On top of the world

摘要

In many European countries, dance, A specifically ballet, the classical form recognisable the world over, is a known quantity. Renowned companies, star performers and a public that is hugely enthusiastic for and often well-informed about this most demanding of art forms, constitute a clear, national dance culture. Ballet at the French court began under Louis XIV and most of its key terms-arabesque, fouette and the rest-are still expressed in French. In Russia, the Bolshoi and the Kirov are still two of the biggest names in ballet. In Denmark, Auguste Bournonville, the son of a French dancer, became artistic director of the Royal Theatre Ballet School in Copenhagen in the 1830s and created one of the most famous ballets of all, "La Sylphide". In Britain, the Royal Ballet produced a recognisable style, combining elegance and interpretative elan with a certain reticence. In Spain, a folk rather than classical idiom predominates; ballet has a profile there, but the most familiar style is, of course, flamenco.