Women in dance
The important place of women in dance can be traced back to the origins of civilization. Cave paintings, Egyptian frescos, Indian statuettes, ancient Greek and Roman art and records of court traditions in China and Japan all testify to the important role women played in ritual and religious dancing from the start. In the Middle Ages, what has become known as ballet had its beginnings in Italian court festivals when women frequently played the parts of men. It was however in late 17th-century France that the Paris Opera produced the first celebrated ballerinas. While women began to dominate the ballet scene in the 18th century, it was with the advent of Romantic ballet in the 19th century that they became the undisputed centre of attraction with stars playing the leading roles in the works of Marius Petipa, appearing in theatres across Europe from Milan's La Scala to the Mariinsky Theatre in Saint Petersburg. More recently, women have played a leading role in developing various forms of modern dance including flamenco and expressionist dance.
History
Women have always played a predominant role in dance, as can be seen from its earliest history until the emergence of formal dances in the 15th century which developed into ballet.[citation needed]
Antiquity
Cave paintings from as long ago as 6000 BC provide scenes of dancing women. Examples can be seen in the
In the Indian subcontinent too, there is early evidence of dancing women, most notably a bronze statuette from
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Dancing women, El Cogul caves, Lérida
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Dancing girl statuette from Mohenjo-daro, 2500-1500 BC
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Ancient Egyptian dancer, c. 1200 BC
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Tomb of Nebamun c. 1400 BC
Dance in
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Musician and dancer, Athens, 460 BC
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Greek dancing girl, 5th century BC
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Greek terracotta statuette of a dancing Maenad, 3rd century BC
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Veiled dancer, terracotta, c. 100 BC
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Fresco of Dionysic initiation dance, Pompei, c. 60 BC
The Bible contains several accounts of women dancing, in particular the celebrations led by Miriam after the crossing of the Red Sea when women are said to have danced and played hand-drums.[11] After David had returned from slaying Goliath, women came out singing and dancing.[12] In the New Testament, Matthew tells the story of how Salome danced for Herod in order to be given the head of John the Baptist.[13]
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Miriam's dance, Tomić Psalter, c. 1360
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Dance of Salome, Robert Fowler (1885)
China and Japan
In China too there is a long recorded history of women dancers since the
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Chinese dancer from the Tang dynasty
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Statuettes of female musicians and a dancer, Sui dynasty (c. 600 AD)
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Dancing figures, Tang dynasty, 7th century
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Female dancer from the Tang dynasty
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Female dancer, Han dynasty
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Shizuka from 12th-century Japan
India
India has nine
Middle Ages in Europe
In the Middle Ages, with the spread of Christianity across Europe, the church generally frowned upon dance although there was often dancing at folk festivals, particularly at the beginning of May. In France and Italy, chain and circular dances such as the carole, and the tresque were popular from the 4th to 14th centuries.[20] They were usually danced in a closed circle with men and women interspersed and holding hands.[21] In Italy, the lively saltarello from Naples became popular in the 14th and 15th centuries. Groups of courtesans dressed as men performed the dance at masquerades.[22]
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Dancing the carole (Roman de la Rose, c. 1250)
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Medieval dance
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Saltarello, illustrated by Bartolomeo Pinelli
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Lavish ball held by Catherine de' Medici in 1573
Emergence of ballet
In the 15th century, court festivities in Italy became ever more elaborate, often featuring formal dances. One of the early masters was
Initially, female parts in the early ballets were taken by young men; but, in 1681, a young woman known as
The next leading dancer of the Opéra was
Camargo proved to be a tremendous success, not only as a result of her dazzling footwork (especially her
Sallé sought more from ballet than skillful demonstrations of technique as favoured by proponents of traditional ballet. She believed music, steps, decor and costumes should all contribute to a graceful, expressive performance combining
During the second half of the 18th century, the dominating star of the Paris Opera was Marie-Madeleine Guimard who may not have had the technique of Sallé but was nevertheless recognized for her sensuous movements, her numerous suitors and her exotic attire. Other stars included Marie Allard (1738–1802) who joined the Paris Opera in 1756 where she was trained by Gaétan Vestris, becoming not just an étoile but also his wife. Although she was rather corpulent and frequently pregnant, she was acclaimed for her impressive footwork.[36]
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Marie-Thérèse de Subligny (c. 1700)
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Françoise Prévost (c. 1723)
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Marie Camargopainted by Nicolas Lancret (c. 1730)
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Marie Sallé (c. 1730)
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Marie-Madeleine Guimard (c. 1774)
Romantic ballet
The most successful period for female ballet dancers was around the 1830s and 1840s when they became the great stars of
Presented at
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Marie Taglioni in Zephire et Flore (c. 1831)
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Fanny Elssler in La Cachucha (1836)
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Carlotta Grisi in Giselle (1841)
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Fanny Cerrito in La Vivandière (1844)
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Lucile Grahn in La Cachucha (1838)
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Pauline Leroux in Le Diable Amoureux (1840)
Several notable Italian ballerinas emerged in the second half of the 19th century, reaching their zeniths in Russia. Italian-born Virginia Zucchi (1849–1933) first danced in Italy and Germany but her interpretations of Marius Petipa's ballet in Russia were so successful that the Tzar insisted she should join the Mariinsky Ballet in Saint Petersburg. In the mid-1880s, she starred in Coppélia, La fille mal gardée and La Esmeralda, revolutionizing ballet in Russia through the extraordinary power of her performances.[39] Pierina Legnani (1863–1930) from Milan followed as similar path, also dancing at the Mariinsky from 1892 where she originated famous roles in Petipa's ballets including Cinderella, Swan Lake and Raymonda, gaining the title of prima ballerina assoluta.[40] Carlotta Brianza (1865–1938), also from Milan, first gained fame at La Scala with which she toured the United States. She is remembered above all for dancing Aurora at the premiere of Petipa's Sleeping Beauty in 1890.[41][42]
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Virginia Zucchi in La Esmeralda (1886)
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Pierina Legnani in La Perle (1896)
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Carlotta Brianza in La Esmeralda (c. 1890)
20th-century ballet
New, more dynamic approaches to ballet developed from the beginning of the 20th century, the most influential being
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Anna Pavlova (1912)
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Tamara Karsavina (1911)
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Olga Spessivtseva (1934)
Ballet also began to develop in London, thanks mainly to the efforts of two women. Polish-born
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Marie Rambert, centre (1943)
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Alicia Markova (1940)
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Margot Fonteyn (1957)
As ballet developed in the United States,
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Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, Nutcracker (1940)
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Maria Tallchief (1954)
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Suzanne Farrell (1965)
Other forms of dance
Women have also contributed significantly to most other forms of dance, in particular flamenco, modern dance, expressionist dance, belly dance and cabaret which led to musical theatre.[53]
Flamenco
Flamenco music originated in the south of Spain in the 15th century, probably resulting from the influence of the Moors with possible origins in India. While many of the singers who emerged in the 18th century were men, women increasingly gained fame as dancers.
Modern dance in the United States
Led by women, various styles of
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Loie Fuller (1896)
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Isadora Duncan (1903)
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Ruth St. Denis (1916)
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Martha Graham (1948)
Expressionist dance
The German
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Mary Wigman (1959)
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Gret Palucca (1930s)
Belly dance
While belly dancing appears to have its origins in the distant past, it was introduced to Europe and North America towards the end of the 19th century. Several of Egypt's film actresses performed belly dancing in the musicals of the 1930s and 1940s.
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Egyptian belly dancer, Chicago World Fair (1893)
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Tahia Carioca(1920)
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Dalilah (1963)
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Randa Kamel, Cairo (2007)
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Rachel Brice, Rennes (2012)
Cabaret
Women started to sing and dance in the cabarets of Paris in the 1890s, emphasizing the female body by introducing seductive movements highlighting their breasts and hips. Most of them had no formal training, the exception being
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Émilienne d’Alençon(1893)
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Cléo de Mérode (c. 1897)
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La Belle Otero (c. 1905)
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Mata Hari (1906)
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La Goulue (c. 1890)
African American Dance
Before World War II racism influenced dance in a drastic way. During this time they had social dances, such as the swing, jitterbug, and Lindy Hop, that black people created to please rich white people. Dance was therapy or a drug because during the Great Depression it was a way for them to find happiness, dancing brought races together, and even just watching it made people feel better about what they were already going through. After WWII, dance was transformed into something that everyone could easily learn how to do even if they were just starting. It was becoming more of a street social dance that everyone could enjoy and even though there was still racism but in different ways, dance was a way to enjoy life and was a new way to entertain. Other dances like the Charleston, Pattin' Juba, Jive, Spank the baby, and Boogie Back became major dance staples for the black community and many other communities of dance and social dance. These dance styles set the foundations of present-day jazz technique.
See also
- List of dancers
- List of female dancers
- Women in music
- Chorus girl
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Literature
- Brooks, Lynn (2007). Women's Work: Making Dance in Europe Before 1800. Univ of Wisconsin Press. ISBN 978-0-299-22530-8.
- Calame, Claude (2001). Choruses of Young Women in Ancient Greece: Their Morphology, Religious Role, and Social Functions. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 978-0-7425-1525-3.
- Drinker, Sophie (1995). Music and Women: The Story of Women in Their Relation to Music. Feminist Press at CUNY. ISBN 978-1-55861-116-0.
- Guest, Ivor (1976). Le Ballet de l'Opéra de Paris: trois siècles d'histoire et de tradition. Théâtre national de l'Opéra.
- Lexová, Irena (2012). Ancient Egyptian Dances. Courier Dover Publications. ISBN 978-0-486-14870-0.
- Varadpande, Manohar Laxman (2006). Woman in Indian Sculpture. Abhinav Publications. ISBN 978-81-7017-474-5.