Italy / France, 16th century
CLASSICAL BALLET
Royal verticality
Classical Ballet was born in the Italian Renaissance courts, where the "balletto" was danced between courses at princely banquets. It crossed the Alps with Catherine de' Medici, wife of Henry II, who brought to France a taste for choreographed spectacle. But it was Louis XIV, a passionate dancer who performed as the Sun King in "Le Ballet de la Nuit" (1653), who turned it into a matter of state: in 1661 he founded the Académie Royale de Danse and entrusted Pierre Beauchamp with codifying the five positions of the feet, still taught today.
The 19th century was the age of Romantic ballet — La Sylphide, Giselle — when pointe work was invented and ballerinas seemed to float on stage in gauzy tutus. Then came Russian ballet, with Marius Petipa in Saint Petersburg (Swan Lake, The Sleeping Beauty, The Nutcracker): writing of extreme virtuosity, grand pas de deux, dazzling variations. In the 20th century, Sergei Diaghilev, with the Ballets Russes, revolutionized the genre by opening it to Picasso, Stravinsky and Cocteau; then George Balanchine, in New York, invented "neoclassicism" — a stripped-down, musical ballet without plot.
Ballet today is a universal language, transmitted around the world through a handful of great schools (French, Russian Vaganova, Italian Cecchetti, the British Royal Academy of Dance, the American Balanchine school). Each produces distinct bodies and aesthetics. Despite its appearance of lightness, it is one of the most demanding physical disciplines there is: a company dancer trains seven to nine hours a day, five to six days a week, throughout their career.
How it's danced
Technique & figures
Classical Ballet rests on five positions of the feet codified by Beauchamp in the 17th century, and on "turnout" (the external rotation of the legs from the hip). This rotation is the foundation of the entire classical line: it lengthens the silhouette, frees the leg and allows pointe work. The morning barre — the same exercise for dancers the world over for 300 years — is the ritual warm-up: pliés, tendus, jetés, rond de jambe, frappés, adages, grand battements.
Styles and fundamentals
Four great schools coexist today, each with a distinct style. The French school (Paris Opera) favors elegance, precision and simplicity of gesture. The Russian Vaganova school (Saint Petersburg) codifies spectacular virtuosity with in-depth work on the arms (port de bras). The Italian Cecchetti school focuses on speed and cleanliness of the lower leg. The Balanchine school (New York) lengthens the lines, speeds up the tempo and pushes the dancer off their axis. A standard ballet class always follows the same architecture: barre, center, adage, allegro (jumps), grand allegro, révérence.
Main figures
- 01
The five positions
The founding basis: foot positions (1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th) that structure every figure. Codified by Beauchamp in the 17th century under Louis XIV.
- 02
Plié
A bending of the knees, turned out, in all five positions. It precedes every jump and every turn: without plié, no elevation.
- 03
Tendu / Dégagé
Extensions of the foot along the floor (tendu) or slightly lifted (dégagé). They build the foot, that "instrument" which must both stretch and arch.
- 04
Pirouette
A turn on one leg, the other placed in attitude or passé. Single, double, triple or more. Quality rests on the axis, the spotting and the coordination of the arms.
- 05
Grand jeté
A large, extended leap, front leg thrown forward, back leg stretched behind, in a line parallel to the floor. An icon of the classical and neoclassical repertoire.
- 06
Fouetté
A sequence of turns on one leg while the other "whips" through the air. Odile's variation in Swan Lake features 32 consecutive fouettés — one of the technical summits of the repertoire.
- 07
Arabesque
An emblematic line: standing on one leg, the other stretched behind, arms extended. There are four to seven variants depending on the school (Cecchetti, Vaganova).
- 08
Pas de deux
A duet written for a partner who lifts and a ballerina. Classical structure: entrance, adage, male variation, female variation, coda. The dramatic heart of narrative ballet.
Reading the music
Ballet has been the laboratory for a vast share of symphonic music — Tchaikovsky (Swan Lake, The Nutcracker), Stravinsky (The Rite of Spring, The Firebird), Prokofiev (Romeo and Juliet), Ravel (Daphnis et Chloé). The dancer does not merely follow the tempo: they "breathe" the musical phrase, knowing where to place an accent, where to stretch a suspension. Musicality, in ballet, is what separates the technical performer from the artist.
Did you know?
Explore the rhythms
Same family
Fondations Académiques
Cross connections
Styles from other families that share a common language with Classical Ballet.