moira lawry

What ballets use characters or inspiration from the Commedia dell'Arte? How do they show improvisation?

From reading your description, I am sure that she was on a raked stage when Degas sculpted her. I'll have to go back and take a look at her and hold my head at an angle. What was the angle of the stage at the time? This reminds me of a Cycladic statue in the Art Institute. It was my impression that it was tilted incorrectly, that the plane of the face and arms should be vertical. You'd think that art museums would know about stuff like this, wouldn't you?

There does seem to be an appeal in performing arts to depict foreign cultures. You see it from Shakespeare's Verona to La Bayadere. I don't mind misconceptions about cultures, as long as there aren't trivializations or tokenism or a paternalistic attitude. It is quite nice, actually, to look far from one's own world and realize that whatever their class or culture, people still have the same struggles. They love and hate, their infants die, they have petty jealousies, they objectify other people--- just like we do! There is a famous ink drawing of a rhinoceros by a European artist who had seen a rhino once. The drawing is full of inaccuracies. Obviously, the farther one is from a culture in space and time, the more innacurate the depiction. I could write about Americans and many Americans would protest that I was saying incorrect things about them because it has been two years since I've lived in America. On the other hand, my depictions of British people would probably be even more inaccurate because I've lived here only two years. I would probably make a mess of describing the neighborhood I live in, with its Muslim women draped head-to-toe and its punks in black leather, because I know nothing about those cultures/subcultures. I still do try to describe them. Even people living in a culture, and native to that culture, make mistakes. A Greek friend objects to the dramatists' idea that ancient Athenians exposed the babies they didn't want. He says, "It is drama-- it is not supposed to be true." As it turns out, we have more evidence than just Athenian playwrights to show that the Athenians did expose their babies.

There does seem to be an appeal in performing arts to depict foreign cultures. You see it from Shakespeare's Verona to La Bayadere. I don't mind misconceptions about cultures, as long as there aren't trivializations or tokenism or a paternalistic attitude. It is quite nice, actually, to look far from one's own world and realize that whatever their class or culture, people still have the same struggles. They love and hate, their infants die, they have petty jealousies, they objectify other people--- just like we do! There is a famous ink drawing of a rhinoceros by a European artist who had seen a rhino once. The drawing is full of inaccuracies. Obviously, the farther one is from a culture in space and time, the more innacurate the depiction. I could write about Americans and many Americans would protest that I was saying incorrect things about them because it has been two years since I've lived in America. On the other hand, my depictions of British people would probably be even more inaccurate because I've lived here only two years. I would probably make a mess of describing the neighborhood I live in, with its Muslim women draped head-to-toe and its punks in black leather, because I know nothing about those cultures/subcultures. I still do try to describe them. Even people living in a culture, and native to that culture, make mistakes. A Greek friend objects to the dramatists' idea that ancient Athenians exposed the babies they didn't want. He says, "It is drama-- it is not supposed to be true." As it turns out, we have more evidence than just Athenian playwrights to show that the Athenians did expose their babies.

An American ballerina just visited me here in London and we went to see the Degas sculpture of The Little Dancer in the Tate Museum of Modern Art. Before I make any criticism of the bronze girl, I must say that I find her delightful and delicate and lovely. My question concerns ballet technique at the time of Degas and/or the developmental age of the girl. This little dancer is all off balance. She is in fourth position, and her center of gravity is behind her back foot. It is almost as if she must balance herself by jutting out her front foot. Her shoulders are held too high andd too far back, and with too much tension, even considering the tension created by locking the hands together with straight arms behind the back. She is facing too far upwards. Her left leg is turned out at the foot, but the rest of the leg is forward-facing, so that when you look at the statue from the front, the left leg looks grotesque. I realize that she is at rest, but I wonder why Degas sculpted her. Has anyone seen the other sculpture of the Little Dancer? Is it like this one? What about his paintings and drawings? What was technique like back then? How much was a child that age supposed to be able to do technically?

Hello, I've been lurking, but when I saw this post, I had to register and post a reply. My daughter (and our whole family) has found a great sense of meaning from classical ballet. This is part of a reply that I wrote to TIME magazine last September when they had an article on home education. They used the example of a dyslexic dance student to 'prove' that home education did not work and that it was undemocratic. > Dance, in particular, has a meaning to girls and young > women. By adolescence, a growing girl knows that she > is a second-class citizen. She knows she will never > been seen as fully human because her body will always > be objectified. Ballet, more than any other art, is a > humanizing activity because it allows her to use the > very object that ensnares her to create beauty. Our body is our voice. > > In ballet after ballet, the condition of women is > symbolized. We are half-human/half-woman (Swan Lake, > Chopiniana), poor and exploited by the rich (Giselle), > enslaved (Le Corsaire, La Bayadere), young and under > the thumb of older people (Romeo and Juliet), under > the curse of an evil spell (Swan Lake, Sleeping > Beauty, The Firebird), or a victim of men's whimsies > (Coppelia, Manon), and in many ballets, love enslaves > and liberates in turn, or women are in love and unable > to do anything about it because of external > circumstances. In every single case, our beauty and > dignity, and our transforming ability to love even > after death shows through. We are essentially human > even in oppression. It is a wonderful message for > growing girls, and one which they will not find in > poetry or literature or art. The frailties of our personalities are > cloaked in white tulle rather than blood and violence, > as they are in Euripedes's plays, so the lessons are easier to take. I think of ballet > as 'our' art. > > I should also like to dispute your claim that the > function of a liberal education is to, "Expose people > to fields they normally wouldn't investigate." The > function of a liberal education is to be able to use > one's mind, senses and feelings (and body in dance and > drama) to explore what it means to be human, and thus > be free to decide for oneself what it means to live a > worthwhile life. The arts go one step further: they > teach one to portray that meaning to others. > > It takes a long time to understand just one of the > arts. Levels of meanings of works percolate > only very slowly into our hearts, and ability to > express meaning must be nurtured on its slow way. The > knowledge of human frailty, our similarities, and > understanding of why we are different are what one > gets from the arts, and that is precisely what is > needed to shape character in a democracy. > The pointe shoe can be compared to a steel-toe boot. One wears them for safety. Steel toe boots are horribly uncomfortable. One of my little toes was almost cut off by one once.

Hello, I've been lurking, but when I saw this post, I had to register and post a reply. My daughter (and our whole family) has found a great sense of meaning from classical ballet. This is part of a reply that I wrote to TIME magazine last September when they had an article on home education. They used the example of a dyslexic dance student to 'prove' that home education did not work and that it was undemocratic. > Dance, in particular, has a meaning to girls and young > women. By adolescence, a growing girl knows that she > is a second-class citizen. She knows she will never > been seen as fully human because her body will always > be objectified. Ballet, more than any other art, is a > humanizing activity because it allows her to use the > very object that ensnares her to create beauty. Our body is our voice. > > In ballet after ballet, the condition of women is > symbolized. We are half-human/half-woman (Swan Lake, > Chopiniana), poor and exploited by the rich (Giselle), > enslaved (Le Corsaire, La Bayadere), young and under > the thumb of older people (Romeo and Juliet), under > the curse of an evil spell (Swan Lake, Sleeping > Beauty, The Firebird), or a victim of men's whimsies > (Coppelia, Manon), and in many ballets, love enslaves > and liberates in turn, or women are in love and unable > to do anything about it because of external > circumstances. In every single case, our beauty and > dignity, and our transforming ability to love even > after death shows through. We are essentially human > even in oppression. It is a wonderful message for > growing girls, and one which they will not find in > poetry or literature or art. The frailties of our personalities are > cloaked in white tulle rather than blood and violence, > as they are in Euripedes's plays, so the lessons are easier to take. I think of ballet > as 'our' art. > > I should also like to dispute your claim that the > function of a liberal education is to, "Expose people > to fields they normally wouldn't investigate." The > function of a liberal education is to be able to use > one's mind, senses and feelings (and body in dance and > drama) to explore what it means to be human, and thus > be free to decide for oneself what it means to live a > worthwhile life. The arts go one step further: they > teach one to portray that meaning to others. > > It takes a long time to understand just one of the > arts. Levels of meanings of works percolate > only very slowly into our hearts, and ability to > express meaning must be nurtured on its slow way. The > knowledge of human frailty, our similarities, and > understanding of why we are different are what one > gets from the arts, and that is precisely what is > needed to shape character in a democracy. > The pointe shoe can be compared to a steel-toe boot. One wears them for safety. Steel toe boots are horribly uncomfortable. One of my little toes was almost cut off by one once.