WEEK #4: Tuesday

Coffee Breaks With the Ballet – where learning is fun!  Time for another installment of “Let’s Get Technical,” with ballet-geek historical facts and another Google Challenge.

Let’s Get Technical

Back in the day, dancers were lifted by stage machinery to create the appearance of floating, weightlessness and flying through the air.  In 1795, French choreographer Charles Didelot invented a “flying machine” that lifted dancers onto their toes and up in the air; the popularity of this ethereal style of movement led to the development of what we now know as the modern pointe shoe.

Theatrical Flying Machine (1700s)

Stage machinery for Giselle (mid-1800s)

GOOGLE CHALLENGE!

Find a picture of a person lifting, holding or carrying another person in any non-dance context.  Post the link here or post the photo on OBT’s Facebook page.