Description thanks to: http://ballet.isport.com/ballet-guide...

King Louis XIV was also the first principal dancer; his penchant for ballet was a delight to all in his court.

French/Paris Opera School
One of the most fluid methods of ballet, having been overhauled by Rudolf Nureyev in the 1980s, the French method of ballet is largely closed to the rest of the world, its practices not yet spread worldwide. The Paris Opera Ballet School (as it is now titled) was the first ballet school in existence, originally founded by King Louis XIV in the late 17th century. The feeder school for the Paris Opera Ballet, it ran through a highly-qualified staff of former premier dancers and ballerinas.

Following its decline in status and popularity in the second half of the 20th century with emerging rivals ranging from the newborn American ballet scene and neo-classicalist revolution in Europe, the Paris Opera Ballet School hired Soviet defector and famed dancer Rudolf Nureyev as director in the 1980s. What is known today as the French method of ballet came largely from Nureyev, who incorporated his own tastes along with Russian training into the French classical vocabulary.
Included in the hallmarks of French ballet are Nureyev’s particular attentions to musicality, altered tempo, and precision by dancers. The dancers are trained with sobriety, attaining a traditional and classical, ethereal look, while executing steps that are both impressive and virtuously quick. The French method of ballet is not practiced outside of the Paris Opera Ballet School, due in part to its newness and the lack of literature available on any syllabus informally created.