Standards; now and then

[Guest Simone]

Just yesturday a friend and I were watching the movie the turning point, we had just watched centre stage and still had some other ballet videos to watch. But what we noticed was how amazing the technique was of the girl(Emilia) in the turning point! Also on some of the videos i have of Margot Fonteyn in Swan Lake and some by more recent people, the standard is alot better in the older ones. Does anyone else think that dancers that are being produced today arnt as good as they used to be? Why do you think this could be?

Simona-Jean :confused:

[Victoria Leigh]

Simone, there well may be just as many excellent dancers today, or even more, but, in my opinion, a lot of the works they are dancing are not as good, and, even in the classical repertoire, there seems to be a severe lack of good coaching. There is too much emphasis on tricks, jumping and turning, and not enough on the ballet itself and the artistry of the dancers. Everyone today is a medal winner from some competition or other, and extreme technique is becoming the norm. While I am not against multiple pirouettes and high jumps, or even high extensions if they are well placed and appropriate to the ballet, when the ballets become ABOUT this instead of about the art of ballet, we have a problem.

[Giannina]

In movies you can film scenes over and over until you get a perfect take. You have the luxury of showing dancers only in scenes/takes that were perfect.

Giannina

[glebb]

On the other hand, there are draw backs to movies and videos.

As incredible as Misha is, have you ever watched the video of his Nutcracker?

If you watch his variation in Act II, you can see him brushing a flexed foot into the air for his double assembles.

I agree with Victoria. Dancers can do amazing things these days, but I prefer the dancers who can do those things with their shoulders down and beautiful port de bras etc.

[vagansmom]

Ah, shoulders down. I'll admit- that's one of my biggest pet peeves. I have a really hard time sustaining attention when the dancer can't keep her (or his) shoulders down. They lose me entirely. It doesn't matter what else they can do technically if they can't do that.

[BalletNut]

Perhaps this isn't as much of an issue of whether or not technique has declined or improved, but of which aspects of technique are in vogue at any given time?

[casloan]

Victoria -- thank you. I agree wholeheartedly that what is danced today is often not very good to begin with choreographically -- never mind how technically proficient the dancers may be. And, as you say, the extremes of technique are not enough

-- and are often too much and wrong for the work in question.