The choros, originally danced in a circle by temple virgins, is the centrepiece of the developing Greek theatre

Frenzied dances, in honour of the god Dionysus, become part of Greek theatre - deriving probably from the northeast, in Thrace

The first dramatic ballet, the Balet Comique de la Reine, is presented during French wedding festivities

The 14-year-old Louis XIV dances in a court ballet as Apollo, wearing a glorious sun costume, and finds that he likes the role

Louis XIV establishes a royal dancing academy and soon follows it with a music academy

A professional ballet company in Paris introduces female dancers and the world's first prima ballerina, Mlle de Lafontaine

Under the guidance of Alexander Hamilton the First Bank of the United States is established in Philadelphia

Robert Schumann's first published composition is Papillons ('Butterflies'), twelve short dance pieces for piano

Coppélia, with choreography by Arthur Saint-Léon to music by Delibes, has its premiere at the Paris Opera

French painter Edgar Degas finds inspiration in the onstage and backstage world of ballet dancers

The ballet Swan Lake, with choreography by Julius Wenzel Reisinger to music by Tchaikovsky, has its premiere at the Bolshoi in Moscow

Czech composer Anton Dvorák writes his first set of Slavonic Dances, originally as piano duets

An American Indian visionary, Wovoka, launches a new religion that will bring the dead back to life, calling it the Ghost Dance

Sleeping Beauty, with choreography by Petipa to music by Tchaikovsky, has its premiere in St Petersburg

The Nutcracker, with choreography by Lev Ivanov to music by Tchaikovsky, has its premiere in St Petersburg

Swan Lake is performed in St Petersburg in its definitive version, with choreography shared between Lucien Petipa and Lev Ivanov

Isadora Duncan dances professionally for the first time in Europe in London's Lyceum Theatre

The annual Prix Goncourt is established in France, in accordance with the will of Edmond de Goncourt

The Dutch dancer Gertrud Zelle begins a career in Paris, using the stage name Mata Hari

6-year-old Fred Astaire and his sister Adele give their first professional performance, in the pier theatre in Keyport, New Jersey

Michel Fokine creates the ballet Les Sylphides (originally called Chopiniana) to music by Chopin

Anna Pavlova dances The Dying Swan, choreographed for her by Michel Fokine to music by Saint-Saëns

Bronislava Nijinska joins her brother Vaslav in the Maryinsky company in St Petersburg

Michel Fokine becomes the choreographer for the ballet company that Sergei Diaghilev is taking to Paris

Alexandre Benois becomes the first artistic director of Diaghilev's Ballets Russes