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Ballet is the name given to a specific dance form and technique. Works of dance choreographed using this technique are called ballets, and may incorporate half pointe, pointe, and modern elements.
Ballets can be performed alone or as part of an opera. Ballet is best known for its virtuoso techniques such as pointe work, grand pas de deux and high leg extensions. Many ballet techniques bear a striking similarity to fencing positions and footwork, perhaps due to their development during the same periods of history, but more probably, because both arts had similar requirements in terms of balance and movement. Its unique positions and movements had their beginnings in courtly dance and are shaped the way they are because of the fashions worn at that time. Ballet's curved arms were to accommodate the full puffy sleeve and the turn-out of the feet enabled one to move without hindrance by one's high heeled shoe (and was found to make moving sideways much easier).
