Growing Popularity
One of the nations to embrace ballet wholeheartedly is Russia. This explains why so many famous ballets were written by Russians.
Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky wrote pieces like “The Nutcracker”, “Swan Lake”, and “Sleeping Beauty”. Other countries where ballet is very popular are England, the US, and Cuba.
Ballet Productions Originated in France
The royal ballet academy (Académie Royale de Danse if you're local) was formed in 1661. It was the first place to showcase big ballet productions on stage.
The dance soon became trendy and spread throughout Europe, most notably in Russia and Italy.
The Language Sounds Foreign Because It Is
Since France had a significant hand in the development of ballet as a performance art, most of the terminology of the dance is in French.
Take the term "pas de chat" for example — it is a ballet jump that has soft, catlike qualities — translated from French, this means "a cat's step".
The Swan Lake Story
Known to many as one of the most successful ballets in history, Swan Lake is actually a ballet interpretation of a German/Russian folk tale about a princess who was turned into a swan by an evil witch's curse.
Other than the ballet, the story has been adapted into various art forms, such as anime, film (both live-action and animated), video games, and more.
Costumes Used to Be a Lot Heavier
The costumes most ballet dancers wear today are made with light and stretchy fabrics for obvious reasons but that hasn't always been the case.
The first ballet costumes ever made were heavy and didn't allow for the same movement range that modern-day costumes do. The change is credited to Marie Camargo, a 1720s ballerina who shortened her ballet dress so her ankles were visible. That paved the way for other changes in the future.