With Valentine’s Day fast approaching, it seems the perfect time to explore Romantic ballets. And yes, that is Romantic (with an upper-case R). Romantic ballets are some of the most popular with audiences to this day, and that is often what comes to mind when people say “ballet”. Long tutus, haunting ballet dancers, and highly dramatic stories that sweep us away- these ballets have been a staple on the stage for nearly two centuries now. Let’s look at the history of Romantic ballet and what the most popular Romantic ballets are!
What is a Romantic ballet?
Much like in literature, poetry, and art in the early nineteenth century, Romanticism dominated in ballet. Merriam-Webster defines Romanticism as:
a literary, artistic, and philosophical movement originating in the 18th century, characterized chiefly by a reaction against neoclassicism and an emphasis on the imagination and emotions, and marked especially in English literature by sensibility and the use of autobiographical material, an exaltation of the primitive and the common man, an appreciation of external nature, an interest in the remote, a predilection for melancholy, and the use in poetry of older verse forms
Romanticism as a movement focused on high emotion, the beauty of nature, and the artist as interpreter. Folk art, music, and dance was also highly prized in Romantic artforms (more on this later).
In the realm of literature and poetry, you would think of Lord Byron, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, William Wordsworth, and Sir Walter Scott. In terms of visual art, William Blake and Samuel Palmer come to mind.
In Romantic ballets, we tend to see the supernatural- ghosts, sylphs, fairies, etc. They are most often story ballets (meaning they have a plot as opposed to being an abstract ballet.)
The other key development in Romantic ballet is pointe work. Yes, it was during this movement that we see the development of pointe work as more than a few second-trick. Italian dancer Marie Taglioni was the first dancer to perform sustained sections on pointe.
Le Ballet Blanc
The ballet blanc is the visual “catchphrase” of Romantic ballet- these ballets have at least one scene where you will have many female members of the corps de ballet in long tutus. (Romantic tutus are the longer, bell-shaped tutus that look rather like skirts.) In these scenes, they are often the aforementioned supernatural creatures. In Giselle, you have the Wilis (the ghosts of unmarried women); in La Sylphide, there are the sylphs, and the list goes on. Visually, it is stunning to see this many dancers performing what is typically technically demanding choreography in perfect, matched unison. You can see the Paris Opera Ballet with a variation from Sylphide below.
Folk Dances and Ethnic Stereotypes in Romantic Ballet- A Questionable Inclusion
As I mentioned above, Romantic ballets often included folk dancing. Or a ballet version of folk dancing… Romantic ballets often have an approximation of folk dancing, meaning a choreographer might have seen the actual folk dance performed (or not) and created an approximated version of that dance. This tends to be based on Eurocentric ideals which include ethnic and national stereotypes.
We also see many ethnic stereotypes in Romantic ballets. (They don’t end with the movement, though.) One strong example of this would be Le Corsaire, an 1856 ballet based on Lord Byron’s poem about a pirate who rescues his love from Seyd Pasha, a Turkish military commander. While the ballet is incredibly exciting to watch, it’s also riddled with horrible stereotypes of Middle-Eastern people. The brutish Seyd Pasha buys many female slaves and keeps them in a harem, playing up to the popular but incorrect stereotype.
Going forward, many of these ballets will need adjustments- some small, some large. Many companies will choose to stage other ballets, as the money, time, and talent needed to re-choreograph part or all of the ballet to stay somewhat true to story but avoid these harmful stereotypes is a lot.*
*I think that working on these ballets is worthwhile and should be done, but it can be a complex decision.
What are the Most Popular Romantic Ballets?
If you are hoping to see a Romantic ballet (which I highly recommend), there are a few that are regularly staged by ballet companies. Giselle is the main Romantic ballet that you will see performed frequently both by small and large companies. La Sylphide and Coppélia are sometimes staged by larger companies, as well as professional schools will perform sections of them. I would always recommend going to see these ballets if they are part of a season; they have easy to follow story lines that don’t require any background knowledge, they have gorgeous costumes, and sweeping choreography. To be blunt, they tend to be a ballet that is what you picture in your head when you hear ballet.
Were you familiar with the history of Romantic ballet? Have you ever seen any Romantic ballets performed?
Cheers,
The Historian
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