Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo
Historically speaking, ballet used to be a guy thing until women were given the right to perform on stage. Nowadays, it is often perceived as a more feminine dance, and women ballerinas are more common than men.
However, Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo is a combination of then and now, with an all-male cast that dresses up as women for female parts and performs famous ballet works with impeccable technique as well as humor.
Never Say “Good Luck” to a Ballet Dancer
Instead of saying "good luck" or "break a leg", ballet dancers greet each other with "merde" before going on stage. In French, the word means poop, and you're right to raise your eyebrows like that.
Nobody knows for sure why they use that word specifically, but there are a few common speculations. One says that it is a remanent from when the dancers performed with animals so they would warn each other not to step in it on stage. Another says that lots of animal droppings outside the theater used to indicate that there are many horses around, and therefore, lots of viewers.
Lighter Than Air
Before pointe shoes were even a thing, ballerinas used to create the illusion of being feather-weight fairies by using wires that lifted them off the stage.
Using wires made it possible for the dancers to dance on their toes without having to support their own weight. After noticing the crowds' positive reaction to pointe work, it was only a matter of time until choreographers started incorporating more of it into their dance pieces.
Ballet Slippers Used to Have Heels
Ballet slippers as we know them are nothing like what they used to be. Originally, ballet dancers used to dance in heeled shoes, which allowed for a much smaller range of movement.
Things changed in the middle of the 18th century when French dancer Marie Camargo started dancing in flat slippers, which allowed her to leap and jump in a way the more traditional shoes couldn't.
Pavlova's Pointe Shoes
Anna Pavlova, one of the most influential ballerinas of all time, is commonly known as the "mother" of modern pointe shoes.
The slender build of her feet made her more susceptible to injuries when dancing on her toes, so she altered her ballet shoes with toughened leather soles and a hard, inside "box" to protect her toes.