Balls of the Russian Empire in the 18-19th centuries. How we can look at them in the light of modern ideas about the quality of dance events.
(Dmitry Nikitin)

The grandiosity and pomp of court balls in the Russian Empire has been steadily increasing since the time of Peter the Great. In the beginning of the 18th century the Russian emperors were mostly copying the court balls in the German states, and then the balls of London, Versailles, Vienna and other European capitals. But starting with a simple imitation of the West, they not only managed to reach the European level by the end of the 19th century, but also developed their own ballroom tradition. This was facilitated by both - the typical features of the Russian character and the economic opportunities of the powerful state. The report examines the most grandiose court balls in the Russian Empire in the 19th century, describes and evaluates them. The analysis and evaluation is carried out according to criteria, which were developed by the author and set out in the framework of his lecture at the Academy of Russian Ballet Vaganova in 2016.

Dmitry Nikitin, Vladimir, Russia.

Dmitry NikitinI began to study historical social dance in 1975 at the age of 16 under the guidance of the choreographer-methodist of the Ministry of Culture of the USSR Golden O. D. For a long time he taught various types of dance. In 2011 he organized the Club of historical and social dance in the city of Vladimir. Currently, he is it's head and teacher. Areas of his activities are the reconstruction of dances of the 19th century and the modern era, dance theory, theory and practice of dance pedagogy, organization of historical events. He pulished several articles on dance reconstruction and lectures at conferences. he holds a PhD in Integrated Automated Systems at the Moscow Aviation Institute in 1989. For a long time he worked in the system of higher and special education.