Fairy on the toes: The story of ballet

Author: Xiang Chunden
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2002-09-01
Features: Ballet, a captivating term, has become a symbol of beauty in the hearts of generations in the West. In the 1990s, futurists in the United States even predicted that after the dawn of the 21st century, ballet would replace football and become one of the most exciting cultural activities in people's daily lives. Today, the connotation of the term "ballet" is far broader than the common understanding of "dance drama." It refers not only to European classical dance but also to ballet in general—a form of dance where female dancers wear special pointe shoes and perform on the tips of their toes. It also refers to a theatrical form that integrates music, pantomime, stage design, and literature, using European classical dance as the primary expressive medium to convey story content or plots. This theatrical form is commonly known as ballet or classical ballet.
After the 20th century, performances that combine modern dance with classical dance techniques to express story content or plots are also referred to as modern ballet. Even dance dramas that primarily use various other dance styles as their expressive medium, or those that employ either European classical dance or modern dance, or combine both, are