Multinational Ballet Theatre!

[Alexandra]

I think we are in agreement. I think the student can get the same thing at home -- if "home" is a school with high standards and first-rate teachers, and if they devote a year to polishing (as opposed JUST to winning medals!) The schools people send kids to be polished polish their own

[Ari]

ABT used to have a more American repertory before it became "American" Ballet Theater. In the 40s, they did American-themed work such as Billy the Kid and Fancy Free, but that seems to have died down around the time they appended "American" to their name. (Although the fashion for national-themed ballets also went into eclipse at about this time.)

What American style of ballet? I wasn't aware that there was one.

I know you don't like Balanchine, Hans, but he is usually recognized as having developed a distinctively American style of ballet -- fast, bright, clean, and energetic.

[Hans]

It's not about whether I like Balanchine. You could just as easily say that WSB has an American style, even though it isn't as distinctive. My point is that the training methods here are as varied as the nationalities, and we do not have a "national" school the way Russia, France, and Denmark do. Mary Day's method is less influential than Balanchine's in some ways, but it has been producing excellent dancers for years and years (including the present director of ABT) in a classical style that is different from any other. Balanchine created a style that he thought represented the US, and other people have created others, and it doesn't make any of them any more or less representative of the country or its dancing.

(And I would disagree with calling the Balanchine style "clean"--it looks unbearably fussy and Baroque to me--but that's another thread.)

[vrsfanatic]

...ABT does dance a lot of ballets originally danced by European companies, but saying they have a European classical style is stretching it a bit, I think. Each dancer has his or her own style, something those used to a company having a distinct style (especially the Europeans I've talked to about this) notice within about two minutes...

Again Alexandra, we are in full agreement. This brings the converstaion full circle in that the discussion leaps back to schooling. ABT does not have a particular training "style" in mind in the classes offered to the dancers. Without this, no "style" can be maintained within a group of dancers, particularly since these dancers are a hodge podge in the first place. By this I am pointing out their diverse backgrounds, not trying to pass judgement on the individual dancers.

I was watching the Baryshnikov/Kirkland televised Live at Lincoln Center, Theme and Variations the other day, with my accompanist. I was amazed at the clarity and precision of the corps work. Perhaps the year was 1978? I do not remember but it was late '70s, I believe. The point is I realized how the company has changed in the past 30 years. I am not sure if the school was open at this time or not, but I do know the training of the dancers were receiving in daily company classes at that time. Since the end of the Baryshnikov directorship, ABT has not had a Company teacher on staff. Rather they have a group of teachers responsible for training the dancers. I recognize that company class is a warm up for the day, but it also serves as a time to "bring the family together" almost like sitting down to a family meal, so as to catch up on life. These dancers do not have the opportunity to work together in a way that is central. They are always working on stylized ballets, but never getting back to basics. There are reasons for consistency and discipline within training, at any level. Perhaps this lack of training could be a contributing factor to the lack of a distinct style.

Alexandra, do you know if the Royal Danish Ballet employs a full time company teacher, as does the Kirov, Bolshoi, or POB?

[Alexandra]

vrs, I asked that when I interviewed several dancers for an article about "La Sylphide" a few months ago, and was told no, that so far, at least, there had been a series of guest teachers. They used to use guest teachers when they were working on an acquired ballet in a foreign style -- when they did "Swan Lake" in the 1960s, say, Anisimova was brought in not only to stage the ballet, but to teach company class. But then they had a balletmaster who taught company class.