Choreographers

Dance has been part of religious ceremonies, healing rituals, and entertainment since the earliest days of humankind.

One of the first known choreographers was Domenico da Piacenza, an Italian Renaissance dancing master. In 1455, he published the first European dance manual, De arte saltandi et choreas ducendi (On the Art of Dancing and Directing Choruses).

Some dance styles that are popular today were created hundreds of years ago. For example, ballet has its origins in Italy and France around 1500 A.D., and grew rapidly in popularity over the next few centuries. In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, choreographers were creating ballets that are still performed today. One of the oldest of such ballets is the French La Fille Mal Gardee, which was created and choreographed by Jean Dauberval in 1789. The end of the 19th century saw the creation of many famous ballets, still among the most popular in the world today, including The Nutcracker Suite, Sleeping Beauty, and Swan Lake.

Today, dance is cherished by nearly every culture, and the work of choreographers remains important—especially as the growth of the Internet (and social media), music videos, and original content that is produced for streaming services such as Netflix have created new forums for dancers and choreographers.