« Stuff You Missed in History Class

A Brief History of Ballet, Pt. 1

2019-01-07 | 🔗

For a long time, there was no formalized dance in western culture. Eventually, court performers in Europe were asked to also teach their audiences how to dance, blending the worlds of performance and social dancing, and creating a new art form.

Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an unofficial transcript meant for reference. Accuracy is not guaranteed.
I dont think America has ever gone back to the way that it was before the DC sniper. The gunman most likely a skilled marksmen fired six times in the course of sixteen hours, the police say they have never had a crime. Quite like this. It is quite a mystery and then, as the DC sniper case, unfolded that terror boldly grew. This was the most intense man Hunt in american law enforcement. History, listen to monster DC, sniper on the eye hard radioactive apple podcast. Or wherever you get your pockets. Welcome to stuff you missed in history class from Housetop works, tat come alone, one upon can somehow we fry and I'm crazy. We will then citizens this is it
there were a lot of people in our listener base, have just even I cracker, including me. I had just thought on Thursday, which is a ballet standard for Christmas time is, like a good time to delve into where ballet began and how it became codified, and we have covered a couple, a famous ballet dancers on the podcast, including Maritime Yoni, in two thousand thirteen and Maria Tall Chief in twenty fourteen, and after of those. We had a number of requests for a general ballet history episode. So, finally, years later here we are we lotta. Caveats perfect that this this episode is a two partner, and even so it leaves so much out Ballets beginnings in the Royal Court of France meant that in many ways it became tied to national identity, not just in France but in the various places that it develop after that, which also meant that the political shifts of
western world, impacted it in a variety of ways, and we cannot put a comprehensive history of the west into a ballet episode. Over the period to any one episode so did just a lot of things touch this particular topic in ways that are not easy to be inclusive of everything. Also because of the way ballet develop. There is a good bit of french history and smattering of other nations, but again brief. Only if you love ballet, I feel I studied there has for a long time, and I would really really be happy to wax rep I take over every single step, inches L, which is one of my personal favorites, or talk about the astonishingly beautiful costumes in valentines jewels. There really pretty Google that if you want to see some pretty but we can't go to endeavour to anyone by way, although Ugly ony in Lhasa feed does get a good bit of talk because it's a pivotal moment in valet history, so inch
I just want to reiterate the brief in the title, a brief history of ballet, even though it Isn T ports are here. I am imagining a whole college course. That's like history of Europe and Asia, through the lens of ballet. That would be bad the meeting. I had a whole college coarse and even it still covered only western and could not get too everything like it's just too much like as a bare so many pieces, Emily. Part of it will talk about this at the end, but the way ballot migrated around through dancers travelling in daily answers travelling. It also gets really complex in terms of the world stage, literally because everything is touching each other in ways that might not happen in the development of some other cultural phenomenon right. So you
and have undoubtedly danced in some way or another, pretty much for as long as we have existed. But while most people have a natural response of moving when there's rhythmic music, it's not necessarily structured or choreographed, the average person might know some popular contemporary steps or you could be like me, and now none of them and to speak awkward, all the time you paint break there is that it weddings there other those engagements, but comparatively few have formally studied dance and for a long time there was no formalised dance in western culture. Overtime. Performers who had been entertaining the courts of Europe, such as jugglers and acrobats, were then also asked to teach their audiences to dance, and this blended, the worlds of performance and social dancing in it created an entirely new profession. That of the dance educator who taught grace and etiquette, as well as danced steps
the man, who is often cited as the first dancing master in the western timeline is Dominica, Dupuis agenda and truthfully there are probably other people beforehand, but he's the first one. That's really documented. He attends our wrote, the first dance manual in Europe in one thousand four hundred and sixteen it was titled on the art of dancing and directing choruses. It's important to note that Piacenza he was about sixteen. When this work was published was doing what a lot of dance instructors were doing time, combining both music and dance and his work yeah, we'll see more later on that dance runs very parallel with music and see it even once again to a very theatrical point, a lot of opera and dances very linked. P agenda, who eventually was needed in the order of the golden sperm choreographed dances,
for a variety of social events for nobility, including weddings and festivals throughout ITALY. In the last decades of his life, several of those dances and their accompanying musical notations were published his ideology, and teaching focused on things like really understanding musical tempo and letting it guide the body and also maintaining a light and agile motive. Movement always ready to move on to the next step and his writing. He stated quote this necessitates that at each tempo one appears to have seen Medusas add, as the poet says, and be of stone in one instant and in another instant, take flight like a falcon driven by hunger. He really thought they have. As a union of intellect and effort to create beauty, and he thought that it helps to be naturally beautiful to be the best possible answer, something I think people still think today.
B, I love his advice about like always be ready to move again, because when you see novices learning steps, that's usually what trips them up is that they are like I'm thinking about this step, I have complete the step and then other people are moving on to the next step. Other, like I have completed the step in and of itself is really good advice, but them give can only when it oh, you better- be pretty one of Phd students with Antonio cornered Sano, who was a poet and biographer as well as a dancing master. A lot of these people had very diversified recipes. Antonio became the dancing master of some of MILAN most wealthy and influential families, and he wrote his own book book of the art of the dance or another of Dominica deputies of students gleam. A break the Pizarro, who is often seen as Giovanni Ambrogio, because the name he assumed later on in his life contributed also
to the early western record of codifying dance and his fourteen sixty three book treatise on art of dancing included descriptions of dozens of large scale court dances from the era. Yet this point a lot What was being written down and an codified was not about steps but lake. The shapes that people should make in a in a ballroom to create a damn in ITALY, continued to be central in Europe, in the incorporation of structured and choreographed dance into its celebrations in events throughout the fifteenth century and into the sixteenth on January, thirteenth. Fourteen ninety one of the most famous productions of the Renaissance era with staged it was called Festival Paradiso or feast of paradise and that was staged by Leonardo Da Vinci, based on the work of poet, Bernardo Balance Yoni in MILAN Festival parodies. I was part performance, art and part architectural marvel, and it was stage to celebrate the marriage of
golly, Aser, Sforza and Isabella of Aragon. The production had lavish scenery that depicted Jupiter, surrounded by planets and stars. The stage revolved in roman gods and goddesses Raul included in this welcomed isabella. There have been entire books written about this one event, but for the purposes of this discussion, the germane aspect is that there was an entire prologue. Of dance performances in honour of the newlyweds. You have. There have been various modern recreations of this event, but it is just described in all rating. As this astonishing thing, it's like one of those things that the people that were there for it we're almost revered for having been at a marked an important moment in history I'm coming up. We are also going to talk about a woman who is mentioned on the pot gas fairly frequently, and it has been the focus some of our recent classics and that's Catherine Domenici, but first we are going to pause and have a little sponsor break
the thing saving money with Geico was almost better than playing pick up basketball, because there's always that Who joins your game? He never passes the rock he certainly bricks theories and who completely You and then put his hands up and say no foul, no foul, with Geico it's easy switch and save on car insurance, no, need to fake an ankle sprain because you're absolutely exhausted so We can save with Geiger it's almost better than sports. Up to this point, the slow codification of dance was happening largely in ITALY, but it's nor even passingly, familiar with ballet. You know that all The terminology for it is in French, and we actually have Catherine domenici to thank for that when Catherine
married on Riva seconds of France in one thousand five hundred and thirty three, she brought a lot of italian customs and culture into the french court. Wasn't as though France did not have plenty culture of its own about Catherine, missed the very over the top celebrations that she had been growing up with sir. She encourage the development of the kinds of dances and events such as Poletti and Valley that she had loved at home back in ITALY. At this point, these ballets, as the french call them, were formal social events, although in some cases the specific steps were adapted as performances yeah, but even those performances were not like set apart, from the event they were kind of in the middle of it almost the way you would have like a dance line at a modern attempts where people go through and they show off their skills kind of like that, accept much more formal and not as freestyle and, of course, you have listened to the podcast. You know that Catherine Domenici was involved in all manner of political intrigue,
She was no innocent, so I don't want to try to paint a picture of her as some benevolent purveyor of culture from ITALY to France, but her influence on the arts of Europe is significant. In one thousand five hundred and eighty one Balthazar to Bush, while you're, who had traveled from ITALY to the Court of France and one thousand five hundred and fifty five is a musician staged first ballet that we have the complete record for his creation was ballet comic, Dela ran enough. The queen's comic ballet, created as part of the celebration of the marriage of Marguerite De Lauren to the Duke De Joyas in October, that was October 15th of one thousand five hundred and eighty one, and this performance included singing and poetry as well as dancing. It also has to five and a half hours. This was expensive to produce and the price tag for that particular piece of entertainment, three point: six million gold francs and yes, there were absolutely people at court who spoke very
ethically of that level of expenditure. At a time when France was in conflict and should not have been throwing money around, but this production also had a massive influence for one thing: it's that a trend that inspired courts of other countries, the similarly stage massive there go performance. Is it also sparked not only the development of ballet is an art form, but also opera. Ballet comic De Lorraine was narrative. It was the story of Sis II from Homers odyssey, although is ultimately the king of France, to whom sarcey boughs and this version that performance was and by members of the courts and while it may be called the first ballet, it was not up on a stage. It was just the middle of a ballroom young lady said everybody's, just kind of at the same level dancing sharing their their production. This performance had been the result of more than a decade of effort, and
classifieds thing about art at the Academie De Poesia De Musique, which was founded in one thousand five hundred and seventy by Catherine's son, Charles, the ninth France. He gets the same disclaimer is his mother regarding off NBA the cause of a lot of political intrigue, not just a benevolent patron of the arts, the Academy was established on the idea that humans could achieve a certain level of spiritual grace through the study of the arts and this sort of runs pay well to the use of the electrical spectacles and celebration as a way to counter the heavy conflict of France at the time conflict that this, the family in the royal staging. These byways were often party to, and also often the cause of and in terms of bellies history ballet comic, Dilah rain. It started trend and it isn t just inspiring other nations to do the same basic thing. That was the ballet the core or the court ballet. It just means that it was
answers and which the performers and the audience were mostly all members of the courts with monarchs sometimes participating as performers. What sort of a by us for US art in an extremely exclusive sense- and it also made dancing a serious and intellectual form of expression. Then the french court, so it could reflect political and religious ideologies. There was the degree to which these court dances were really being used to say the minds of the aristocracy. It was sort of like look. How ordered beautiful. All of this is France is obviously doing just fine Francis Wurtz, doing great yoga. Look what we make we're so amazing yeah, it's one of those weird things here. You realize just how completely separate the lives of the haves and have nots were at this period. The ballet two core and its predecessors were fundamentally just building on exist,
dance steps that would be part of any fancy social function and because of that right, ups on staging had always been pretty vague about how to actually do these steps. It appears that there are. The presumption that the reader of any such documentation would just know how to do the boss of dance or the gavotte. So instructions tended to focus on the shapes that the dancers should form up in where they should physically be in relation to other groups or other dancers, and throughout this these dance performances were still part of much larger production that included singing and spoken word segments. Finally, in one thousand five hundred and eighty eight someone wrote down and instruction manual of how to actually do this depths of ballet and how those steps should interact with the music. The author of this work was Johan, taboo row, who is a priest? Writing as twemlow are bow forecastle graffiti, not only codified. All of these court dances dating
to the twelfth century, but it also did so in a way that made it accessible to every one. Yes, theoretically, are both writing to people by any novice, and they would go now. I know how to dance the rain of Lily the Fourteenth famously put France on the map as the nexus of the arts in Europe. Really. The fourteenth was in many ways, far more interested in art and politics, and his decision to bolster all kinds of arts when he was king, shaped the identity of France in ways that continue to reverberate today and dance was certainly part of that, but his predecessor lily the thirteenth train from one thousand six hundred and ten to one thousand six hundred and forty three was also really enamored with the ballet decor. It was regular and enthusiastic participant as a performer the designer and under Lily the thirteenth ballets, we're still very much part of a party atmosphere at court. They became raucous, filled with innuendo and even crass humor, and they were wildly popular a little to popular too
degree, because in some cases the king couldn't even get through the crowds that were gathering to see the performances to make his entrance hated I'll clubbed up to see the gang and could not because they were blocking him. It was during Lui the thirteenth time as monarch that the stage emerged, bringing the spectacle of I lay up off of the floor and its also when the idea of the audience and the performers occupying separate spaces really established itself at least, is related to ballet theatres were built with backstage areas, an entrance wings and the types of rigging that enabled the performance of the ballet to become more of an artful deception. When the audience and shared the floor with the performer, First, there was never any real way to just lose yourself in the wilful suspension of disbelief that the characters in the story were real
when the artists were creating a show separated from the crowd and only seen in character and all the scenery tricks were concealed, the audience could get swept up in the magic of the performance and suddenly the phrase. The suspension of disbelief would not be coin for another two hundred years, when Are you sure about that idea? And next up we are getting to the man who often gets a lot of credit when it comes to ballets development, as I mentioned a moment ago, kingly the fourteenth, but before
We are going to have a little break and have a word from a sponsor. Who is my pants? Who is Nancy Pelosi there? Two of the most powerful people in government today, but how they get their minds, Shaw, Mauro and on who is the first podcast from now this, and I heart radio I'll, tell you the stories of the most important politicians in America and beyond through interviews with the reporters and experts who know them best. There is no Illuminati, there's no deep state, but the roar these people on who is a cover. Everything from sent a majority leader, Ms Mcdonald, answering machine to Senator Elizabeth, warns, favorite junk food to wear Secretary of Education, Betsy Divorce and her husband went on their first date, one no more tune in to who is on Tuesday.
On the whole radio up apple pie, casts or wherever you get your guests during Lily. In the fourteenth very long reign that stretched from the mid seventeenth century into their early eighteenth century, the idea of really perfecting dance steps came into focus, establishing a true standard of technique, which remains a keystone of Bali practice today in lieu the fourteenth loved dancing. He began performing at eight thirteen, and he was quite good both because he had a very natural talent and because he practiced for several hours every day. We should mention that during this time, social dance was also at a fever pitch of popularity, while the king and other dancers perfected their steps for presentation they and the rest of the court were also working on steps for the ballroom, less theatrical activities
The minuet in particular, became an important dance and was often the grand finale of a series of dances at a large celebration and most social dancin performance. Dance continued to be intertwine example, lay play zero delete, all shanty, that's the pleasures of the enchanted island was a three day. Events that featured performers doing everything from serving food at banquets, two dancing in the finale by Leigh. This took place at Versailles in one thousand six hundred and sixty four. As that property was beginning, its transition from being a hunting lodge to becoming a palace and the whole spectacle both entertained Andrea. Where's. The hierarchy, rank structure and level of royal favor of everyone involved. Lui the fourteenth was both the star and an observer. So, for the climactic finish professional dancer took over the lead that we, the fourteenth, had been performing so that the king could sit back and watch Lou. The fourteenth also founded the first formal dances institution in the west,
World Academy, royal dance in one thousand six hundred and fifty one of this enterprise he selected enterprise. He thirteen dancing now stirs for the academy and they had a list of tasks they needed to develop standards of dance technique. They needed to document existing ballets they could be repeated according to their standards and they had to test and a credit dance teachers. These thirteen masters who call themselves the elders were, of course highly connected to them. The court and the problem with all of this was that there was already a performers guild in France, which included dancers, as well as acrobats musicians, etc, and the professional dancers who appeared in court product alongside the nobility were already members of that existing guild, confidently Essentially, the minutes earlier, which had been founded in Paris in thirteen twin once we lose a long standing tradition and in addition to China,
when during the long standing guilds power. This new dance academy also argued guild. Members attempted to divorce dance for music, which was completely anathema and, in their opinion, disrespectful to both aspects of the arts. While this academy system created tension and set up some dancing teachers as court, or making them wealthy in the process. The real goal of noting dance in written form was for Louie the Fourteenth to be able to export ballet. Basically, he wanted french influence in the arts to be taught us. So that it could be admired and emulated- and this was the case with academies he established and other disciplines as well- including architecture, painting and fencing here he's, come up and in a number of episodes on the show- and he really was the big
meaning of France being the taste makers of Europe and then the rest of the world that was kind of a very calculated move on his part that they would be the best and all of the arts. At this point, la belle dolls, also known as french, noble style, dance or baroque dance starch should really become a precursor to what we call classical ballet today. But at this point, though, there were women involved in court performances. It was all really about male performers, rather than women and lobby dolls was a male only form simultaneously. The ballet the cor was shifting into a new format, Moliere Comedy ballet, which were shorter. Eight or production than these hours and hours and hours and hours long spectacles at the court had been seeing up. This point are becoming the favoured adoration of these types of performances. They still combined dance and spoken word, her and even as they secured the nobility and ambition, and that dishonor of using danced move up socially. As look Bush,
that alone did they were applauded for their wits rather than condemned for base We marking the audience, it was also underline the fourteenth watch that the five positions of the feet that are about way were first laid out as established by Pierre Beauchamp, the direct of the academy royalty dolls and he also devised notation system that was codified later. By Raul Jose four thousand eight hundred and forty eight publishers, notation and other notes on things such as arm positions and ideal bodies for dance in his one thousand seven hundred book choreography allowed to declare ladon. So that's cool Fior, the or the art of describing dance. Meanwhile, the Academy Roy out the music founded in sixteen sixty nine would eventually become the Paris opera. Jean Baptiste Lee became headed innovation and sixteen seventy two and he made a series of moves to ensure the organizations, power and prestige secluded, negotiating
firms that made it illegal for other theatre is the stage productions of the same size and scale as the royally established institution Over time, ballet performances started to fall under the auspices of this organisation. Here, that's a little bit of a political intrigue. They kind of took power from the academy to dance. And that is where we're going to leave off for the moment This time we are literally picking up right where we left off- and we are going to a major milestone in the dance world right off the bat. So you have some listener mail. Before we close out, may we I do. I have to post guards and turn them when we do postcards are going to do a couple at a time our first Coast Guard that I wanted to mention it tomorrow, Yes, it is from the Warsaw Uprising Museum. She just wrote high.
Then leave as it did. The Warsaw Uprising Museum in Warsaw, Poland, an event unknown to me until I visited, but it plays a big part in the city and countries national identity and could be an interesting topic idea for your pack est. Thank you for your great punk has just. This is a very striking picture. I want to say it's beautiful, but there's a little bit of melancholy too, but it's really lovely. So thank you just for thinking of us. I am always us so odd that people take time while travelling to write us a postcard, because I can't even manage out for my closest friends are second postcard for comes from our listener. Phoebe, it is from Biosensor bastion traits dear see and Holly. Thank you for all. You do to make history accessible and entertaining I've been listening to your podcast for about one and a half years now, and while I dont always get around to every episode, I love all of them that I do here. There's no shame in that. We'll have finite time to listen to things. I can't keep up with my bike ass. I will never shame anybody over that. One
This is my third year. She goes on to say of living in Spain and it can get a bit lonely and isolating living in a foreign country with a foreign tongue. Your podcast is one of the few. I listen to you to make myself more comfortable here. So thank you for I was keeping me company. I wanted to write, tell you how much I enjoyed your episode about Catalina D, a thousand the lieutenant none I used to live in peace, and would go to done Astir, often and I loved getting to learn about such a dynamic character from my own backyard. This is coming to you so late, because I wanted to get you a postcard from they are so she'd than describes what their postcard is, which is our main beach, which is called Le Conquer, which means the shell and then she says, keep up the absolutely excellent work and more about Spain. Please shit! It's so delightful and thank you so much Phoebe is a really cool panoramic postcards that beautiful long landscape view of this area- and it looks absolutely
torches and makes me want to visit. If you would like to write to us, you can do so in history. Pon cast at Helstone work start calm here. Right is everywhere and social media as missed in history, and you can visit us on our website, which is missed in history, dot com. It would also be grand of you to subscribe to the show, which is something you can do on Apple pod, catch the eye, heart radio However, you get your pod gas for more on this and thousands of other topics visit Housetop works, dotcom carrying rocker is applied.
Best coming of age story about finding a home in rock music and learning to flourish and your own weird way. It's also a series of letters and advice to my younger self if she navigates the pressures of adolescence deals with social anxiety, body issues and relationships and discovers the transformative power of music. Walker comes to you from double Elvis production is created and hosted by Nijal Pearson and executive produced by Jake Brennan Disgraceland episode. One drops Wednesday January 15th, listen to dear on the I radio, app apple pod costs or wherever you get your podcast,
Transcript generated on 2020-01-14.