The earliest form of ballet is said to originate in the royal courts of Italy during the Renaissance era. With Italian ballet, the modern staples of ballet we know of today, such as tutus and ballet slippers, did not yet exist; instead, dancers wore formal gowns and popular fashions of the time. Ballet was also participatory, with the audience joining in toward the end of the dance.
French ballet emerged shortly after Italian ballet. Similarly to the Italian form, French ballet emerged from the French royal courts during court ceremonies. The first academy of ballet was established in France, known as the Académie Royale de Musique et de Danse, in Paris in 1661. This form of ballet has an emphasis on soft, graceful movements and less on technique and exactness. The school came to serve as the basis for ballet training all over the world.
The Russian form is influenced by both the French and Italian schools of thought in ballet. A Russian ballet school was founded in St. Petersburg in 1738 by French dancer Jean-Baptiste Landé. This French tradition was continued at the St. Petersburg school by other French instructors, and later incorporated Italian influences and other international influences. In the 1920s, ballerina instructor Agrippina Vaganova invented the Vaganova technique, which later formed the basis for the Soviet school of ballet choreography.
The Danish Bournonville form of ballet was established primarily by dancer August Bournonville in the early 1800s, responsible for ballet of the Royal Theatre in Denmark. He strengthened the dance technique of male dancing in particular and was known for creating ballets out of many genres. Bournonville ballet has a strong influence of French Romanticism. Also, because the Royal Theatre worked out of the same building as spoken drama, story was also a very important part of the dance.