Ballet Culture in America

[Dance_Scholar_London]

I was wondering about the development of ballet culture in the United States. Ballet in America has been different from its European counterpart since its arrival. Of course, especially Balanchine has contributed to an American ballet culture but I was more talking about traditional story ballets (and not about neoclassical ballets). I have observed that US companies have used and promoted different aesthetic values: In my opinion, American dancers are represented "stars" and have more and individual personality and dance style than Euopean ballerinas. Might this be true - or am I justed blended from the outrageous costumes of ABT and SFB?

[Leigh Witchel]

Welcome to Ballet Talk, DSL.

Gosh, you don't have to go that far back into British ballet history to hit Margot Fonteyn. British dance had its other ballerinas and stars as well.

Is it just that both America and Britain react to celebrity in their own way?

[Dance_Scholar_London]

I think you just hit the point of my question: Are primaballerinas "created" in a different way in the US than in Europe (by the audience, or the PR department of a ballet company for example) or is it a matter of dance training, which starts at a very early age to educate individuals with a particular personal style? I guess I have difficulties to explain what I mean.... sorry English is not my first language

[Alexandra]

Welcome, Dance Scholar London! It's a complex question (and don't worry about your English from this end, DLS; it's perfect!). "American" encompasses many companies -- NYCB has never had prima ballerinas in the European sense of the term, but the company certainly has ballerinas. NYCB has a tradition of promoting choreography over stars, while American Ballet Theatre has, since the mid-1960s, at least, been very proud to be a "star" company, where people buy tickets to see particular dancers.

I'd argue that now isn't a great age of ballerinas anywhere -- at least, not in the sense of Fonteyn, Ulanova, Plisetskaya, or Carla Fracci, Marcia Haydee, Lynn Seymour, stars who had big personalities and were associated with particular roles.

[Dance_Scholar_London]

Alexandra - that is an interesting point. Hence, would you say that there was a difference between American and European ballet culture in the past and now it is all more or less on the same level? And if so, where do these tendencies come from? Is this a late postmodern impact on ballet, i.e. in the new millennium, ballet culture will not progress anymore? :sleeping:

[Alexandra]

I think that ballet is at a low point creatively at present, and has been for some time. I don't think postmodern culture is to blame, it's part of the ballet history cycle: a period of high creativity with a new form or style of ballet, followed by a period in which this new form becomes formula, followed by a period in which technique dominates, followed by a period where the public loses interest and every kind of novelty is tried (where we are now), followed by a period of renewal.

I do think that the Diva personality doesn't match our postmodern times. But, then, isn't postmodernism dying too?

[Dance_Scholar_London]

Do you think then that there will be a tendency to go back to (liberal) feminism on stage? There has been much written and argued about gender equality in dance in the recent years, thus I might suggest that there will be a reversion of gender/power/construction within the next decade. Hence, when the diva-ballerina celebration is dead now, does ballet go back to the victimisation of ballerinas?

[Alexandra]

Interesting thoughts. I'm not one who agrees that ballerinas are victims, though. We're in an age of ballerinos (that's fine, although no one dancing today is a Nureyev or Dowell or Vasiliev, et al., IMO) There have been times when both genders got equal attention. That's my idea of feminism in dance. (The other is that women have some control backstage and in the board room)

[Dance_Scholar_London]

Age of ballerino - great point of view! Has the male dancer than replaced the female of pointe or has the female lost power (or may I suggest control), which she had for a very long time due to her pointe work? I would claim that the audience does expect from a ballerina to have an excellent technique - but the spectator does not judge as strict in terms of the ballerino. When you mentionned the age of the ballerino - does this more apply to the American dancer? I just want to come back to my initial question about ballet culture in America. By the way, I also dont think that ballerinas are victims - I do pointe work myself and think its hard work but fun This could also be a sign that Postmoderism is dying... Welcome to the ballerino era :yes:

[paul]

And interesting point was made at a "Asthon lecture" at Covent Garden just before Christmas.

It was lamented that because of the insistence of high legs (more by the dancers than by the public) there was no room and no time within the music for the subleties which the Ashton coreography requires.

One dancer which in my opinion went back to be more feminin and pleasing and beautiful is Gratochva. 'I watches her Bolshoi "Le Corsaire". In the early performances she jumped as high as she could, made a hell of a noise with her point shoes like a canon going of. During later performances she kept her legs lower, took some jumps lower and made the whole performance for me so much more pleasant to watch.

[Dance_Scholar_London]

Do you think we are moving away from high extensions and emphasise more artistic skills rather than technique in the future

[carbro]

It was lamented that because of the insistence of high legs (more by the dancers than by the public) there was no room and no time within the music  for the subleties which the Ashton coreography requires.

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Regarding high extensions and multiple-multiple pirouettes, etc.: Just because you can doesn't mean you must. I see signs (few and far between, but signs nonetheless) that some dancers are discovering that high/many does not necessarily equal beautiful. Does anyone else see these signs?