The History of Ballet

The history of ballet can be traced to the Italian Renaissance in the 15^th and 16^th centuries.  When Catherine de Medicis left Italy to marry King Henri II of France in 1553, she introduced her culture of ballet to France.  Louis XIV started the Academie Royale de Musique (the Paris Opera) on the late 17^th century.  The Paris Opera Ballet became the first professional theatrical ballet company.  This strong French influence can be seen in the predominance of French in the vocabulary of ballet.  The Royal Danish Ballet and the Imperial Ballet of Russia began in the 1740s.  In 1907 the Russian ballet moved back to France.  Before long, new ballet companies formed all around the world. 

For a great instructional book on ballet  Click Here!