History of ballet in canada
"Magnificence, extravagance, artificiality, a tiny society in which everyone knew every detail of everyone's life." The preceding sentence best described the court of Louis XIV, the Sun King, and it was into that world that professional ballet was born. Louis was an accomplished dancer and appeared in many court ballets from the age of twelve until he was thirty-two. Though he continued to perform his favorite ballroom dances, various affairs, such as his sense of royal dignity forced Louis to give up court ballets. At the age of fourteen, Louis delivered the performance, which identified him and gave him his popular image. It occurred towards the very end of a thirteen-hour performance when he entered as the "Rising Sun". Many depicted his performance as mere coincidence for he was indeed as brilliant and powerful as the sun, yet at such a young and rising age. He lived to the age of seventy-two, rarely experiencing an illness in his life. Two definitions of dance exist. One written fifty years before Louis was born and the other shortly after his death show his influence helped to make order out of confusion. In 1588 Thoinot Arbeau, a dancing master defined dance as the following: "D
Though much happened between the time of the European ballets to the evolution of ballet in Canada, without Louis XIV and the ground the court ballets broke, we wouldn't have seen dance at all. The main principles of ballet have rarely changed, and it is with thanks to the Sun King that the art is present today. The pioneers of dance in Canada were very few in number and were scattered across the country. Dancers were mainly women and more then half were immigrants from Europe and the United States. The dance population in Canada remained very low due to the fact that it offered little opportunity, so prospective dancers fled the country under an alias to study abroad. Ballets based on Canadian themes encouraged dancers to take interest in studying in Canada. That aspect, along with the Canadian Ballet Festival movement which brought together non-professional companies and met every Spring in different Canadian cities inspired dance in Canada to come alive. When the festival began, in 1948 not one professional ballet company existed, however, by 1954, the festivals were discontinued due to the founding of two professional Ballet companies. Moving into the 1980's, after the resignations of Celia Franca and David Haber from the National Ballet of Canada, the Royal Winnipeg Ballet became the highlight of the three original companies. Having acquired Evelyn Hart and her successes in international competition, Sporh and the RWB began to move the company in the direction of performing more full length classics. In a way, they ventured back to what ballet used to be, and the did it at the best possible time. It provided a solid backbone for the company and completed their repertoire. At the same time, Les Grand Ballets also began to expand by bringing in many already acclaimed dancers. They began to make their name again, where for some time it had been somewhat lost. James Kudelka left the National Ballet to become a principal dancer for Les Grands Ballet and he made for a body of work that reinforced his reputation. People began to pay more and more attention to les Grands Ballets as Kudelka was named one of the best young choreographers to turn up in ballet in recent years.
Some common words found in the essay are:
Sun King, Ballet Canada, Louis XIV, Thoinot Arbeau, National Ballet, Rising Sun, Europe United, Swan Lake, John Weaver, Ballets Kudelka, national ballet, ballet canada, professional ballet, winnipeg ballet, court ballets, louis xiv, dance canada, sun king, les grands, celia franca, les grands ballets, national ballet canada, court ballets age, national ballet school,
Approximate Word count = 1485
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)
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