Italy Secondaria di secondo grado – classe 5ª (esame di Stato) History of dance

1. 20th century to today

Modern and contemporary dance

• History of Dance: How Dance Changed Through the Ages – People have always danced. In ancient times, dance was part of ritual and community life, often in a circle. In the Middle Ages and Renaissance, courts used slow dances in lines and couples to show good manners. In the Baroque age, Louis XIV started a dance academy and ballet moved onto the stage with turned-out feet. The 1800s brought Romantic and classical ballet: pointe shoes, tutus and story ballets like Giselle and Swan Lake. In the 1900s modern dancers broke the rules with bare feet and natural movement, and today contemporary, street and fusion styles mix ideas from the whole world. Ethnochoreology studies folk dances inside their culture.