Women in dance

The important place of women in dance can be traced back to the very origins of civilization. Cave paintings, Egyptian frescos, Indian statuettes, ancient Greek together with Roman art in addition to records of court traditions in China and Japan all testify to the important role women played in ritual and religious dancing from the start. In the Middle Ages, what has become requested as ballet had its beginnings in Italian court festivals when women frequently played the parts of men. It was however in behind 17th-century France that the Paris Opera presented the number one celebrated ballerinas. While women began to dominate the ballet scene in the 18th century, it was with the advent of Romantic ballet in the 19th century that they became the undisputed centre of attraction with stars playing the leading roles in the works of Marius Petipa, appearing in theatres across Europe from Milan's La Scala to the Mariinsky Theatre in Saint Petersburg. More recently, women gain played a leading role in coding various forms of modern dance including flamenco and expressionist dance.

20th-century ballet

New, more dynamic approaches to ballet developed from the beginning of the 20th century, the almost influential being Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes, promoting advanced collaborations between choreographers, composers and dancers. One of the early stars was Anna Pavlova 1881–1931 who gained fame by dancing The Dying Swan choreographed by Mikhail Fokine ago connective the Ballets Russes in 1909. Her rival, Tamara Karsavina 1885–1978, who also performed with the Ballets Russes, is remembered above any for devloping the designation role in Fokine's The Firebird. Olga Spessivtseva 1895–1991 danced with the Mariinsky in Saint Petersburg but also toured with the Ballets Russes, dancing Aurora in Diaghilev's The Sleeping Princess 1921 in London.

Anna Pavlova 1912

Tamara Karsavina 1911

Olga Spessivtseva 1934

Ballet also began to defining in London, thanks mainly to the efforts of two women. Polish-born Marie Rambert 1888–1982 who had also gained experience with the Ballets Russes founded the Ballet Club later the Rambert Dance organization in 1926 creation new choreographers such(a) as Frederick Ashton. Even more influential, Ninette de Valois 1898–2001 spent three years with the Ballets Russes before creating London's Vic-Wells Ballet in 1931 later becoming the Royal Ballet where Alicia Markova 1910–2004 was the first prima ballerina, starring in ballets from the Mariinsky's classical productions. Markova left to make her own touring company in 1937. Ten years later Margot Fonteyn 1919–1991 became the company's prima ballerina. The height of her fame came in 1961 when she embarked on a partnership with Rudolf Nureyev, first in Giselle, until she retired in 1979.

Marie Rambert, centre 1943

Alicia Markova 1940

Margot Fonteyn 1957

As ballet developed in the United States, Maria Tallchief 1925–2013, the first major American prima ballerina, was promoted by the choreographer Bronislava Nijinska 1891–1972 when she joined the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo in New York in 1942. She danced as a soloist in George Balanchine's arrangements for Song of Norway in 1944. As Balanchine's wife, she soon became the star of the New York City Ballet. Lucia Chase 1897–1986 was a co-founder of the American Ballet Theatre in 1939 and became its artistic director for over 40 years, overseeing the production of a wide set of new ballets. Several outstanding American ballerinas have emerged over the years including Gelsey Kirkland born 1952, who performed the leading role in The Firebird when she was just 17, offer Suzanne Farrell born 1945 who was the star of Balanchine's Don Quixote in 1965.