BALLET PRODUCTION

Theatre History From the 16th Century - Today

16TH CENTURY

COSTUMINGLuxuriously designed

costumes make of cotton

and silk

Basic costumes• Male: Tight-fitting,

short draped skirt and feathered helmets.

• Female: Abundantly decorated embroidered silk tunics in several layers with fringe

• Dress was heavily influenced by Rome

SHOES

Tightly laced, high-

heeled and wedged boots

for male and female

dancers.

STAGING & LIGHTING

 From the beginning of the sixteenth century,

public theaters were being built in Venice (1637),

Rome (1652), Paris (1660), Hamburg

Similar to theatre the staging and lighting was

simple as to the underdeveloped technology

17TH CENTURY

COSTUMING

Imaginative and fantastical

Decorative with symbols, so the audience can

recognize each character

Costumes were often large; restricting movement

Wore large head dresses, and masks to distinguish

between the sexes

Only males were allowed to perform

SHOES

Shoes were heeled

Very ornate and decorated

STAGING AND LIGHTS

Started off only in courts and then moved into

proscenium arch stages

Chandeliers

Candles with reflectors

Oil Lamps

The stage was lit from the sides with candles and

up to 6 grand chandeliers

18TH CENTURY

COSTUMES

Around 1720 a hooped

petticoat appeared, raising

skirts a few inches off the

ground.

Everything became more

elaborate

Massive wigs and

headdresses still restricted

movement for dancers.

SHOES

In mid-18th century dancer

Marie Camargo was the first to

wear non-heeled shoes.

After the French revolution

heeled were completely

eliminated from the standard

ballet shoe.

1795, Charles Didelot, “flying

machine”

STAGING & LIGHTING

19TH CENTURY

COSTUMES

Romantic tutu

Close-fitting bodices, floral crowns, corsages, and

pearls on fabrics, as well as necklace and bracelets

The silhouette of ballet costumes became more

tight fitting

The Italians contributed to another change--the

shorter dancing skirt that evolved into the tutu.

SHOES

Permanently toe-shoed feet

Soft satin slippers that fit like kid gloves. They had

a leather sole and some darning on the sides and

under, but not on the tip. Would’ve been like

standing barefoot.

Russians started the evolution of the harder and

stiffer pointe shoe.

STAGING

Going to the theatre was transformed from a social

event to an experience in observation

Started the evolution of audience comfort and

safety

Also improved the audiences sight lines

Started the use of iron to support theatre columns

LIGHTS

Introduction of gas lighting.

Installation included footlights and wing lights, but lacked lighting

from above.

Gaslight in the theatre was revolutionary and this new technology

influenced both the style and the aesthetics of theatrical lighting.

Gaslight was very bright, it could also be controlled from a distance

For the first time light could be projected onto the stage from new

angles,

Colored light was achieved by what was called a 'medium

20TH CENTURY

COSTUMES

Ballet skirts changed to become knee length tutus.

Designed to show off the point work and multiple

turns

The dancer Isadora Duncan freed ballerinas from

corsets and introduced a revolutionary natural

silhouette

Ballet dancers became less focused on the costume

and more about what would allow movement

SHOES

The birth of the modern

point shoe.

Often attributed to early

20th century Anna Pavlova

STAGING & LIGHTING

MODERN DAY BALLET

COSTUMING

Development of the flat pancake tutus• Multilayered skirt that gives the impression of

lightness and flight.

Smaller and more compact tutus and bodices

More technology to create costumes faster and

more efficiently

SHOES

Pointe shoes have evolved by becoming harder and

boxier

 Two types of shoes• Pointe shoe• Soft canvas shoes

Have not changed much since the heels during the

french revolution were eliminated, making them a

very crucial historical element in ballet

STAGING

Still dance in proscenium arch theatres

Some advances to the way the theatres are set up

due to technological advances

Still the same basic model of the scène proscenium

from ancient Rome

LIGHTS

Technological advances have allowed for • More coloured washes• Disc slides with patterns in some lights• Intel lights that move on control• Dimmer switches• Spot lights from above, man powered

MODERN POINTE SHOE

CONSTRUCTION

BOX

The box is a hard enclosure

within the front end of the shoe

that encases and supports

the dancer’s toes.

SOLE

In most pointe shoes, the sole is

constructed from a single piece of

leather that is attached to the shoe

with adhesive and

reinforced by stitching

along its edges.

SHANK

Dancers will sometimes wear different

pointe shoe models for different performance pieces

Shanks are typically made from leather

leather, plastic, cardstock, or layers of

glue-hardened burlap. The

flexability of a shank is determined by

its thickness and the type of material used.

RIBBONS & ELASTIC

WORKS CITED

http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/o/origins-of-ballet/  

http://www.e-dancewear.com/Dance_Wear_Ballet_History.html

http://cassstudio6.wordpress.com/lighting/17th-century-theatre-light

ing/

 http://www.pbt.org/community-engagement/brief-history-ballet

 http://www.the-perfect-pointe.com/PointeHistory.html

 http

://www.compulite.com/stagelight/html/history-4/history-4-text.html

http

://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/1542181/theatre-design/2843

90/The-19th-century