The terminology is mostly French, the most famous pieces are Russian, but the dance itself is actually Italian. In the 1500s, ballet was performed at the royal court by courtiers as entertainment.
When the Italian Catherine de Medici came to France to marry King Henry II, she brought the dance with her and turned it into a more formal dance in France.
Not Everybody Goes Pro
How many people do you know who have taken ballet as children? Now, how many do you know who actually pursued it as a career? The percentage is incredibly low.
Take White Lodge for example. It is the Royal Ballet’s lower school, which takes in only 25 out of their 1,000 applicants each year. Only 5-7 of them actually end up graduating from the upper school, and even fewer of them get into the Royal Ballet.
Ballerinas Train A LOT
Building up the strength, discipline, and flexibility of a professional ballet dancer takes an unbelievable amount of training.
Professional ballerina training will entail around 10 years of training with an average of 20 hours of dance class per week. And as far as shows are concerned — a big production could require as many as 5,000 hours in rehearsals!
Teaching Ballet to the Police
Ballet and police work seem like completely unrelated fields. But ballet can actually benefit anyone with any kind of job.
In Romania, for example, some police officers have taken ballet in order to help them with their poise and posture when they direct traffic.
The Laurence Olivier Awards
The Laurence Olivier Awards are like the Oscars of the British theater.
In 1977, the London Festival Ballet made history when its ballet production of Romeo and Juliet became the first ballet to win the prestigious award.