5.5.1. Romantic ballets
The event that initiated Romantic ballet was the premiere of The Sylph (Paris, 1832). In this piece appeared two characteristic elements of the Romantic ballet: pointe dancing (a great advance in dance technique), and the use of the white tutu.
The arrival of the French choreographer Marius Petipa to Moscow in the late 19th century transformed The Imperial Russian Ballet in one of the most relevant companies around the world.
The collaboration of Petipa with Tchaikovsky delivered masterpieces like Swan Lake, The Sleeping beauty and The Nutcracker.
Below you can enjoy a fragment of Swan Lake:
5.5.2. Ballroom dance
During the Romanticism, court dance disappeared. It was replaced by ballroom dance, closer to bourgeoisie's taste.
Hence, a great variety of dances appeared during the 19th century, becoming very popular in the main ballrooms of Europe.
The most widespread dance was the waltz, that reached its pinnacle in Vienna with composers like Johann Strauss I (1804-1849) and his son Johann Strauss II (1825-1899), who was known as the "kings of waltz".
Waltz is a dance with a ternary rhythm and fast movements. It is danced in couples that move closely in wide circles around the room. A very famous waltz is "Blue Danube", by Johann Strauss II:
The nationalism also had an impact in dances, bringing national dances from popular sources to the ballrooms. some of these dances were the polka (Czechoslovakia), the bolero and fandango (Spain) and the mazurka and polonaise (Poland).
