En connaissez-vous beaucoup sur le ballet? We were speaking in French, which is the language ballet terms are in. What we meant to say was, “do you know a lot about ballet?” If the answer is yes, then you can do an Arabesque and keep reading, but if the answer is no, you should have read this a long, long time ago.
Ballet began during the Renaissance in the early 1500s in Italy. After Catherine de Medici married French king Henry ll she introduced him to ballet. At first, dancers wore masks, layers upon layers of brocaded costuming, large headdresses, and ornaments. This clothing was hard to dance in. That’s why dances back then were composed of small hops, slides, curtsies, and gentle turns.
Now that you know some history about ballet, let’s talk some more about the terms in ballet. Do you know what a frappé is? And I know what you are thinking, but no. Frappé is not a type of coffee, it is a term in ballet. Frappé means hit or strike. You usually do Frappés at the barre, but sometimes you do them in centre.
What kind of dancing might you do in a sink? TAP DANCING! So now let’s get to the pointe. Pointe shoes are what ballerinas wear. Pointe shoes are specially made shoes worn by ballerinas to allow them to dance on their tippy toes. Pointe shoes look really graceful, but they are actually made up of a rigid box made of densely packed layer of fabric, cardboard and paper hardened by glue.
Ballet is beautiful and elegant and you should go try it!