History of Ballet Timeline

The 18th century was a period of advancement in the technical standards of ballet and the period when ballet became a serious dramatic art form on par with the opera.

Ballet performances spread to Eastern Europe during the 18th century, into areas such as Hungary, where they were held in private theatres at aristocratic castles.

Italian ballet techniques remained the dominant influence in much of southern and eastern Europe until Russian techniques supplanted them in the early 20th century.

Image source: Ballet technique

Central to the advance of ballet as dramatic art was the seminal work of Jean-Georges Noverre, Lettres sur la danse et les ballets (1760), which focused on developing the ballet d'action, in which the movements of the dancers are designed to express character and assist in the narrative.

Image source: Jean-Georges Noverre

The ballerina became the most popular dance performer in Europe in the first half of the 19th century, gradually turning the spotlight away from the male dancer.

Image source: From the World of John Wick: Ballerina

The 19th century was a period of great social change, reflected in ballet by a shift away from the aristocratic sensibilities that had dominated earlier periods through romantic ballet.

Image source: Romantic ballet

In 1834, Fanny Elssler arrived at the Paris Opera and became known as the 'Pagan Dancer', because of the fiery qualities of the Cachucha dance that made her famous.

Image source: Fanny Elssler

The Royal Danish Ballet and the Imperial Ballet of the Russian Empire were founded in the 1740s and began to flourish, especially after about 1850, becoming major centers of classical ballet.

Image source: Royal Danish Ballet

Many leading European professional ballet companies that survive today were established at new theatres in Europe's capital cities during the mid- to late-19th century, including the Kyiv Ballet, the Hungarian National Ballet, the National Theatre Ballet (Prague) and the Vienna State Ballet.

After 1850, ballet began to wane in Paris but flourished in Denmark and Russia thanks to masters such as August Bournonville, Jules Perrot, Arthur Saint-Léon, Enrico Cecchetti and Marius Petipa. Petipa appealed to popular taste with The Pharaoh's Daughter (1862).

Image source: Marius Petipa

The National Opera of Ukraine, a performing arts theatre with a resident opera company, was established in Kyiv in 1867. By 1893, this grew to a troupe large enough to stage large ballets.

Image source: Kyiv Opera House

In the late nineteenth century, orientalism was in vogue, influencing ballet themes and staging. Petipa appealed to popular taste with The Talisman (1889) and La Bayadère (1877).

Image source: Orientalism

Petipa used Tchaikovsky's music for his choreography of The Nutcracker (1892, though this is open to some debate among historians), The Sleeping Beauty (1890), and the definitive revival of Swan Lake (1895, with Lev Ivanov).

Ballet companies from Europe began lucrative tours of theatres in North, Central and South America during the mid-19th century, carrying ballet to new audiences across the Atlantic.

The prestigious Colon Theater in Buenos Aires, Argentina had hosted foreign ballet artists on its stage, with touring companies from Europe presenting full ballets as early as 1867.

Image source: Teatro Colón

In 1907 the Russian ballet moved back to France, where the Ballets Russes of Sergei Diaghilev and its successors were particularly influential, transforming Western perceptions of ballet.

Image source: Ballets Russes

Tim Scholl, author of From Petipa to Balanchine, considers Balanchine's Apollo (1928) to be the first neoclassical ballet, marking a turning point toward stripped-down, plotless choreography.

Image source: Apollo (ballet)

Soon ballet spread around the world with the formation of new companies, including London's The Royal Ballet (1931), the San Francisco Ballet (1933), American Ballet Theatre (1937), the Royal Winnipeg Ballet (1939), The Australian Ballet (1940 as the predecessor Borovansky Ballet), the New York City Ballet (1948), the Cuban National Ballet (1948), the National Ballet of Canada (1951), and the National Ballet Academy and Trust of India (2002).

Three of Frederick Ashton's works have become standard pieces in the international repertoire: Sylvia (1952), Romeo and Juliet (1956), and Ondine (1958), the last created as a vehicle to showcase Margot Fonteyn.

Image source: Frederick Ashton

Twyla Tharp also worked with the Joffrey Ballet company, founded in 1957 by Robert Joffrey, an American ensemble known for blending classical and modern influences.

Image source: Joffrey Ballet

The American Ballet Theatre went on a tour of the Soviet Union between 13 September and 23 October 1960, an early example of Cold War cultural exchange between American and Soviet ballet worlds.

Image source: American Ballet Theatre

The Bolshoi Ballet company went on a tour of America in September 1962, dazzling American audiences and cementing the reputation of Russian ballet in the West.

Image source: Bolshoi Ballet

In 1963, Lincoln Kirstein's American Ballet, which was the first ballet made in America, achieved significant success thanks to the support of the Ford Foundation, which established George Balanchine's neoclassical style as a prominent national institution.

Image source: George Balanchine

In 1967, Balanchine's Jewels broke with the narrative tradition and dramatized a theme rather than a plot, becoming a landmark of abstract, plotless ballet.

Image source: Jewels (ballet)

Twyla Tharp choreographed Deuce Coupe for the Joffrey Ballet in 1973, using pop music and a blend of modern and ballet techniques, exemplifying the crossover between ballet and popular culture.

Twila Tharp choreographed Push Comes To Shove for American Ballet Theatre and Mikhail Baryshnikov in 1976, fusing ballet with modern dance; in 1986 she created In The Upper Room for her own company.

Following Baryshnikov's appointment as artistic director of American Ballet Theatre in 1980, he worked with various modern choreographers, most notably Twyla Tharp, bridging classical ballet and modern dance.

Image source: Mikhail Baryshnikov

The 1999 North American premiere of The Fountain of Bakhchisarai by the Kirov Ballet in New York was an outstanding success, demonstrating the enduring appeal of Russian classical ballet abroad.

Image source: The Fountain of Bakhchisarai (ballet)