Ballet Dance

The reading is about

• what it takes to be a ballet dancer.

• some of the world's best ballet dancers.

• the training needed to be a great dancer.

The number one dancer is the one who

• directs all of the ballet dancers.

• creates the dances.

• dances the lead role.

Anna Pavlova was the first ballerina to

• start her own company.

• perform around the world.

• dance with Rudolf Nureyev.

Margot Fonteyn was

• a very powerful ballet dancer.

• a ballet critic who wrote about Anna Pavlova.

• one of England's greatest ballerinas.

Ballet dancers make dancing on their toes look easy. They do this by training for many hours each day. They must constantly practice to learn the difficult moves they make, and exercise to keep themselves in shape. While many dancers are good, only the most disciplined and talented dancers perform onstage as professionals.

• Ballet dancers are in good physical shape.

• Ballet dancers train very hard every day.

• Most ballet dancers are processionals.

choreography

• showing something

• the art of creating or performing dance

• practiced

• motivation

Ballet is an art form that uses dance, music, and scenery to narrate a story. The word "ballet" comes from the Italian word balletto, which means "to dance or to jump about." The dance form itself has Italian origins. Earliest forms of ballet date to the 16th century during the Italian Renaissance period, a time when all forms of art were celebrated. Ballets were usually performed at weddings to entertain friends and members of the royal family. Ballet spread to France with Catherine de' Medici. She was a member of the Italian royal family, who married King Henry II of France. King Louis XIV of France started the first ballet company by forming the Académie Royale de Musique, a formal school. The first ballet was only a small part of an opera. Later, the art developed into a well-known dance form in France and Russia. The first ballet was performed in 1573, and it was called Ballet de Polonais. The ballet dancers during that period did not wear the same shoes or costumes that ballet dancers wear today. They wore formal gowns. Through its humble beginning, today ballet is considered as one of the most beautiful forms of expression.

• The first ballets were only performed to entertain people who came to a wedding of a royal family member.

• Ballets were only a small part of operas in France.

• People did not want to see ballets until Catherine de' Medici married a French king.

• Ballet dancers did not wear special shoes or have costumes.

Who was turned down by a ballet school as a child?

• Fonteyn

• Pavlova

The reading is about

• what it takes to be a ballet dancer.

• some of the world's best ballet dancers.

• the training needed to be a great dancer.

The number one dancer is the one who

• directs all of the ballet dancers.

• creates the dances.

• dances the lead role.