| Right from the beginning, ballet and music have been | | | | composers such as Mozart, Bach, Vivaldi, Chopin, |
| uniquely intertwined. Without music ballet is nothing | | | | Brahms, and Handel to perform the art of ballet |
| more than the empty motions of a ritual. Without the | | | | dancing too. |
| movement and rhythm of dance, music looses all | | | | Many agree that ballet owes its very existence to the |
| vitality. And so, ballet as a doorway to human | | | | likes of those who are both composers and |
| expression hinges on both music and dance. | | | | choreographers. Because being musicians in nature, |
| Jean Baptiste Lully (1632-1687), the Italian-born French | | | | they naturally pay close attention to ballet following the |
| composer who founded the national French opera | | | | rhythmic structure of its accompaniment precisely. One |
| was not just a court composer to Louis XIV, but also | | | | who does not understand music can easily create |
| a choreographer who produced court ballets for | | | | ballet that looks good that in of itself, yet at the mercy |
| Molière's plays. This probably explains why his | | | | of a great classical piece the novice falls short of |
| productions never lacked an accompaniment. | | | | expressing the true nature of the piece. Instead, they |
| However, theatre productions of the eighteenth | | | | turn the production into a form of movement that is |
| century turned composers away from ballet and | | | | devoid of both art and beauty. The experts instead |
| toward the music of ballroom dancing. | | | | know when it is appropriate to go against the grain of |
| This phase sustained its self straight through the | | | | the accompaniment to heighten those dramatic periods |
| nineteenth century with the exception of pieces by | | | | which capture their audience's attention and leaves |
| Russian classical composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky | | | | them breathless. |
| (1840-1893) which include the Nutcracker, Swan Lake, | | | | As we dawn a new era of music and dance, it's |
| and Sleeping Beauty. | | | | undeniable that ballet will continue to change. However, |
| In the twentieth century however, ballet came back to | | | | just as music and dance have always been the best |
| the spotlight. Once again considered a respectable art | | | | of friends, ballet will continue to find its new identity in |
| form, choreographers looked to the works of classical | | | | the constantly changing music of today. |