Ballet Dancing and the Dance Boom of the ’60′s and ’70′s

Balletomania is a term used to describe an extraordinary enthusiasm for ballet dancing, and balletomania resurges from time to time. During the 1960′s and 1970′s there was so much creativity, talent, vision and money that was poured into ballet dancing, and this era is remembered by many as the dance boom.

The newspapers were full of ballet, which is normally kept for the back of the arts section. Ballet dancing even made the front pages. Many outstanding ballet dancers defected from the Soviet Union and seized the world’s attention. The most prominent defectors included Rudolf Nureyev, Natalia Makarova and Mikhail Baryshnikov. These ballet dancers sparked a renaissance in classical ballet and nonclassical items were reinvented. Suddenly new first rate ballets started appearing and ballet was the hip thing to do. A lot more money started to get poured into ballet dancing from the political sectors, and in America individual states created their own arts councils. Private organisations also gave generously to dance and dance education.