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Ballet is a genre in the art of dance. Easily explained, it is movement to music. The word “ballet” is Italian and means “ballare”, which means “to dance”. We can also find the ballet roots in Italy, therefore its French is the ballet language.
The ballet history in Norway is very short. But in Italy it started in the 1400s. At this time, it was many princes who hired dancers. It was held many big celebrations with dancers and musicians to show that they were rich. The dancers wore big costumes and masks that hide their faces. They were not very talented and not well trained, but they danced to be the favourite of the prince. At this time, most of the dancers were men. And if there was a women on the stage, she had a less important role in the dance.
Cathrine de Medicis became the queen in France and brought the ballet with her in 1547. The man who choreographed her ballet was named Balthazar de Beaujoyeulx, a musician.
He made the first material ballet in 1581. It was named Ballet Comique de la Reine and lasted five and a half hour.