Alexandra - to go back to one of your postings in the earlier thread, you said something about the 'contempt' with which some 20th century male choreographers treated women. I'm glad you said that because there's something I have been dying to get off my chest but have never dared to before.
It is just that I have a problem with both Balanchine and Macmillan. In Balanchine's case, I have never understood how he got away with some of the blatantly sexual positions he gave his ballerinas - mid-air full frontal leg splits, deep 'in-your-face'plies and, in Agon, a ballerina in the briefest of costumes has to lie on her back and split her legs wide apart, albeit when her partner has his back to her. It may be that this does not imply 'contempt' of women but it something worth considering. (It doesn't diminish my admiration for Balancine's genius - I'll be travelling from London to NY in July just the see the Kirov dance four of his ballets).
In Macmillan's case the problem is more complex. I have always found a worrying thread of misogyny running through his work (and I'm no feminist). It is blatantly obvious in his final full-length work 'The Judas Tree', but it is also obvious in his anti-war ballet 'Gloria' where a woman is casually and contemptuously thrown off-stage by two men. Even in his lovely 'Manon' there are hints of it where the heroine is needlessly sexually humiliated by the jailer (it wasn't in the book). I could go on about 'Triad' but I don't think very many people have seen that ballet. As in the Balanchine case, this does not stop me being a huge admirer of Macmillan, in particular for his courage in trying to tell real, human stories - as in 'Las Harmanas' and the brilliant 'Different Drummer'. But I don't think a ballet such as 'The Judas Tree' will be performed much, and I certainly don't think it would ever be acceptable to a US company, which is a pity as it has some brilliant choreography for the men.
