other countries had also adopted 340 00:19:47,720 --> 00:19:51,040 Speaker 1: the form. St. Petersburg, in particular, had embraced ballet more 341 00:19:51,080 --> 00:19:54,840 Speaker 1: than a century earlier. The St. Petersburg Ballet School formed 342 00:19:54,840 --> 00:19:58,400 Speaker 1: in seventeen thirty eight. In the beginning of the nineteenth century, 343 00:19:58,520 --> 00:20:02,720 Speaker 1: French dancer Charles Dilo was hired at the Russian Imperial 344 00:20:02,760 --> 00:20:05,560 Speaker 1: Ballet and while working there he guided the creation of 345 00:20:05,640 --> 00:20:09,119 Speaker 1: several ballets that formed the bedrock of the Russian repertoire. 346 00:20:09,560 --> 00:20:13,080 Speaker 1: He wound up reforming the Russian school. The ballet scene 347 00:20:13,080 --> 00:20:15,440 Speaker 1: in Russia was bolstered in the eighteen fifties by the 348 00:20:15,480 --> 00:20:18,639 Speaker 1: fact that Taglioni's father, Felippo, had moved there for a while, 349 00:20:19,000 --> 00:20:22,119 Speaker 1: as well as Jules Perot, who had woud London audiences 350 00:20:22,119 --> 00:20:25,359 Speaker 1: in eighteen forty five with his choreography of a Pas 351 00:20:25,440 --> 00:20:28,280 Speaker 1: de Catra, which featured four of ballet's biggest stars of 352 00:20:28,320 --> 00:20:32,880 Speaker 1: the time dancing together. That included Marie Taglioni and Carlotta Greazy. 353 00:20:33,040 --> 00:20:35,720 Speaker 1: Fanny Elsler had also spent time in Russia. In an 354 00:20:35,760 --> 00:20:39,120 Speaker 1: eighteen fifty Carlotta Greezy went to St. Petersburg at Perot's 355 00:20:39,200 --> 00:20:43,080 Speaker 1: request to dance on the Russian stage. During this phase 356 00:20:43,160 --> 00:20:45,760 Speaker 1: in the middle of the century, the performances being staged 357 00:20:45,760 --> 00:20:49,560 Speaker 1: in St. Petersburg were re workings of the popular French ballet. 358 00:20:50,040 --> 00:20:53,240 Speaker 1: But as Marius Petipa, who was another French ballet dancer, 359 00:20:53,480 --> 00:20:56,359 Speaker 1: rose through the ranks in St. Petersburg, he started making 360 00:20:56,440 --> 00:20:59,080 Speaker 1: his mark and developed some of the most famous and 361 00:20:59,119 --> 00:21:02,840 Speaker 1: beloved ballets of the Russian repertoire. The Sleeping Beauty, the 362 00:21:02,920 --> 00:21:06,800 Speaker 1: Nutcracker and Swan Lake were all developed by Pettipa with 363 00:21:06,920 --> 00:21:10,760 Speaker 1: music by Tchakowski. Eventually, in the early nineteen hundreds, there 364 00:21:10,760 --> 00:21:13,840 Speaker 1: had been this switch because Russia was then exporting its 365 00:21:13,840 --> 00:21:16,720 Speaker 1: style of dance back to Paris with the arrival of 366 00:21:16,760 --> 00:21:20,359 Speaker 1: the Ballet Rous in nineteen o nine. The Ballet Rous 367 00:21:20,400 --> 00:21:23,919 Speaker 1: had been assembled by entrepreneurs Sergei Diaguilev and included the 368 00:21:23,960 --> 00:21:27,960 Speaker 1: best dancers of the Russian Imperial Ballet. These dancers were 369 00:21:27,960 --> 00:21:32,000 Speaker 1: incredibly skilled and the productions were spectacular, and their arrival 370 00:21:32,119 --> 00:21:36,440 Speaker 1: electrified the European ballet world and completely revitalized dance culture 371 00:21:36,720 --> 00:21:40,800 Speaker 1: on the European continent. The Ballet Rouss was an exclusively 372 00:21:40,880 --> 00:21:43,879 Speaker 1: touring company. The Answers had been traveling from city to 373 00:21:43,920 --> 00:21:46,360 Speaker 1: city for a long time, but in the eighteen hundreds 374 00:21:46,440 --> 00:21:50,920 Speaker 1: travel became more common. Ballet had a vocabulary that crossed borders, 375 00:21:50,960 --> 00:21:55,000 Speaker 1: so teachers and dancers alike frequently had periods of residency 376 00:21:55,040 --> 00:21:58,200 Speaker 1: in foreign cities. But the Ballet Rouss was a whole 377 00:21:58,240 --> 00:22:01,919 Speaker 1: new level. The Agilev isn't a dancer or choreographer. He 378 00:22:02,000 --> 00:22:04,159 Speaker 1: was a critic and a fan of the arts, and 379 00:22:04,200 --> 00:22:06,720 Speaker 1: so he had assembled this whole company by getting permission 380 00:22:06,760 --> 00:22:09,680 Speaker 1: to use dancers who were under contract with the Imperial 381 00:22:09,720 --> 00:22:12,760 Speaker 1: Ballet for the tours. They would disperse at the end 382 00:22:12,760 --> 00:22:15,080 Speaker 1: of the tour, and then he would have to reassemble 383 00:22:15,119 --> 00:22:19,440 Speaker 1: the group for each tour season. After two years of this, 384 00:22:19,600 --> 00:22:22,520 Speaker 1: he moved the company's base of operations to Monte Carlo 385 00:22:22,640 --> 00:22:24,960 Speaker 1: so that he could build a permanent company and then 386 00:22:25,000 --> 00:22:27,760 Speaker 1: not go through this renegotiation every single time they wanted 387 00:22:27,800 --> 00:22:30,560 Speaker 1: to go on tour. The Ballet Us featured a number 388 00:22:30,600 --> 00:22:34,400 Speaker 1: of famous dancers, including Vasov Najinski and Anna Pavlova, who 389 00:22:34,440 --> 00:22:38,160 Speaker 1: eventually formed her own touring company, and it also fostered 390 00:22:38,160 --> 00:22:40,800 Speaker 1: the creation of a number of notable ballets, such as 391 00:22:40,800 --> 00:22:44,720 Speaker 1: the Firebird in and Petrushka the following year, which were 392 00:22:44,760 --> 00:22:49,280 Speaker 1: developed under choreographer Michel Fouquin. While Diagelev and his company 393 00:22:49,359 --> 00:22:52,160 Speaker 1: survived World War One and continued to work in Europe, 394 00:22:52,280 --> 00:22:55,720 Speaker 1: the Russian Revolution of nineteen seventeen caused a gap to 395 00:22:55,760 --> 00:22:58,880 Speaker 1: form between the ballet rousts and their contemporaries back home. 396 00:22:59,560 --> 00:23:02,760 Speaker 1: As a consequence, there was a fork in the development 397 00:23:02,800 --> 00:23:08,160 Speaker 1: of Russian ballet, with Diaglevs expatriates blending with and influencing 398 00:23:08,200 --> 00:23:12,240 Speaker 1: Western European dance and ballet, and St. Petersburg and Moscow 399 00:23:12,480 --> 00:23:16,720 Speaker 1: evolving in relative isolation. And while touring with the Soviet 400 00:23:16,760 --> 00:23:20,320 Speaker 1: State dancers in the nineteen twenties, a dancer named Georgie 401 00:23:20,400 --> 00:23:24,840 Speaker 1: Valencivads fled the company with his wife and two other dancers, 402 00:23:24,880 --> 00:23:27,600 Speaker 1: and he was welcomed into the ballet rouss by Diagilev 403 00:23:28,200 --> 00:23:31,399 Speaker 1: and under his simplified name given him by Diagilev of 404 00:23:31,480 --> 00:23:34,440 Speaker 1: George Balanchine. He would eventually go on to be seen 405 00:23:34,480 --> 00:23:37,359 Speaker 1: as the father of American ballet, but it was with 406 00:23:37,440 --> 00:23:41,320 Speaker 1: Diagilev that he first started choreographing ballets in collaboration with 407 00:23:41,359 --> 00:23:47,000 Speaker 1: composer Igor Stravinsky. In Balanchine created the neo classical Apollo, 408 00:23:47,400 --> 00:23:50,960 Speaker 1: one of his earliest pieces, which is still performed today. 409 00:23:51,119 --> 00:23:53,280 Speaker 1: Before we close out today's episode, we're going to take 410 00:23:53,280 --> 00:23:56,560 Speaker 1: a quick look at ballet and other places. So the 411 00:23:56,720 --> 00:24:00,600 Speaker 1: Royal Danish Ballet School was founded in seventeen seventy one. 412 00:24:00,720 --> 00:24:04,040 Speaker 1: It operates to this day and academics and dance are 413 00:24:04,080 --> 00:24:07,840 Speaker 1: taught in tandem. In eighteen thirty, August borne on Va 414 00:24:08,200 --> 00:24:11,200 Speaker 1: assumed the leadership of the Royal Danish Ballet and stayed 415 00:24:11,240 --> 00:24:14,840 Speaker 1: in that position for forty seven years. His teachings remain 416 00:24:14,880 --> 00:24:19,280 Speaker 1: at the core of that company's vision today. Denmark's stability 417 00:24:19,359 --> 00:24:21,879 Speaker 1: even before this long run of a career, gave it 418 00:24:21,920 --> 00:24:25,000 Speaker 1: a reputation as a haven for dance. You know, while 419 00:24:25,000 --> 00:24:28,879 Speaker 1: other countries were having all of these upheavals politically and culturally, 420 00:24:29,359 --> 00:24:31,840 Speaker 1: like the Royal Danish Ballet was in essence kind of 421 00:24:31,880 --> 00:24:35,919 Speaker 1: preserving things because they were stable and uh, you know, 422 00:24:36,000 --> 00:24:39,520 Speaker 1: had consistency that other places did not. So often dancers 423 00:24:39,520 --> 00:24:42,200 Speaker 1: would run to Denmark for a little while to um 424 00:24:42,280 --> 00:24:44,879 Speaker 1: or to Copenhagen for a while to work there, just 425 00:24:44,920 --> 00:24:47,520 Speaker 1: because they enjoyed returning to some of the pieces that 426 00:24:47,520 --> 00:24:51,000 Speaker 1: they were no longer doing in their own countries. Italy 427 00:24:51,119 --> 00:24:53,680 Speaker 1: made its own significant contributions, of course, to dance. We 428 00:24:53,760 --> 00:24:57,000 Speaker 1: talked about some at the beginning of the first episode 429 00:24:57,000 --> 00:25:00,000 Speaker 1: of this two parter. In eighteen thirty, Carlo Blaziz, were 430 00:25:00,040 --> 00:25:03,160 Speaker 1: king in Milan, published his book The Code of Terpsickory, 431 00:25:03,359 --> 00:25:06,320 Speaker 1: the Art of Dancing, comprising its theory and practice, and 432 00:25:06,400 --> 00:25:09,280 Speaker 1: a history of its rise in progress from the earliest times. 433 00:25:09,680 --> 00:25:12,840 Speaker 1: It also had the rather charming subtitle intended as well 434 00:25:12,920 --> 00:25:17,720 Speaker 1: for the instruction of amateurs as the use of professional persons. Terpsickory, 435 00:25:17,800 --> 00:25:20,040 Speaker 1: of course, just for context, was a muse and the 436 00:25:20,080 --> 00:25:24,199 Speaker 1: goddess of dance. His book attempted to systematize dance, and 437 00:25:24,240 --> 00:25:26,320 Speaker 1: a lot of the guidelines that he set forth in 438 00:25:26,359 --> 00:25:30,879 Speaker 1: The Code of Terpsickory are still observed today, including a 439 00:25:30,960 --> 00:25:33,919 Speaker 1: more extreme turnout from the hip than had been the 440 00:25:33,960 --> 00:25:37,600 Speaker 1: standard before. The illustrations in the book are identifiable as 441 00:25:37,720 --> 00:25:42,560 Speaker 1: balotic postures even to modern eyes. His work was unique also, 442 00:25:42,600 --> 00:25:45,880 Speaker 1: and that it was mathematically very precise. Uh. And there 443 00:25:46,000 --> 00:25:47,880 Speaker 1: is a section of his work that I really love, 444 00:25:47,920 --> 00:25:51,399 Speaker 1: because he admonished dancers with natural beauty and talent to 445 00:25:51,520 --> 00:25:53,879 Speaker 1: not become lazy and just rely on their good genes, 446 00:25:53,920 --> 00:25:56,320 Speaker 1: and he wrote, quote, do not rely on your own 447 00:25:56,400 --> 00:25:59,720 Speaker 1: natural qualities, and therefore neglect to study or practice so 448 00:25:59,800 --> 00:26:02,640 Speaker 1: much as those to whom nature has been less liberal. 449 00:26:03,200 --> 00:26:05,720 Speaker 1: For were you to possess the symmetry of an Apollo, 450 00:26:05,920 --> 00:26:10,080 Speaker 1: Belvedere or an Antonius, together with the happiest endowments, you 451 00:26:10,080 --> 00:26:13,080 Speaker 1: would have but little reason to expect to attain excellence 452 00:26:13,119 --> 00:26:18,720 Speaker 1: in your profession without study, industry, and perseverance. In nine 453 00:26:18,800 --> 00:26:22,520 Speaker 1: Diagolev died, and with him the Ballet Roosts. Although it 454 00:26:22,640 --> 00:26:25,800 Speaker 1: reformed a number of times under variations on that name, 455 00:26:26,440 --> 00:26:29,320 Speaker 1: and it's twenty year run, the company had included the 456 00:26:29,320 --> 00:26:33,520 Speaker 1: finest dancers of the era, but had collaborated with renowned 457 00:26:33,640 --> 00:26:36,439 Speaker 1: artists on the set and costume designs and posters and 458 00:26:36,480 --> 00:26:43,080 Speaker 1: programs that included Pablo Picasso and previous podcast subject Paul Poire. Yeah, 459 00:26:43,119 --> 00:26:47,520 Speaker 1: there are some beautiful posters that were made for the 460 00:26:47,560 --> 00:26:51,480 Speaker 1: Ballet Rouss in the nineteen twenties in particular, but because 461 00:26:51,480 --> 00:26:54,359 Speaker 1: of the way that Diagolev kind of ReLit the spark 462 00:26:54,400 --> 00:26:57,720 Speaker 1: of ballet. By the time that he died, companies throughout 463 00:26:57,720 --> 00:27:01,360 Speaker 1: Europe were thriving again, and touring ballet companies were traveling 464 00:27:01,400 --> 00:27:04,280 Speaker 1: the globe. He really sort of started this whole second 465 00:27:04,359 --> 00:27:08,199 Speaker 1: industry of touring ballet. In Paris, which had been the 466 00:27:08,200 --> 00:27:10,959 Speaker 1: epicenter of ballet development before it faltered at the end 467 00:27:10,960 --> 00:27:14,400 Speaker 1: of the Romantic era, once again regained its status under 468 00:27:14,440 --> 00:27:17,160 Speaker 1: the guidance of Serge Lefar who ushered it right into 469 00:27:17,200 --> 00:27:20,879 Speaker 1: the mid twentieth century as its ballet master. London also 470 00:27:20,920 --> 00:27:23,920 Speaker 1: saw a sort of modern ballet renaissance in the wake 471 00:27:24,000 --> 00:27:27,920 Speaker 1: of balletus influence. By nineteen forty six, the Royal Opera 472 00:27:28,000 --> 00:27:31,120 Speaker 1: House of London had its own ballet company, which transitioned 473 00:27:31,119 --> 00:27:33,800 Speaker 1: to become the Royal Ballet in nineteen fifty six with 474 00:27:33,920 --> 00:27:37,479 Speaker 1: royal patronage. In nineteen thirty four, George Balanchine, who had 475 00:27:37,520 --> 00:27:40,480 Speaker 1: been working with a number of companies after Diagilev's death, 476 00:27:40,880 --> 00:27:43,840 Speaker 1: established the School of American Ballet at the request of 477 00:27:43,920 --> 00:27:49,119 Speaker 1: dance patron and cultural influencer Lincoln Kirstein. The Ballet Theater 478 00:27:49,280 --> 00:27:51,399 Speaker 1: was founded in New York in nineteen thirty nine. It 479 00:27:51,520 --> 00:27:54,119 Speaker 1: changed its name to the American Ballet Theater in nineteen 480 00:27:54,119 --> 00:27:57,320 Speaker 1: fifty seven, and in nineteen forty six, Kirstein founded the 481 00:27:57,320 --> 00:28:00,600 Speaker 1: Ballet Society under the leadership of George Balance Team that 482 00:28:00,680 --> 00:28:03,679 Speaker 1: became the New York City Ballet In. There is a 483 00:28:03,680 --> 00:28:06,840 Speaker 1: lot more drama in that than that paragraph reveals, but 484 00:28:07,920 --> 00:28:09,720 Speaker 1: there was a lot going on at the time. One 485 00:28:09,720 --> 00:28:12,199 Speaker 1: of the most important aspects of the growth of ballet, 486 00:28:12,280 --> 00:28:15,440 Speaker 1: particularly in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, is how fluid 487 00:28:15,480 --> 00:28:18,520 Speaker 1: it was in terms of actual people. Because the best 488 00:28:18,680 --> 00:28:21,320 Speaker 1: dancers from any given location would often go on to 489 00:28:21,359 --> 00:28:24,840 Speaker 1: travel to other countries to work, they shared the techniques 490 00:28:24,880 --> 00:28:27,800 Speaker 1: and styles of their teachers. So ballet has become an 491 00:28:27,800 --> 00:28:32,000 Speaker 1: international language and a connector that really evolved pretty organically. 492 00:28:32,760 --> 00:28:35,280 Speaker 1: Today you can find a ballet company in almost every 493 00:28:35,280 --> 00:28:38,120 Speaker 1: major city in the world. If a dancer from one 494 00:28:38,200 --> 00:28:40,360 Speaker 1: were to take a ballet class in the other, even 495 00:28:40,400 --> 00:28:42,800 Speaker 1: in a place where they didn't know the native language, 496 00:28:42,840 --> 00:28:47,120 Speaker 1: they could probably manage without too much trouble. Yeah. That 497 00:28:47,280 --> 00:28:50,320 Speaker 1: was uh, one of those things drilled into me by 498 00:28:50,360 --> 00:28:54,040 Speaker 1: early dance teachers. Um Post World War Two ballet has 499 00:28:54,080 --> 00:28:57,000 Speaker 1: of course continued in the classical style, but it is 500 00:28:57,040 --> 00:29:00,000 Speaker 1: also evolved and given rise to new forms of movement 501 00:29:00,080 --> 00:29:03,160 Speaker 1: based expression. It is not uncommon for a modern ballet 502 00:29:03,200 --> 00:29:07,480 Speaker 1: company to have classical ballet but also feature modern or 503 00:29:07,560 --> 00:29:11,920 Speaker 1: experimental dance, and dancers associated with a variety of discipline 504 00:29:11,960 --> 00:29:14,760 Speaker 1: have achieved fame in the twentieth century. So people like 505 00:29:14,800 --> 00:29:17,840 Speaker 1: Martha Graham, Twilight Thorpe, Michail Barishnikov, and of course Miss 506 00:29:17,840 --> 00:29:20,560 Speaker 1: de Copeland all have roots that go back to the 507 00:29:20,560 --> 00:29:24,040 Speaker 1: Court of France. That's very lovely. I love ballet. Like 508 00:29:24,080 --> 00:29:25,480 Speaker 1: I said, I feel bad because I know lots of 509 00:29:25,520 --> 00:29:29,360 Speaker 1: good stuff gets left because there's no way to include 510 00:29:29,360 --> 00:29:32,080 Speaker 1: it all. If you are really interested in learning more, 511 00:29:32,320 --> 00:29:36,560 Speaker 1: there is a fantastic book. It is called Apollo's Angels. 512 00:29:36,600 --> 00:29:38,840 Speaker 1: A History of Ballet is by Jennifer Homans, and it 513 00:29:38,960 --> 00:29:42,280 Speaker 1: came out not that long ago. It is really comprehensive 514 00:29:42,320 --> 00:29:45,680 Speaker 1: in a way that very few books on the history 515 00:29:45,680 --> 00:29:48,840 Speaker 1: of ballet have ever been. She is also a dancer herself. 516 00:29:49,320 --> 00:29:54,280 Speaker 1: Her research is meticulous and amazing, and it is comprehensive. Uh. 517 00:29:54,280 --> 00:29:56,360 Speaker 1: It's really really good read as well. It's just written 518 00:29:56,360 --> 00:29:59,560 Speaker 1: in a way that's fun and enjoyable to take in. 519 00:29:59,760 --> 00:30:01,640 Speaker 1: So highly recommend that I used it a lot on 520 00:30:01,680 --> 00:30:06,800 Speaker 1: this episode. Uh. And obviously I love ballet, so personal 521 00:30:06,880 --> 00:30:10,240 Speaker 1: vested interest in it. You know what else I love 522 00:30:10,520 --> 00:30:14,960 Speaker 1: listener mail? I do? And this this one mentions two episodes, 523 00:30:15,720 --> 00:30:18,040 Speaker 1: uh and food and fashion all in one, even though 524 00:30:18,040 --> 00:30:19,880 Speaker 1: it is not a very long listener mail, but I 525 00:30:19,920 --> 00:30:22,160 Speaker 1: love it. Uh. It is from our listener. I don't 526 00:30:22,160 --> 00:30:24,680 Speaker 1: know if she pronounces it Megan or Megan, but either way, 527 00:30:25,080 --> 00:30:27,680 Speaker 1: she writes, hello, ladies, I thoroughly enjoy your podcast and 528 00:30:27,720 --> 00:30:30,360 Speaker 1: the most recent six Impossible episodes made me laugh out 529 00:30:30,360 --> 00:30:32,960 Speaker 1: loud in my office, which isn't weird anymore. They're used 530 00:30:32,960 --> 00:30:36,120 Speaker 1: to be laughing randomly throughout the day. Uh. She spoke 531 00:30:36,160 --> 00:30:39,960 Speaker 1: specifically about our comment about creole food solving everyone's problems, 532 00:30:40,000 --> 00:30:42,120 Speaker 1: and she just wanted to note that she hasn't met 533 00:30:42,160 --> 00:30:44,200 Speaker 1: an etu fat that hasn't helped out a whole lot. 534 00:30:45,080 --> 00:30:48,880 Speaker 1: I would concur with that sentiment. She also says thanks 535 00:30:48,880 --> 00:30:51,280 Speaker 1: for the Nell Donnely episode. I've lived in Kansas City 536 00:30:51,320 --> 00:30:53,320 Speaker 1: for five years and it's nice learning more about my 537 00:30:53,360 --> 00:30:55,960 Speaker 1: current residence. This town would be a great place for us. 538 00:30:55,960 --> 00:30:57,880 Speaker 1: Stuff you missed a history class live show if you 539 00:30:57,920 --> 00:31:00,320 Speaker 1: ever do a Midwestern tour, uh, in a way thanks 540 00:31:00,360 --> 00:31:02,760 Speaker 1: to the show. It's one of my favorites. Uh yeah, 541 00:31:02,840 --> 00:31:05,680 Speaker 1: we we always have our ongoing list of places we 542 00:31:05,680 --> 00:31:08,640 Speaker 1: would like to be or be invited any of the above. 543 00:31:08,960 --> 00:31:11,320 Speaker 1: Uh So, thank you also me again for sending us that, 544 00:31:11,720 --> 00:31:13,720 Speaker 1: because I like to talk about food and clothes in 545 00:31:13,760 --> 00:31:17,760 Speaker 1: the same breath. If you would like to write to us, 546 00:31:18,040 --> 00:31:20,360 Speaker 1: you can do so at History Podcast at housetop work 547 00:31:20,440 --> 00:31:23,240 Speaker 1: dot com. You can also find us everywhere on social 548 00:31:23,280 --> 00:31:25,520 Speaker 1: media as missed in History, and you can visit our 549 00:31:25,560 --> 00:31:27,960 Speaker 1: website missed in History dot com for all of the 550 00:31:28,000 --> 00:31:30,760 Speaker 1: show notes and episodes that have ever existed of the show. 551 00:31:31,360 --> 00:31:34,040 Speaker 1: Uh and if you are so inclined, you should subscribe. 552 00:31:34,120 --> 00:31:36,360 Speaker 1: You can do that on Apple Podcasts, the I Heart 553 00:31:36,440 --> 00:31:44,479 Speaker 1: Radio app, or anywhere you get podcasts. For more on 554 00:31:44,520 --> 00:31:47,280 Speaker 1: this and thousands of other topics, visit how staff works 555 00:31:47,280 --> 00:31:53,640 Speaker 1: dot com.