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Period: 12,000 BCE to 10,000 BCE
Paleolithic Age
Used tools of wood and bone. Learned to build fires. Kept records via cave paintings. Lived in small family units. -
Period: 10,000 BCE to 3500 BCE
Neolithic Age
Started living in small communities. Started farming (development of agriculture), started making polished stone implements.
Dances included religious dances for protection, hunting, and entertainment to please their gods. -
Period: 500 BCE to 300 BCE
Greeks
This age began with the unprecedented defeat of an immense Persian army who were vastly outnumbered by the Greek's army and it ended with an inglorious and lengthy war between Athens and Sparta. -
Period: 27 BCE to 180
Romans
Pax Romana, or Roman Peace, was the golden age of Rome.This era began when the first Roman Emperor Augustus came into power. The economy, arts, architecture and even commerce flourished during this era. Roman theater and dance were influenced by their Etruscan conquers. Etruscan's introduced satyr plays."* *Source-notes from 9/11 lecture -
Period: 476 to 1400
Medieval
An age where people began to look back and celebrate the art and culture of ancient Greece. Dances were created to celebrate those times and became more social than religious based. Dances include: Caroles, Farandole, and Line Dances -
1101
Carole Dance
A popular dance from the 12th-13th century (Medieval times.) People held hands usually in a circle with dancers singing usually in a leader and refrain style. -
1347
The Bubonic Plague
Also known as The Black Plague, tore through Europe killing over 20 million people from 1347-1350 -
1400
Farandole
A lively chain dance where the dancers would hold hands and skip through the streets -
Period: 1400 to
Renaissance
An age of Rebirth. All the world was a stage and the people of the courts were always performing. A lot of dances were created during this time, especially dances that showed off their outfits, jewelry, and shoes. Dances included: Branle, Moresca, Piva, Basse, Pavane, Galliard, Courante, Allemande -
Period: Apr 13, 1519 to
Catherine de Medici
Catherine de' Medici was an Italian noblewoman. She also was queen consort of France from 1547 until 1559, by marriage to King Henry II, and mother of kings Francis II, Charles IX and Henry III from 1559 to 1589. Her and her ladies of the court performed many of the ballets that happened in the her French Courts. -
Period: Mar 17, 1520 to
Thoinot Arbeu
Pen name of French cleric Jehan Tabourot, he is most famous for his study of late Renaissance dance entitled "Orchésographie" -
1530
Galliard
A social Renaissance dance that was popular from 1530-1620 in Italy, France, Spain, and England -
Period: 1535 to
Balthasar de Beaujoyeulx
Balthasar de Beaujoyeulx, originally Baldassare de Belgiojoso was an Italian violinist, composer, and choreographer. -
Oct 15, 1581
Comique de la Reine
The Ballet Comique de la Reine was an elaborate court spectacle performed on October 15-16, 1581, during the reign of Henry III of France, in the large hall of the Hôtel de Bourbon, adjacent to the Louvre Palace in Paris. It is often referred to as the first ballet de cour. -
Orchésographie
A book written by Thoinot Arbeu of his studies of late French Renaissance social dances. -
Period: to
Baroque
Dances and art inspired by the French courts ranging from Renaissance times up to the French Revolution -
Period: to
Louis XIV
Louis XIV, known as Louis the Great or the Sun King, was King of France from 14 May 1643 until his death in 1715. His reign of 72 years and 110 days is the longest recorded of any monarch of a sovereign country in European history. Louis XIV's France was emblematic of the age of absolutism in Europe. -
Period: to
Jean Georges Noverre
Jean-Georges Noverre was a French dancer and balletmaster, and is generally considered the creator of ballet d'action, a precursor of the narrative ballets of the 19th century. His birthday is now observed as International Dance Day. -
Period: to
Lord Byron
George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron, FRS, known simply as Lord Byron, was a British peer, who was a poet and politician. He was one of the leading figures of the Romantic movement, and is regarded as one of the greatest British poets. He remains widely read and influential. -
Period: to
Carlo Blasis
Carlo Blasis was an Italian dancer, choreographer and dance theoretician born in Naples. He is well known for his very rigorous dance classes, sometimes lasting four hours long. Blasis insisted that his students learn theories and definitions of dance steps. -
Period: to
Victor Hugo
Victor Hugo, in full Victor-Marie Hugo, (born February 26, 1802, Besançon, France—died May 22, 1885, Paris), poet, novelist, and dramatist who was the most important of the French Romantic writers. Though regarded in France as one of that country’s greatest poets, he is better known abroad for such novels as Notre-Dame de Paris (1831) and Les Misérables (1862) -
Period: to
Adalphe Adam...
French composer whose music for the ballet Giselle (1841) is noted for its easy grace and cogency. It has retained its popularity with dancers and audiences to the present day.
Important to trio of himself, Carlotta Grisi, and Jules Perrot -
Period: to
Marie Taglioni
Italian ballet dancer whose fragile, delicate dancing typified the early 19th-century Romantic ballet style. -
Period: to
August Bournonville
August Bournonville was a Danish ballet master and choreographer. He was the son of Antoine Bournonville, a dancer and choreographer trained under the French choreographer, Jean Georges Noverre, and the nephew of Julie Alix de la Fay, née Bournonville, of the Royal Swedish Ballet. -
Period: to
Fanny Elssler
Austrian ballerina who introduced theatricalized folk dance (character dance) into ballet. She was celebrated for her spirited, spectacular dancing and for her technique, especially her point work. -
Period: to
Jules Perrot...
Jules-Joseph Perrot was a dancer and choreographer who later became Ballet Master of the Imperial Ballet in St. Petersburg, Russia. He created some of the most famous ballets of the 19th century including Pas de Quatre, La Esmeralda, Ondine, and Giselle with Jean Coralli.
Important to trio of himself, Adalphe Adam, and Carlotta Grisi -
Period: to
Franz Liszt
Franz Liszt was a Hungarian composer, virtuoso pianist, conductor, music teacher, arranger, and organist of the Romantic era. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest pianists of all time. -
Period: to
Carlotta Grisi...
Italian ballerina of the Romantic era who was a muse to the choreographer and dancer Jules Perrot and to the poet Théophile Gautier; she created the title role in Giselle
Important to trio of herself, Adalphe Adam, and Jules Perrot -
Period: to
Clara Webster
Clara Vestris Webster was a British dancer. She was born in Bath in 1821, and studied with her father Benjamin Webster, who had studied with Auguste Vestris, thus her middle name. She made her debut at the Theatre Royal, Bath in 1830 -
Minstrelsy
Minstrel shows were said to have started with the creation of the character Jim Crow. It soon became a very popular show style where white men would dress in black face and perform often offensive shows with hurtful stereotypes of African-Americans -
La Sylphide
La Sylphide is a romantic ballet in two acts. There were two versions of the ballet; the original choreographed by Filippo Taglioni in 1832, and a second version choreographed by August Bournonville in 1836. Bournonville's is the only version known to have survived and is one of the world's oldest surviving ballets. -
Giselle
Giselle, originally titled Giselle, ou les Wilis, is a romantic ballet in two acts, and is considered a masterwork in the classical ballet performance canon. -
Period: to
Emma Livry
Emma Livry was one of the last ballerinas of the Romantic ballet era and a protégée of Marie Taglioni. She died from complications after burn injuries sustained when her costume caught fire during a rehearsal. -
Pas De Quatre
Pas de Quatre (Step of Four), choreography by Jules Perrot, music by Cesare Pugni. It was performed by Lucile Grahn, Carlotta Grisi, Fanny Cerrito, and Marie Taglioni, four celebrated ballerinas of the time. Fanny Elssler was invited to take part in its creation but declined to do so. Young Lucile Grahn accepted without hesitation. -
Period: to
Eugene Delacroix
Ferdinand Victor Eugène Delacroix was a French Romantic artist regarded from the outset of his career as the leader of the French Romantic school. -
The Black Crook
Many theatre writers have identified The Black Crook as the first popular piece that conforms to the modern notion of a musical. -
Coppelia
Coppélia (sometimes subtitled: The Girl with the Enamel Eyes) is a comic ballet originally choreographed by Arthur Saint-Léon to the music of Léo Delibes, with libretto by Charles-Louis-Étienne Nuitter. -
Period: to
Franco-Prussian War
The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the War of 1870, was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the German states of the North German Confederation led by the Kingdom of Prussia. -
Period: to
Filippo Taglioni
Filippo Taglioni was an Italian dancer and choreographer and personal teacher to his own daughter, Romantic prima ballerina Marie Taglioni. Also, although August Bournonville's version is better known, it was Taglioni who was the original choreographer of La Sylphide, in 1832. -
Swan Lake
Swan Lake, Op. 20, is a ballet composed by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky in 1875–76. Despite its initial failure, it is now one of the most popular ballets of all time -
Buck And Wing
A lively solo tap dance, typically done in wooden-soled shoes. -
Period: to
Vaslav Nijinsky
Vaslav Nijinsky was a Polish ballet dancer and choreographer cited as the greatest male dancer of the early 20th century. Born in Kiev to Polish parents, Nijinsky grew up in Imperial Russia but considered himself to be Polish. -
Vaudeville
A popular style of variety shows including burlesque, comedy, magic, dancing, acrobats, jugglers, etc. Popular from 1890-1930's -
The Nutcracker
The Nutcracker is an 1892 two-act ballet, originally choreographed by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov with a score by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. The libretto is adapted from E. T. A. Hoffmann's story "The Nutcracker and the Mouse King" -
Period: to
Leonide Massine
Leonid Fyodorovich Myasin, better known in the West by the French transliteration as Léonide Massine, was a Russian choreographer and ballet dancer. Massine created the world's first symphonic ballet, Les Présages, and many others in the same vein. -
Period: to
Fred Astaire
Fred Astaire was an American dancer, singer, actor, choreographer, and television presenter. He is widely considered the most influential dancer in the history of film. His stage and subsequent film and television careers spanned a total of 76 years -
Period: to
Jack Cole
An American dancer, choreographer, and theatre director known as "The Father Of Theatrical Jazz Dance". He is known for his work in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, River Of No Return, and Moon Over Miami. -
Period: to
Ginger Rogers
An American actress, dancer, and singer during the "Golden Age" of Hollywood and is often considered an American icon. She is famously the dance partner of Fred Astaire. -
L'après-midi D'un Faune (Afternoon of a Faun)
The ballet, The Afternoon of a Faun, was choreographed by Vaslav Nijinsky for the Ballets Russes, and was first performed in the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris on 29 May 1912. Nijinsky danced the main part himself. The music is Claude Debussy's symphonic poem Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune. -
Period: to
Gene Kelly
An American actor, dancer, singer, filmmaker, comedian and choreographer. He was known for his energetic and athletic dancing style, his good looks, and the likable characters that he played on screen in films such as Singin' In The Rain. -
Parade (Ballet)
Parade is a ballet with music by Erik Satie and a one-act scenario by Jean Cocteau. The ballet was composed in 1916–17 for Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes. -
Period: to
Jerome Robbins
Considered the "Dance Doctor", he was the go-to guy for when a dance needed help. Started taking dance in college. Started stage work in 1934, famous works were West Side Story and The King And I -
Period: to
Gus Giordano
An American jazz dancer, teacher and choreographer. He performed on Broadway and in theater and television. He taught jazz dance to thousands in North America, Europe, Asia and South America. -
Period: to
"Luigi" Eugene Louis Faccuito
Eugene Louis Faccuito, known professionally as Luigi, was an American jazz dancer, choreographer, teacher, and innovator who created the jazz exercise technique. The Luigi Warm Up Technique is a training program that promotes body alignment, balance, core strength, and "feeling from the inside -
Period: to
Bob Fosse
Known for All That Jazz, Sweet Charity, Caberet and his signature style which included hats, gloves, hunched backs, sharp elbows, and often risque scenes -
Period: to
Stephen Sondheim
An American composer and lyricist known as one of the most important figures in 20th-century musical theatre, Sondheim has been praised for having “reinvented the American musical" with shows that tackle "unexpected themes that range far beyond the traditional subjects. His best-known works as composer and lyricist include A Little Night Music (1973), Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (1979) He is also known for writing the lyrics for West Side Story (1957) and Gypsy. -
RENT
RENT is a rock musical with music, lyrics, and book by Jonathan Larson loosely based on Giacomo Puccini's 1896 opera La Bohème. It tells the story of a group of impoverished young artists struggling to survive and create a life in Lower Manhattan's East Village in the thriving days of bohemian Alphabet City, under the shadow of HIV/AIDS. It originally showed in a workshop in 1933 before going off Broadway in 1996 and finally making it to Broadway that same year. -
Snow White And The Seven Dwarves
The Grimm fairy tale gets a Technicolor treatment in Disney's first animated musical feature. Jealous of Snow White's beauty, the wicked queen orders the murder of her innocent stepdaughter, but later discovers that Snow White is still alive and hiding in a cottage with seven friendly little miners. Disguising herself as a hag, the queen brings a poisoned apple to Snow White, who falls into a death-like sleep that can be broken only by a kiss from the prince. -
Period: to
The Golden Age Of Musicals
The Golden Age of the American Musical is generally considered the 1940s through the 1950s, though most scholars name its conclusion with the 1964 production of Fiddler on the Roof. It was an age when many of the most beloved and enduring musicals in Broadway history lit up the Great White Way. It began with the musical Oklahoma! -
Oklahoma!
Oklahoma! is the first musical written by the duo of Rodgers and Hammerstein. -
Rodgers And Hammerstein
Rodgers and Hammerstein refers to the duo of composer Richard Rodgers and lyricist-dramatist Oscar Hammerstein II, who together were an influential, innovative and successful American musical theatre writing team. -
Anchors Aweigh
A musical staring Gene Kelly, Frank Sinatra, and Kathryn Grayson. This film was done in Technicolor and included animation mixed with live performance. -
The King And I
The King and I is the fifth musical by the team of composer Richard Rodgers and dramatist Oscar Hammerstein II -
An American In Paris
A film in technicolor starring Gene Kelly -
Singin' In The Rain
Directed and Choreographed by Gene Kelly -
Period: to
American Bandstand
A television program hosted by Dick Clark, showcasing music and dancing -
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes
Showgirls Lorelei Lee and Dorothy Shaw travel to Paris, pursued by a private detective hired by the suspicious father of Lorelei's fiancé, as well as a rich, enamored old man and many other doting admirers. -
Seven Brides For Seven Brothers
During the 1850s, Milly (Jane Powell), a pretty young cook, marries Adam (Howard Keel), a grizzled woodsman, after a brief courtship. When the two return to Adam's farm, Milly is shocked to meet his six ill-mannered brothers, all of whom live in his cabin. She promptly begins teaching the brothers proper behavior, and most importantly, how to court a woman. But after the brothers kidnap six local girls during a town barn-raising, a group of indignant villagers tries to track them down. -
Period: to
DJ Kool Herc
Clive Campbell, better known by his stage name DJ Kool Herc, is a Jamaican DJ who is credited for originating hip hop music in the Bronx, New York City, in the 1970s through his "Back to School Jam", hosted on August 11, 1973, at 1520 Sedgwick Avenue -
West Side Story
A musical based on the story of Romeo and Juliet but with two star-crossed lovers from rival gangs on the upper west side in New York. -
Period: to
Michael Jackson
A singer, songwriter, and dancer dubbed the King Of Pop. Famous for his iconic dances such as the moonwalk, the anti-gravity lean, the toe stand, and more. -
Bye Bye Birdie
Bye Bye Birdie is a stage musical with a book by Michael Stewart, lyrics by Lee Adams and music by Charles Strouse. Originally titled Let's Go Steady, Bye Bye Birdie is set in 1958. The story was inspired by the phenomenon of popular singer Elvis Presley and his draft notice into the Army in 1957 -
Period: to
Paula Abdul
Singer, songwriter, dancer, actress. Discovered by the Jacksons during her career as a choreographer for the Lakers' Cheerleaders. Still alive today. -
Fiddler On The Roof
Based on Sholom Aleichem’s stories about a poor milkman in late 19th century Russia, and the five daughters for whom he seeks significant weddings, this great musical, which opened at the Imperial Theatre on September 22, 1964, benefited from the portrayal of Zero Mostel as Tevye, and Jerome Robbins’ splendid choreography -
Period: to
Janet Jackson
An American singer, songwriter, and dancer known for innovative, socially conscious, sexually provocative records, and elaborate stage shows. Still alive today -
Mia Michaels
An American choreographer and judge on the television show So You Think You Can Dance. She was denied dancing careers for a long time because she didn't have a dancers body, now she employs other people with non-traditional dancer bodies. -
Graffiti
Considered the "written form" of Hip-Hop. Graffiti was closely associated with gangs, who used it for a variety of purposes: for identifying or claiming territory, for memorializing dead gang members, for boasting about acts such as crimes, and for challenging rival gangs as a prelude to violent confrontations. Common targets were subways, billboards, and walls. Tagging, which entailed the repeated use of a single symbol or series of symbols to mark territory became popular in the 1990s. -
Breaking or B-Boying
Considered the "Movement" of Hip-Hop. Breaking or b-boying, commonly called breakdancing, is a style of dance that evolved as part of hip-hop culture among Black and Latino American youths in the South Bronx during the 1970s -
DJ'ing
Considered the "Sound" of Hip-Hop. Hip-hop DJs not only select and play music using multiple turntables to back up one or more MCs/rappers, but they also perform turntable scratching to create percussive sounds -
MC
Considered the "Voice" of Hip-Hop. In hip-hop music, an MC, or rapper, is a music artist and/or performers who usually creates and performs vocals for his/her own original material. -
Urban Dance
The Urban Dance style or Urban Dance Choreography stems mainly from hip-hop and street dance styles (house, funk, pop, lock, and breaking) and also draws inspiration from other dance styles, such as: jazz, contemporary, tap, and more. Many people incorrectly assume it is hip-hop but this style is choreographed and usually performed in teams. -
Waacking
Waacking is a form of street dance created in the LGBT clubs of Los Angeles during the 1970s disco era. The style is typically done to 70s disco music and is mainly distinguishable by its rotational arm movements, posing and emphasis on expressiveness -
Disco
Disco is a genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the 1970s from the United States' urban nightlife scene. Its sound is typified by four-on-the-floor beats, syncopated basslines, string sections, horns, electric piano, synthesizers, and electric rhythm guitars -
Rocky Horror Picture Show
In this cult classic, sweethearts Brad and Janet stuck with a flat tire during a storm, discover the eerie mansion of Dr. Frank-N-Furter a transvestite scientist. As their innocence is lost, Brad and Janet meet a houseful of wild characters, including a rocking biker (Meat Loaf) and a creepy butler (Richard O'Brien). Through elaborate dances and rock songs, Frank-N-Furter unveils his latest creation: a muscular man named "Rocky." It's most popularly known for it's dance "The Time Warp" -
House Music
House is a genre of electronic dance music characterized by a repetitive four on the floor beat and a tempo of 120 to 130 beats per minute. -
Vogue
Vogue, or voguing, is a highly stylized, modern house dance originating in the late 1980s that evolved out of the Harlem ballroom scene of the 1960s. It gained mainstream exposure when it was featured in Madonna's song and video "Vogue", and when showcased in the 1990 documentary Paris Is Burning -
Hairspray
When Tracy Turnblad (Ricki Lake), an overweight teen, auditions for a spot on a popular teen dance show, she beats out the spiteful Amber von Tussle (Colleen Fitzpatrick), winning over Amber's boyfriend (Michael St. Gerard) in the process. After meeting some black students at her school, Tracy begins to push for more racial integration on the dance show. This gets her into trouble on many sides, especially with Amber's pushy parents (Sonny Bono, Deborah Harry). -
Smooth Criminal
The music video where Michael Jackson debut his anti-gravity lean -
Cold Hearted
Song by Paula Abdul -
Rhythm Nation
Song/Music Video by Janet Jackson -
Beauty And The Beast
An arrogant young prince (Robby Benson) and his castle's servants fall under the spell of a wicked enchantress, who turns him into the hideous Beast until he learns to love and be loved in return. The spirited, headstrong village girl Belle (Paige O'Hara) enters the Beast's castle after he imprisons her father Maurice (Rex Everhart). With the help of his enchanted servants, including the matronly Mrs. Potts (Angela Lansbury), Belle begins to draw the cold-hearted Beast out of his isolation. -
Lion King
This Disney animated musical follows the adventures of the young lion Simba (Jonathan Taylor Thomas), the heir of his father, Mufasa (James Earl Jones). Simba's wicked uncle, Scar (Jeremy Irons), plots to usurp Mufasa's throne by luring father and son into a stampede of wildebeests. But Simba escapes, and only Mufasa is killed. Simba returns as an adult (Matthew Broderick) to take back his homeland from Scar with the help of his friends Timon (Nathan Lane) and Pumbaa (Ernie Sabella). -
Krumping
Krump is a street dance popularized in the United States, characterized by free, expressive, exaggerated, and highly energetic movement. The youths who started Krump saw the dance as a way for them to escape gang life and "to express raw emotions in a powerful but non-violent way." -
The Greatest Showman
Growing up in the early 1800s, P.T. Barnum displays a natural talent for publicity and promotion, selling lottery tickets by age 12. After trying his hands at various jobs, P.T. turns to show business to indulge his limitless imagination, rising from nothing to create the Barnum & Bailey circus. Featuring catchy musical numbers, exotic performers and daring acrobatic feats, Barnum's mesmerizing spectacle soon takes the world by storm to become the greatest show on Earth.
