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"Dance is the hidden language of the soul." —MARTHA GRAHAM

Key Points

  • Previously part of lavish entertainments, ballet was established as an independent art form in the eighteenth century, particularly in France and Russia.
  • The Russian choreographer Marius Petipa created the pas de deux (dance for two), which became central to classical ballet.
  • The three ballets of Russian composer Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky—Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty, and The Nutcracker—remain favorites today.

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