Ballet

Ballet is a highly disciplined and elegant form of dance that emphasizes grace, precision, strength, and technique. It’s the foundation of many other dance styles—such as lyrical, contemporary, and jazz—because of its focus on alignment, balance, and control.

Ballet is both an art form and a technical discipline. It combines music, movement, and storytelling to express emotion or convey a narrative.
It’s known for its structured vocabulary of steps and positions, its poised aesthetic, and its demanding physical technique.

Origins

• Originated in Italian Renaissance courts in the 15th century.

• Developed further in France under King Louis XIV (who founded the first ballet school).

• Perfected and formalized in Russia, leading to the great classical ballets like Swan Lake, The Nutcracker, and Sleeping Beauty.

• Today, it exists in many forms, including classical, neoclassical, and contemporary ballet.