Ballet Evolved: How ballet class has changed over the centuries
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- Опубліковано 16 лют 2016
- Barre work in ballet has changed considerably over the last 200 years. Find out more at www.roh.org.uk
From its origins at the French court, the ballet class has evolved through the centuries. Join Ursula Hageli as she explores this ballet tradition with dancers of The Royal Ballet.
Modern ballet class starts with increasingly complex exercises at the barre before the dancers move into the centre. It’s a format that has remained more or less unchanged since ballet technique first began to be codified in the early 19th century, by the influential teacher and dancer Carlo Blasis. But the exercises themselves have changed quite a bit, as former ballet mistress Ursula Hageli explains in this Ballet Evolved Insight.
Ursula is joined by six Royal Ballet dancers to demonstrate how exercises have changed from Blasis’s era through the late 19th century and right up to the modern dancer: ‘we’re going to see side by side how the dancers have got much more supple and movements have got bigger’.
One fundamental change in ballet since Blasis’s day is the dancers’ turn-out, which has ‘increased from 45 degrees to 90 degrees, which is actually a very difficult thing to do - we have to do that by holding onto the muscles at the top of the leg. However, when all this turn-out started it wasn’t quite as well thought through, so they had a vice to turn out the feet - which must have been excruciatingly painful’.
An obvious difference to the class itself is the length of exercises. Class today at The Royal Ballet lasts about 90 minutes (45 minutes each at the barre and in the centre) and covers a wide range of movements. In Blasis’s day ‘the barre used to last just 15 minutes, because they just did two or three exercises and that was it. Today’s dancers are doing more exercises but of shorter duration’. - Розваги
Oh man the 1820 plies are so slow, I woulda died of frustration if I was doing those
Maddie Fishblob
I've done them,they are exhausting,but like the girl dancer said it really help you focous on ehat your doing.
it's where u put ur focus tho
I think for beginners it would be a good thing to do, because it would help them understand where each part of the leg and muscel is placed during the move.
Is it the slower the harder?
@@katsuki116 yes, and our teacher prefer to do plie from very slow and then speed up till the speed shown in the video as modern ^-^
The 'plastic poses' had me in stitches. NO, MOM I'M NOT BEING DRAMATIC, IM JUST DOING MY STRETCHES!
Anne Katrine Kamper
Have to say the warm ups in the past are more refined. Like they are performances in extension to the actual dance.
I laughed till I cried at those too. Marcelino is such a ham!
Marcelino is brilliant! I had to replay his mime part.
That rhymed!
i don't know how i got here but this is super interesting
The Sponge happened to me as well
Same
I'm here third time, still awesome
Haha yeah here two years later! Legit read the description and at 2230...why not?!
I am your 2000 like
Whoever decided men should wear tights was an absolute genius.
👍😀
Honestly! 😁
KARINA ELLIOTT uhhh...why? In ballet tights are worn so that you can see all of their muscles and extensions without anything in the way
Love the black tights and white T, preferably white shoes as well!. What, no leg warmers!!!
Yes I agree 😀
What I learned: I would have been a great ballerina in the 1820’s. No turn out? No pointe work? I would have killed it. 😂
SAME
@@apostoliach4793 Yes, same xD
SIONO SAMEEE
Same, 💯%
sameee, my turn out sucks!
I did ballet for several years, but I never stayed with one class,so I just did beginner's ballet for ten years. Long story short, I'm really good at stretches not so great at dancing
XD
story of my life -__-
and mine too!
This honestly made laugh out loud😂😂
I honestly thought I was alone
im not alone ;-;
I can feel the pain of a 16 count grand plié through my screen
Present day ballerina casually puts her foot in a giant rubber band and bends her back like 180 degrees. Yup, seems normal.
Jaina Solo the move is called a penche and it’s very lovely looking in a dance and it’s so hard to do. The stretch band or “rubber band” helps to give it some resistance, so when you do it without, it seems easier and it stretches you more.
Emmy Weimer I know. I actually do ballet. I was just making a joke, because it seemed kind of funny. Sorry if my sense of humor came off as ignorance.
Jaina Solo ahh sorry lol I hope I didn’t come off as rude
@@jainasolo50 You didn't seem ignorant. You just seemed to be expressing awe over the dancer's amazing ability.
@@K4ndieboi You didn't seem rude. You just seemed to be explaining the technique, but without sounding like a know-it-all and without any unnecessary "attitude." But the fact that you guys both apologized to one another shows that you're both kind, intelligent and classy. 😊 Which is rare here on UA-cam, to be sure!
It's the whole idea of dancing that has changed. Today the athletic component is very prominent. In the early XIX century you were gracefully telling a story without words.
Marcellino is adorable and what a handsome man!
so true
i think he was the blue catapilar in alices adventures in wonderland one year
Amin Siagian my gawd haha
@@avocadokid4392 lol, hahahah
@Luxeaux Svay He's going to have to be a crush-Apparently, he's gay.
I would have liked this to be zoomed out the entire time so it's easier to really compare, still I found this very informative and interesting.
That was completely fascinating. I want another hour of that, minimum.
katie kawaii I want an hour of plastic poses highkey
I enjoy these historical comparisons because I'm interested in ballet from a general fitness/movement perspective so its nice to see how things started; the plastic poses and slow movements are more isometric strength training, compared to some of the fast small movements you see in the modern dancers.
Of course. That's why you're interested in ballet. The physical aspect of it.😉
I think the comment was valid as it could be an artistic or performing endeavor as one's priority. I also do it for health benefits and the commentor is completely correct. The isometric fascial compression and releases are unique to ballet and incredibly beneficial. Love it.
Karl Toth hey, are you continuing being interested in fitness ballet?
She lit up when the couple doing the older style curtsied to her. It was so sweet!
my ballet class is doing everything the 1880s way haha
Me too
magdalena c same
hannah cheang mine is a mix of the middle group and the group with the girl in the dress.
hannah cheang same!!
Same.My class is ran like the 1820s and the 1880s,my studio still has us curtsy at the end of class.
They should credit the fabulous pianist in the description! What great choices of music... Marriage of Figaro, Carmen, and Midsummer Night's Dream, all in one class!
I'm so jealous of their feet!
+miranda's bae Yes, Mr. 1880s had feet to drool for!
not until you look at them barefoot lol
you mean legs. Those are some ripped legs. Feet are probably awful.
I have ehlers-danlos syndrome and I can do that without a warm-up I promise you having those type of feet is the most painful experience and you don't want it. For people who have feet like this regular walking can pop your toe out of place and it will feel like your foot is broken for the next week. This life is a curse.
when you figure out you did 6 years of 1880 mixed with some 1820 classes... it does explain a lot of things...
I think we must be a similar age because I certainly had to curtsey to my teacher when I took my Royal Academy classes as a kid :))
It keeps getting harder and harder for humans to do anything, be it ballet, gymnastics, dance (any kind)! Football, basketball, etc. We are constantly pushing the human limits. It’s kind of sad how much we expect of these people now.
I've been looking at Checctti again.
The posing was so funny😂😂
ikr she dabbed
Angelina Tohlakai
7:54 Me on the left: Mom please don't take my wifi away!
Mom: i'm sorry son, but you miss study 40 hours a day.
@@juliantotriwijaya9208 40 hours... twoset?
@@genericworldoutput YES :D
Can we just take a moment to appreciate how amazing their feet and legs are. Their arches are insane and they have such amazing hyperextension and turnout... also I feel so bad for the ballet dancers representing the 1820s cause man the long slow barre and floor work were always the worst especially those pliés those killed controlling your muscles down slowly than slowly back up
I really like the 1800s onservative clothing. Looks more elegant and refined. Even though the dancers are more flexible now, there’s smth very pleasing to the old movements
Funny, but historically dancers used to have much longer careers than they do now, so they must have been doing something right. I would not make fun.
well, they weren't putting the same strain on their muscles, you saw what the modern dancers were doing in terms of stretching. I think nowadays, every dancer probably does more shoes as well, which, if they have lots of jumps can't be brilliant for your knees.
Exactly. And without them and that period we wouldn’t have ballet as it is today. We owe a lot to the group who originated the art and the following generations that kept it alive.
It's times like these I wish youtube had a 'heart' button! I've always loved ballet but been too shy to dance. I want to learn more about all of the mimes, haha
Glad you enjoyed the video. You can see more about ballet mime through the below videos:
ua-cam.com/video/2UtQAoLVu2A/v-deo.html
ua-cam.com/video/WaZnAyXsX4k/v-deo.html
ua-cam.com/video/6E24RojO4vI/v-deo.html
And you can read more about ballet's use of mime here www.roh.org.uk/news/cracking-the-code-the-meaning-of-mime-in-ballet
Thank you! Very interesting : >
I grew up watching the dance moms girls and my mom always thought it wasn’t something I was interested in so she never put me in them, but this year (I’m 15) I persisted and she finally put me in them. I started with ballet but now I’m in jazz and I’m trying out for the competition team soon. You should try it! Your confidence will grow as your technique and your dancing improves. It’s one of the best choices I ever made honestly.
I think there's already some ❤'s so that when you want to respond to a post or you want to initiate a conversation you can use these❣😍😘💃💑💘❤💓💔💕💖💗💙💚💛🧡💜🖤💝💞💟❣💌
Peace🙂✌
I wanted to learn ballet but I never had the money to when I was little, now I'm 19 and never took a dance class in my life can i still sign up for classes even though my age?
It's never too late to start dancing - you should give it a go.
It can be daunting when you are a late starter, but if you are determined enough then it is very very possible. Some dancers start when they are 20, 25, even 30. It all depends on how much you want it.
Mariel Martinez I'm starting tomorrow and I'm 19:)
Mariel Martinez well mariel you may take as a hobbie or as a recreational activity
Me too, me too
I would love to see a ballet choreographed in the 1820s style. Please make this happen ROH or someone!
It's very interesting to see this from a musician's perspective. Especially as a voice performance major it's very intriguing to see performance etiquette in different eras and types of performing art.
are you sure 1880 ?because it looks very similar to the ballet classes I went to in the 1980s ....
and having seen photos and films of the likes of Kasarvina , Pavlova( 1900s ... paintings and photographs by Degas .... your 1880 is completely incorrect
These ballett classes look like the ones I went to between 2000 to 2011 :-D I was confused as well
Royalbrettania I went to classes like that too in the 2000s lol
IKR?!! The entire time I was thinking "wow this is so similar to how I was taught in the early 2000s." And then she said 1880s and I was like WTF??
I thought that too about my ballet classes from 1997 onwards, but I think that's because my school taught 'classical' ballet? I think she described it like that at the beginning.
Beautiful!! Our only wish is that the camera had given us a shot of all the dancers at once, so we could compare!
Very informative, and great staging, dancing, and piano.
You could almost make a ballet with scenes of this format.
I was assigned to write a short story about the evolution of ballet and this was really helpful! it was also fun to watch ❤️
Marcelino is an absolute treasure!
To be honest - I really liked the look and the style of the 1820 more than the others. I love the costumes and the slowness for some reason. Imagine - they only had 15 minutes of bar exercises, but everything was so isolated and precise. I would think that would lead to gorgeous muscles and great muscle memory. I also like the politeness of the era. I wonder what their actual ballets must have looked like - aside from theatrical spectacle, I am certain that must not have been as athletic as dancers are now. I am sure it was more about storytelling and artistry than technically awe inspiring stamina and moves. So I think it would be very cool (maybe daring and ambitious) for them to put on a short ballet using only the costumes, music, theatrics, and sensibility of the 1820s. I would also like to see some innovation. If "ballet" pays homage to the old traditions then someone should create "ballEx" (ballet experimenta) that winks ahead to the future. I would love to see how The Wiz, Grease, Pretty Woman, or The Breakfast Club would look as a ballet.
Oh I love the idea of ballEx! I also would like to see modern day plays mixed with ballet, it sounds so artsy and fun.
I must say, the gentleman performing the 1800's repetitions is one of the most beautiful individuals I've ever seen.
This is so interesting! With the "devices" to turn out the feet initially used, they probably weren't all that painful if used correctly. I'm a figure skater, and we need to develop turnout too - we put our blades up against the barrier wall so we have a 180 degree turnout. We still turn out from the hip and so forth, it just helps us not to slide around. Maybe early dancers had really bad balance? :P
Part of the reason us figure skaters do that is because ice is slippery so it's easy to fall out of turnout on it. I would hope they didn't have bad balance since a lot of early ballet was balance oriented.
The thing is, apparently, lots of dance teachers in the early 19th cenrury had no idea about teaching the turnout correctly. I've read about a dance teacher of the era teaching a 22 year old male student turnout just by having a couple of men literally turning his feet out until somenting cracked in his leg.
I swear I thought she said Donald Trump.
I thought I was the only one omg
RIGHT
I KNOW. I had to go back to rematch it
I was going to say that too
Same!
Marcelino is absolutely adorable in the plastic poses.
The plastic poses were so cute omg
:'D I wish I did that in my ballet class
Beautifully inspired series. Can't get enough of this.
I do Cecchetti ballet, and it is still very much like the oldest version. I think it's not that bad to do with amateurs, but I have to be careful not to bore them to death.
different types of "batmans" w/ French accent.
Battement.
🤣 bahahahahahahah 😂😅
It’s pronounced more like “botmon”
At sorts of Batmans
I still am confused how battement got pronounced as botman
Oh my gAwD Fumi is so hyper extended but she handles it so well, she makes it look great. Queen
The 1820 girl looks like Brooklyn or Bailey from B&B
Shannon Lai Ikr
I was trying to figure out who she looked like
The plastique poses and Marcellino's reactions at the end there were so funny! I loved them
2:55, my Mozart lovers know that tune from the marriage of Figaro, we vuol ballare
SHE NEVER CALLED OUT SICLED FEET! I trained ( and studied) in ballet for most from late 70s thru mid 90's. My experiences looked more like middle group. Turn out, is not from the ankle but the hip. It was originally for balance. Your degree of turn out ( meant for balance) was just a way to compete with each other, show off, flexibility. We stretched on our on then when instructed we moved the bars onto the floor University level, growing up dance classes ran back to back after 30 min class 10 min. break between, tap, jazz, acro, by the time ballet came we were well warm and flexible. I miss this SO MUCH! I have my Pointe ballet shoes & back brace ( breaks my heart to wear that brace, but I need it). Both have a plave in the cars back . I can still dream. Even though I can only walk 1/2 of grocery trip before I am so tired I can't finish, I will put on those polite shoes. I put them on, if only on relevae' for a few minutes, or to do floor basic barre floor exercises like "rondejon" ( excuse spelling brain damage stinks). I may have not gotten to live out my dreams, but I am blessed. I have GOD, he has me, people that love me, food, shetler, clothing and memories. It also helped to keep my body in a nice shape. I was supposed to have my own studio- teaching, creating the ballets, sewing costumes, as my retirement@ 40.
Jo LAKE such an intersting experience. is ballet the readon you have such physical difficulty now?
Dancers didn't have a lot of the eating restrictions, as many hours, and as many injuries back then.
You can really see where melodrama got their poses from here. A lot of theatrical and ballet styles developed together.
I very much enjoyed seeing the evolution of ballet. It was so informative, thank you!
I wanna go back to ballet class omg ;-; shout out to all those still practicing xoxo keep up the good work
Hope Lee LOL YEAHH! I missed ballet so much
I love Ballet, I'm no dancer just someone who watches in awe of the beauty of all they do. It amazes me of all the work it obviously takes to be able to do what they do. It doesn't look easy to me at all. The pain they put on their toes WOW.
I really wish this was longer.
This was so much fun & such an interesting watch! More please! :)
I absolutely love Gemma's dancing 😍
My mother put my daughter in ballet around age 10. Years later I asked what she really wanted to do. She said, "I just wanna play softball, mom."
This was super interesting, even for someone who’s never done ballet.
thank you for the captions!
I love this. My ballet class was somewhat of a combination of these different eras, we didn't have all those warm up tools.
This channel is absolutely amazing, so much to see! this is lovely
This is fascinating! I want to watch a whole class.
This is just brilliant, real pleasure to watch! Thanks a lot!
I can't believe this great video has been on UA-cam for three years, and I am only discovering it now!
Me too. It's very informative.
Lol to that arrangement of “sull’aria”!! Would love to be in the head of that pianist. Just love these classes
Aside from the ballet, the first tune that they were warming up to - was it some variations on "Se vuol ballare" from Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro? It's amazing how different tempo and harmony can change a melody. Beautiful.
got distracted cos marcelino so hot *o*
anyway this is so informative
My youngest daughter is a no kidding ballerina. She is a prodigy of Galina Panova. When Galina enters the classroom the students stop and curtsy to her. What I think is remarkable is student were started at the older methods and progressed to the newer styles as their strength and abilities grew.
Marvelous film... thank you so much for sharing the gem like this one with us.
I do love dancing myself.. well and I can... to say the least.
Samova, Sakharova, Mikhalina, Nureev, Nizhynsky, Dyagolev, Plysetska,, Yulia Zagorutchenko, Coccki, Watson and Carmen, Killicik and Karttunen... just from the top of my head...not exactly all of them are ballet dancers... some are latin dancers, too...
Anyway, music, literature and dance make my world go around...
Bless you...
What an awesome demo! Thanks for leaving it up. :)
Bravo Miguel. Sou portuguesa de 70 anos e desde sempre apaixonada por Ballett
Rewatching after a while. Lovely. 😍
in love with 1880s class💜
thank you for this video that you have shared. It is very helpful in explaining the evolution of ballet inmy class.
Marcelino's smile at the end of their mime bit had me laughing.
the difference between 1820's and present day stretching is representative of how things tend to get more difficult over time, back then you could lead a simple good life nowadays you practically have to be an engineer/doctor/speak3languages (all at once) to have a decent job lol
7:25 the speaker’s petit battements I’m dyingggg
I bloody love Ursula ❤️
This makes me miss my ballet days. I want to go back!!
II'm so glad ballet has progressed to work with the body versus against it but I would honestly love to keep the miming and dramatic acting lol would be fun!
very much enjoyed seeing the evolution of ballet.
very informative .
Qué maravillosa serie de vídeos y qué gran presentadora. Mi enhorabuena al Royal Opera House por un trabajo ejemplar.
Look at that funky stretching with bands!!
That was so interesting! Great job
Very educational and Informative. Thank You!
That was very interesting. Great video.
This is beautiful and with that beauty comes repercussions of a massive magnitude for being hypermobile like they are. EDS and HSD are no joke and only lead to a life of pain. Be good to your body guys.
That was very enjoyable. Thanks for sharing!
Am I the only one who still likes the old school better, both aesthetically as well as functionally?
Qué placer el tener acceso a estas cosas!, love royal ballet!
more videos!!!Thank you =D
I didn’t want this to end 😭😭😭
her dress is so pretty its driving me crazy
Wonderful! Thank you for sharing.
now I know how to reject someone that doesnt correspond me. Thank you Royal Opera House :)
it's interesting to see that my studio, for example, keeps some of the aspects from 1880 too
God I just love this company so much. They’re the best!!
great to see this ...that remind me my school
Working on my RE pre pointe, determined to reach my goal 🩰 😄 this was a very intriguing and informative video -the past dancers seemed to focus on aesthetics and theatrical performance more than technique or comfort aids 😅
Fumi is so gorgeous! What an amazing dancer!
Where's the rest of the class this is so informative 😂😂😂😂
Great idea for a video! You should do center exercises next