Expert: Jennifer - 4/4/2004

Question
Any ideas on where to look.  I am writting a novel and would like to include some history.
thanks

Answer
I personally don't know the history... but here are a few reccomendations on where to look.

This type of thing is very difficult to find information for (I myself have done a research paper on the history of ballet terminology and their use in the English language, and it was very difficult to find any information.

I don't know if you have access to a good library... but here are some books I know of that might have information about what you're looking for:

A French-English dictionary of technical terms used in classical ballet
by Beaumont, Cyril W. (Cyril William), 1891-1976 comp.

The concise Oxford dictionary of ballet
by Koegler, Horst.

you might also try ballet and arts encyclopedias, ballet history surveys, and vocabulary manuals, like Gail Grant's Technical Manual of Classical Ballet.

Hope this helps!