Russian ballet

[2] While the first recorded ballet performance is believed to be in the 16th century around 1581, the Tsarist control and isolationism in Russia allowed for little influence from the West.

Classical ballet entered the realm of Russia not as entertainment, but as a "standard of physical comportment to be emulated and internalized – an idealized way of behaving.

Empress Anna (1730–1740) was devoted to ostentatious amusements (balls, fireworks, tableaux), and in the summer of 1734 ordered the appointment of Jean-Baptiste Landé as dancing master in the military academy she had founded in 1731 for sons of the nobility.

Curtain calls were arranged according to a strict pattern: first, the ballerina bowed to the tsar's box, then to that of the theater director, and finally to the general public.

[7] The influence of Russian ballet extends far beyond its national borders, significantly shaping global dance culture.

[8] This influence was particularly notable in Paris, where the Ballets Russes captivated the public and inspired a new generation of dancers and choreographers.

In 1903 Ivan Clustine, a Russian dancer and choreographer who had started his career at the Bolshoi Theatre, was appointed Maître de ballet at the Paris Opera.

"The Ballets Russes, at base, became a metaphor for invasion, an eternal force that could engulf and control, could penetrate the membrane of French society, culture and even art itself.

Questions arose about the Russian intention in the Paris theaters under the title "cultural politics" including "the delimitation of boundaries, the preservation of identity and the nature of relational engagements.

"[12] As early as the 1900s, the Russian ballet had ventured beyond its domestic sphere and enthralled spectators in Paris, an important development.

However, Clustine professed pride in his nationality and there are apparent carry-overs of the Russian influence in the productions of the Opera post 1909 and a few organisational structures.