Ballet in Western Culture: A History of Its Origins and Evolution

by Carol Lee

Ballet in Western Culture is a history of the development of ballet designed for dance history courses. After a brief discussion of the origins of dance through the middle ages, the author then traces the beginnings of ballet to Renaissance spectacle in Italy and the beginnings of ballet in France. In the second part of the book, the maturation of ballet as a style is studied, from the 1600s through the 1800s, in France, Russia, and other major European countries. Finally, the last part of the book focuses on the changes in ballet through the 20th century, including major movements in the U.S. and Europe. Nicely illustrated with historic prints and photos, the book is easy to read and ideally suited to the dance history student, addressing both historical issues and the evolution of ballet technique.

Genres: Nonfiction

368 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 1999

About the author

39 books in one year. The real mystery is who wrote these books?

Reviews

[Fanta · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well researched and nicely structured book. Though at times a bit dense on names and dates it managed to highlight the driving forces of ballet throughout time. Many passages invite you to further research historic context, or the dancers/choreographers mentioned.
I’d recommend it to ballet and art history fan :)