Port de Bras

[DefJef]

Which ballet dancer(s) in your opinion exhibits the "best" port de bras? Is this something which is consistent in every performance or is one role a platform for this exceptional quality of the dancer? Can a ballet dancer be great without being exceptional at port de bras? How important is this in the overall assessment of a dancer?

In my own limited experience and "eye" I can see quite a difference between the principal, the soloists and even the corps as far a port de bras is concerned. I made this observation in my most recent ballet experience on Saturday at the ABT's Giselle with Herrera. Admittedly the lead has more opportunities to demonstrate "virtuosity" here, but it got me thinking about the whole topic. Any comments??

[Hans]

Ok, this topic attracts me like a moth to a flame.

Carla Fracci springs to mind, as does Alla Sizova. A more recent example includes Karen Uphoff of ABT.

In my opinion, port de bras is usually consistent from one performance to another, although it may be more obvious in some ballets than others. For example, Giselle is pretty much all about port de bras and épaulement, whereas the exact angle and curve of an arm may not matter so much in, say, Romeo and Juliet. Part of having good port de bras is the ability to adapt it from one role to another, but if a dancer is accustomed to using his/her head and arms beautifully all the time, it will show regardless of a particular ballet's choreographic idiosyncrasies.

As far as whether a dancer can be great without having exceptional port de bras, I would say yes, but someone else might think that the very dancers with whose port de bras I would take issue are actually good at it, that their way of moving is different but not lower quality.

[carbro]

Merrill Ashley, whose clean, fast footwork has yet to be matched, was considered by many to be a Great Ballerina. I, however, could never get past her stiff, uncomfortable port de bras.

[DefJef]

Hans,

Is port de bras more prominent in the choreography of classical or romantic ballet?

Are any ballet dancers particularly known for their port de bras?

[vrsfanatic]

Classical port de bras is prominent in classical work where as contemporary port de bras is prominent in contemporary work. The various catagories of dance all have differing expectations and uses of arms. One cannot compare the use of arms in Balanchine work to the use of arms in classical work. Although the root is similar the actual execution is quite different. It is like comparing apples to oranges.

As for comparing corps work to soloists to principals all within the same ballet...the corps has its' job to do, be the same and together the soloists and principles yet another. An appreciation and recognition of good corps work is something that often goes unnoticed. For the most part, a corps is recognized by less educated ballet watchers only when it is really bad. The principle dancer should stand out in every area. Not having seen Ms. Herrera in many years, I am not able to comment on the quality of her port de bras in most recent Giselle, however comparing the various "styles" of port de bras and the dancers who perform the ballets is a very difficult thing to do. Comparing the port de bras of a few principles in Giselle to each other is a more level playing field. To compare Meryl Ashley's port to bras in a Balanchine ballet to Fracci, Sisova or Herrera in Giselle is not the same thing.

[Helene]

An appreciation and recognition of good corps work is something that often goes unnoticed. For the most part, a corps is recognized by less educated ballet watchers only when it is really bad.

I'd add, "or when the Principals are disappointing."

For a slight detour to a wonderful appreciation of the corps, please see Alexandra's review of the Kirov-Mariinsky's Giselle in this week's Dance View Times:

There were moments this weekend when the Kirov’s corps de ballet danced with such sweet, sonorous uniformity — arms joined in a heartless meandering line to point Hans (Hilarion to the rest of the world) to his doom, bodies as alike as sisters and as individual as only beautifully trained dancers can be — that all seemed right with the world.

[Hans]

Is port de bras more prominent in the choreography of classical or romantic ballet?

That's a good question. From the audience's standpoint, probably not.

It's been my experience that dancers have to pay more attention to port de bras in Romantic ballets because the ballets have such a specific aesthetic (one might call it the Lithograph Look, as people often try to imitate the look of Marie Taglioni, Elssler, &c in old lithographs). Ballet masters usually spend a great deal of time perfecting the port de bras and épaulement during rehearsals of such ballets, and if you're not used to the style, it can sometimes get rather tedious to rehearse them. The effect, of course, is worth it.

That's not to say port de bras isn't important in Petipa ballets--it is, but people today are usually not trying to move their arms as if it's 1877 when they dance his ballets, which, though they are the foundation of the classical repertoire, have been "updated" and altered ceaselessly over the years. Instead of trying to replicate a period look, it seems to me that dancers and their coaches (at least in the US) usually take more of a textbook approach with Petipa, using arms and heads in a somewhat reserved, "classroom" manner, which they are more used to doing than the Romantic port de bras.

It never hurts to be familiar with Romantic port de bras, though, as there is a touch of Romanticism about Petipa's ballets (it was still the 19C after all ) particularly in the drama of the libretti and the "white acts" or "ballets blancs" (for example, the lakeside scenes in Swan Lake, the Kingdom of the Shades from La Bayadère, and the Vision scene from The Sleeping Beauty).

And of course, once one gets into more modern ballets (Fokine, Balanchine, and so on) port de bras changes once again, becoming more reserved in some ways, less so in others, involving new positions of the hands and arms, different combinations of épaulement and port de bras, &c.

EDIT: I have to expand upon my remarks re: Petipa, as I really didn't do him justice. Certainly the port de bras in Swan Lake is quite stylized, and Aurora's arm movements are quite elaborate, and dancers should be coached on port de bras in Classical ballets as much as they are in the Romantic ones. However, I feel that dancers in the US are more often left to their own devices (to imitate a videotape, for example) when rehearsing Petipa ballets because there's an assumption that the port de bras is not that difficult to do and is very similar to what one does every day in class. This is unfortunate because classical port de bras is actually very rich and beautiful when properly coached. For a good idea of how Aurora and Odette's arms ought to look, watching the Kirov is usually a good start.

[bart]

For me, as I suspect for many non-specialist viewers, port de bras is something I pay a lot of attention to only when it's (a) bad and/or out of sync. Or b) when it's exceptionally good. Or © when some dancers in the same performance have it and others don't.

Based on some of the examples given, am I right in thinking this is an area in which the Russians excel? Certainly this is the case with the Maryinsky corps and even touring groups like the Russian National Ballet (Perm). Am I right in thinking this is less the case with the Bolshoi, where there appears to be more inconsistency on stage?

Another question: how similar and synchronized should the port de bras of the corps be? Are there ever cases when it is so uniform that it goes too far?

From my limited viewing of live performances this past season, Haiyan Wu (Miami City Ballet, but formerly with the National Ballet of China) was a stunning stand out. So much so, that her beautiful attention to port de bras -- so different in style and execution from that of other other dancers, who on the whole have had Balanchine training -- was actually almost a distraction. But a beautiful one.

[Hans]

I think the Russians indeed do a great job with port de bras, but they're not the only ones. I'm afraid I don't have enough experience with the Bolshoi to be able to comment on them.

Regarding the question of how much uniformity is enough/too much, I think it depends on the ballet. Too much uniformity in Balanchine is bad, but in a more formal classical ballet, considering that the corps will never be perfectly in sync (because that's impossible) I don't think the dancers can be too uniform/synchronized.

[aurora]

I think the Russians indeed do a great job with port de bras, but they're not the only ones. I'm afraid I don't have enough experience with the Bolshoi to be able to comment on them.

I think there is a continued emphasis on port de bras in Russian training that we just do not see in the states.

Feet, legs, movement are emphasized, arms are largely ignored. In my view this is especially true in the Balanchine tradition, but that is based purely on personal experience and might not be true in the greater scheme of things.

Arms that look like they are draped over yokes, or stretched on clothes hangers are just not attractive.

[canbelto]

In the doc Leningrad Legend Natalia Dudinskaya gives a mini-demonstration of proper port-te-bras. "Arms must be soft, but strong," as she spreads her arms out, displaying exactly the kind of elegant port-te-bras that the Vaganova School is famous for.

[Andre Yew]

There are also many different styles of Balanchine port de bras! PNB's Balanchine is very different than NYCB's which is very different than the Royal's.

My favorite dancers for port de bras include Uliana Lopatkina, Zenaida Yanowsky (check out her Rose Fairy in the DVD of the Royal Ballet's Nutcracker which also has a great example of port de bras creating 3D space with Cojocaru during her pas with the Nutcracker after the rat battle), and Patricia Barker. I guess I'm partial towards long-limbed women!

edit: for men, I think Roberto Bolle has very masculine and strong port de bras. Andrian Fadeyev is another great example.

Another interesting way to see port de bras is to watch one of Forsythe's neoclassical ballets (In the Middle ... or Vertiginous) where he deconstructs, warps, and manipulates port de bras like a Rubik's cube.

--Andre

[beck_hen]

I noticed recently watching Concerto Barocco that Wendy Whelan had very fluid, soft wrists, which enhanced the heartbreak of her adagio dancing and set her apart from everyone else on stage (she also used her eyes expressively, directing her gaze in counterpoint to her movements and to the music). So I agree with the thought that the quality and effectiveness of port de bras can vary within any period or style of dancing. I'm not sure I would have noticed the quality of her work when I was a little less familiar with Balanchine style, since I would have focused more on its overall strangeness.

I think good port de bras can be split into at least two aspects. One, that there is a beautiful line in academic positions (arms are not simply tacked on to the torso, but flow from the center through the back out through the fingertips). Two, that parts within the arm (shoulder, elbow, wrist, fingers) can be isolated and used expressively.

I love one bit in Altynai Assylmuratova's pas de trois variation in the Kirov's Corsaire video where she is doing passe releves. In that short sequence, she uses port de bras as if she were a jazz musician—creating a spontaneous, improvisational gloss on academic positions. I remember trying to break down what she did for myself in the past, and finally abandoning the effort so that I could simply enjoy it. A week or so ago I had some fun mirroring the arms in the Royal Ballet Les Sylphides video, not that I quite succeeded.

Good port de bras really pay off in terms of artistry, so it is an area that would repay more attention from any dancer. But I don't think a dancer can get there by thinking of her arms in isolation—they must be part of a total body expression. That must be why training is so important in developing beautiful arms, which go deeper than style and cannot just be tacked on at the age of 16 or so.

[omshanti]

A great dancer whose arms were all over the place and were not controlled well in a classical way is Zizi jeanmaire.

A great dancer who comes in to mind whenever arms are mentioned is Maya Plisetskaya. Her arms were amazing, although I am sure she never listened to her teachers in class about arm positions.

[vrsfanatic]

A great dancer who comes in to mind whenever arms are mentioned is Maya Plisetskaya. Her arms were amazing, although I am sure she never listened to her teachers in class about arm positions.

I assure you M. Plisetskaya did listen to her teachers about her arms in class as a student or she never would have been allowed to complete her study in the Bolshoi School. The great Russian schools do not allow lack of discipline in any area of study.

[bart]

This topic and all these posts have been so interesting -- and helpful. A common theme is the need to integrate correct (but flexible) port de bras into the muscle memory early on in the young dancer's training. I especially appreciate beck_hen's comments, for instance:

[ ... ] I don't think a dancer can get there by thinking of her arms in isolation—they must be part of a total body expression. That must be why training is so important in developing beautiful arms, which go deeper than style and cannot just be tacked on at the age of 16 or so.

On other threads, Hans, too, has emphasized the need for what I guess you might term "holistic" training. Inconsistency or imbalance of training may have something to do with the inconsistency, now-you-see-it-now-you-don't quality of classical style that is often commented on here on Ballet Talk.

[omshanti]

A great dancer who comes in to mind whenever arms are mentioned is Maya Plisetskaya. Her arms were amazing, although I am sure she never listened to her teachers in class about arm positions.

I assure you M. Plisetskaya did listen to her teachers about her arms in class as a student or she never would have been allowed to complete her study in the Bolshoi School. The great Russian schools do not allow lack of discipline in any area of study.

Then why when in third arm position(Vaganova style)were her arms so much behind her head? I do not think they taught it that way because other dancers of Bolshoi in that era did not do it that way. I was not commenting on lack of discipline. Perhaps it depends on the personality and talent of each dancer what they do with things that they are taught. Maybe she listened and then disregarded it to suit her own style.

[vrsfanatic]

What a professional dancer does for stage work is a different thing than what is trained in school. It is only after the rules are known and accomplished that they may be broken. One must know the rules to break! It is not a matter of agreement or disagreement. It is a matter of artistic knowledge and talent. Some dancers know all of the rules, have impecable mechanical knowledge of movement but ballet requires that something extra as a leading dancer. All Russian trained dancers of her era (and most until the fall of communism) had the same training. Schooling is schooling the development of artistry is yet another thing.

Another question: how similar and synchronized should the port de bras of the corps be? Are there ever cases when it is so uniform that it goes too far?

Personally I have never seen a corps that was too similar or synchronized. Perhaps a case could a a poorly trained group of dancers who are well coached, similar to synchronized swimming? Good port de bras always must include the soul of each dancer and fabulous musicality. Arms, focus, expressivity and good mechanics must sing the music. Without this it is not good port de bras.

Then why when in third arm position(Vaganova style)were her arms so much behind her head?

What ballet are you discussing. Don Q maybe? Edited June 24, 2006 by vrsfanatic

[winky]

The best advice I was ever given by a ballet instructor trained in the Russian style was, "After you have learned the technique in ballet, forget everything." Only at that point can one dance and discover their own interpretation of ballet. This is what I see in the best port de bras.

As others have said on this forum, it is essential to learn excellent port de bras technique at an early age and only then, later, can a dancer break out and do what they want.

[omshanti]

What ballet are you discussing. Don Q maybe?

I was speaking generally.

[vrsfanatic]

I am sorry omshanti, I do not have enough knowledge of Plisetskaya as a dancer (only on video) to really make educated comments on the hows and whys of her port de bras. What I am educated in is the teaching of the Vaganova program. She did it all, the same as all Russians of her age group. Maybe since she was the niece of A. Messerer she may have been influenced by male port de bras as she performed at th3e Bolshoi...just a guess.