How does ballet today differ from ballet in the late 19th century?

>>1966518
I've never heard of any ballets where I live and I've never seen one performed. I like some of the music though. I listen to Prokofiev's Romeo & Juliet sometimes.

The Royal Opera House has an excellent video series on the history of ballet, with visual examples.

Playlist: https://youtu.be/auDNcfK0Wcs?list=PLFEuShFvJzBww3lVbFABGB0HbIxNQ2TiA

>>1966518
>How does ballet today differ from ballet in the late 19th century?
It's a lot of technical stuff that's hard to describe verbally, much of it has to do with how extreme extensions were. Overall the technique was very similar though, although modern ballet technique is much more rigid in that it emphasizes full extensions much more.

Body types of dancers were very different, so were the feet and ideal body weights. In general, the modern dancer has longer legs, longer arms, longer neck, shorter torso, smaller bust and is skinnier than their late 19th century counterpart. Modern dance feet are more ideal. Feet are another thing that's hard to describe.

The preferred costume has also changed, its become more desirable to see much more of the dancers leg.

>Do you have any favorite ballets?

Ratmansky's Sleeping Beauty is probably my favorite right now--I hope they professionally film this soon, even if they don't release it for a while. I could watch this video of the christening fairy variations over and over (and I do): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4EP3R8zcFQ

Also, Kenneth MacMillan's Anastasia is another favorite. You can watch the one-act version online: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PvqB1iUVkYk

The Royal Ballet did the full 3-act version this year and filmed it for theaters: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9WBcl9gr1fw It's still playing in some areas as an encore and they are supposedly trying to release it digitally for purchase next fall if they can get the rights.

>Do people even go to the ballet anymore?

Yes, but it can be harder for smaller companies to stay afloat, especially if they don't live in an area or city with a solid performing arts scene. I'm in Detroit and whenever a good ballet company comes around to tour, it almost always sells out--we're starved for good ballet. Shame that all we're getting this year is BalletMet Columbus Nutcracker and a jazz dance version of Cinderella from a Canadian company, which I've already seen in Canada and it's not as fun as it sounds.

>>1966518
My favorite ballet is Rodeo by Aaron Copland. Demille went on to choreograph the musical Oklahoma.

princess tutu got me super into ballet t b h. if I could redo my teenage years, I'd have done ballet.

>>1970205
You can still do it!

bump I'm working on a rec list

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>>1968478
ROH confirmed the DVD of their Anastasia will be released in August

What ballet would you recommend to someone who hasn't seen one before?

>>1974945
>>1974945
A "story" ballet like Cinderella, The Sleeping Beauty, Swan Lake, Giselle, something that can has (or can have) a lot of personality and hooks to draw you in. The Nutcracker is another good choice since the music is familiar... Sleeping Beauty falls in line with that too although it's more "well Disney used this music in odd places." Like the creepy "Aurrrrrora.... Aurrrrrora" music from when Maleficent is calling her, in the ballet is for cute cats dancing and pouncing on each other.

>>1974945
Giselle is the best

>>1975293
The Princess Tutu anime is actually a pretty good introduction to ballet music and terminology. Good story too.
>in before "go to /a"

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>>1975370
Giselle is great.

Although the first Act can be tedious a bit--I took my niece and nephew to Giselle for their first professional ballet (not intentionally but, they really really wanted to see one that wasn't the local ballet school teens and kids and that's what came around first) and the loooooong festival dance portion had them getting antsy... but then through the Prince reveal to end of Act I and all of Act II they loved it.

Especially since Albrecht/Giselle pas de deux in Act II was done in such an intense way. Albrecht had AMAZING height on his jumps during the Act II forced dance and legitimately looked like he was going to die from exhaustion (yet was still doing those amazing leaps) towards the end. In the recordings I've seen it always seems so... mild? But these Willis did not fuck around with their dance to the death gig. My niece (she's 7) was all bug-eyed with her mouth over her hands until Giselle stepped in.

Yet even with his pas de deux with Giselle, they didn't just have Giselle immediately beg for Albrecht to be spared and then dance with love to save him--they had Giselle almost forcing him to dance at first (it seemed ambiguous--copying her steps, him still looking pained, but it wasn't the same intensity as before), until it started to melt into a bittersweet duet of forgiveness, until finally the sun rose and she fully forgave him before leaving.

It was the Houston Ballet Giselle--I'm kind of sad now that they'll be doing a new revised version by Stanton Welch. Although who knows, maybe his version kept that vision intact.