The word ballet comes from the French and was borrowed
into the English language around 1630.
The French word has its origin in Italian balleto
from ballo (to dance)
which comes from the Latin ballare
which in turn comes from the Greek ballizo
Ballet is a dance executed by the human soul
Alexander Pushkin
You don't have to know about ballet to enjoy it
all you have to do is look at it
Edwin Denby
If it were not for dreams there would not be such a thing as ballet,
the cruelest of the performing arts
Author unknown
Ballet is completely unnatural to the body
it is not the way the body is supposed to function
so you train your body to be a different structure
than you were born with
Neve Campbell
Ballet is not a technique
but a way of expression that comes more closely to the inner
language of man
than any other
George Borodin
Most people think of ballet as
children in tutus
They don't know it is
sweat, blood and tears as well
Nan Keating
Degas
Dance is very old it started with
Louis XIV at Versailles
Neve Campbell
Anna Pavlova
I love this post Elaine! I have recently been to see the Moscow City Ballet at The Hall for Cornwall Truro. I saw Swan Lake and I cried.I was an aspiring ballet dancer until my teens when I had to give up beacuase of tight achilles tendons.I had not been to a ballet in years and it was wunderful!!I like the quotes on your post. Angela
ReplyDeleteHi Angela
ReplyDeleteI usually reply back directly by email but it refuses to send to you (the same thing happened when I commented on your last post). My love of ballet started when I was a little girl and found a pair of pink ballet pumps hanging on the Christmas tree. Margot Fonteyn and Rudolf Nureyev were my favourite dancers - their pas de deuxs were so intimate, I used to hold my breath all the way through - it still makes me go all funny just thinking about them. More recently I have been to the Birmingham Hippodrome to see the all-male version of Swan Lake - oh my - it was wonderful, so touching and beautifully performed.