History of ballet
Ballet originated in the Renaissance court as an outgrowth of court pageantry in Italy, where aristocratic weddings were lavish celebrations. Tutus, ballet slippers and pointe work were not yet used. The choreography was adapted from court dance steps. Performers dressed in fashions of the times. For women that meant formal gowns that covered their legs to the ankle. Early ballet was participatory, with the audience joining the dance towards the end.
Babek (ballet)
A series of performances followed the world premiere in Baku during 1986. After a successful season during the same year, the ballet fell into oblivion and was never re-staged in Azerbaijan. Nima Kiann, the founder and artistic director of Les Ballets Persans discovered the forgotten ballet and invited the choreographers to revive the ballet in order to be included in the world premiere production of the newly established Les Ballets Persans in Sweden. Thus, Babek was introduced for the first time in the West and for a European audience sixteen years after its world premiere in Baku. Staging of Babek in Stockholm was also the first presentation of the art form of Azerbaijanian ballet outside the country after the fall of the Soviet Union.