All About History

The knightly orders of the crusades have taken on a mythical quality in popular culture, used by storytellers as heroes or villains depending on the narrative they're trying to tell. But few really know what their mission statements were. A few months back we delved into the world of the Templars, for instance, and talked about their foothold in the world of banking as well as their battles in the Holy Land. The Teutonic Knights are another pivotal group from this period, who oddly are best understood through their actions in Europe. What drove them and why did they turn their crusade north rather than on the Middle East? These are some of the questions Gregory Leighton will be answering for us in our cover feature. Dr Leighton has written extensively…

31 January 1948 GANDHI'S FUNERAL Politician and activist Mahatma Gandhi, who led the non-violent campaign for India's independence from British rule, was shot at a multi-faith prayer meeting in New Delhi on 30 January 1948. His assassin, Nathuram Vinayak Godse, was a member of a Hindu paramilitary organisation who believed that Gandhi had prioritised the demands of the Muslims of British India during the partition in 1947. Gandhi's funeral took place the day after his death, and an estimated two million people attended to pay their respects. 7 February 1964 THE BEATLES ARRIVE IN THE US After reaching number 1 in the US with I Want to Hold Your Hand, The Beatles landed in New York for their first trip to America. Greeted by thousands of screaming fans, Beatlemania quickly took hold of the United…

1760 LETTRES SUR LA DANSE ET SUR LES BALLETS One of the most important figures in ballet, Jean-Georges Noverre publishes his treatise, Letters on Dancing and Ballets. In it he argues against the notions of Ballet-Opera and stresses the importance of movement to convey the narrative, a concept known as Ballet D'Action. La Sylphide is considered one of the world’s oldest Romantic ballets still being performed. 19TH CENTURY THE ROMANTIC ERA The influential Romantic era begins. Many ballets during this period have supernatural elements and themes to their narratives, influenced by the many Romantic novels and works of art that become increasingly popular during this period. A famous example of a Romantic ballet is La Sylphide. THE BIRTH OF BALLET 1581 Catherine de’ Medici brings ballet to the French court with what is considered the first…

Paris, France 1875 - Present The Paris Opera House has been the home of French ballet since at least 1875, when the company moved into the newly completed building. While it shared the space with opera performances for many years, it housed the world's first national ballet company and mostly ballet has been performed there since 1989. The original ballet school, the Académie Royale de Danse, was established by Louis XIV in 1661 as he wanted to improve the quality of dances at the royal court. The ballet school of the Opera National de Paris was established by Louis XIV in 1713. From this period came the first professional ballerina, Mile de La Fontaine (1665 -1738) and Pierre Beauchamp, who was responsible for the five basic ballet feet positions, which were built upon…

TONNELET It was typical for male dancers in this era to wear a tonnelet (meaning keg in French, representing the barrel shape) as an overshirt for ballet performances. Like the rest of the material for Louis' costume, this was made of gold brocade silk and inset with precious stones, which would have reflected backlight impressively. SKIRT In early ballet it was the men who wore short, floating skirts that look more like the ballet tutu as we understand them today. Originally, women would have worn skirts similar to typical court dress, which only began to be shortened in the 18th century. This 'tutu' would be wired to help it stand out and give the impression of the dancer floating in the air. HEELED SHOES Heeled shoes were worn for dancing during this period. Heeled boots…

WAXWORK The original sculpture was made from tinted beeswax and dressed with real fabrics for the tutu, slippers and bodice. It even used real human hair for the wig. All of these were then covered in wax. After Degas' death, his family recast the statue in bronze, making a number of replicas. POORLY RECEIVED The sculpture was shown at the Sixth Impressionist Exhibition in 1881, largely organised by Degas himself. Some of the fallout from his management (he wanted more realists at the exhibition and fell out with fellow organiser Gustave Caillebotte who wanted fewer) may explain why some critics were highly critical of the Little Dancer. BALLET RAT The model for the sculpture was Marie van Goethem, a student dancer at the Paris Opera Ballet who had previously modelled for Degas for paintings and…