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What was a "classic ballet" for Balanchine?


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Hi

I have been reading "Balanchine's 100 stories of the great ballets", and read that he describes some of them as "classic ballets" (like Symphony in C, for instance).

I wonder what he really meant - I always thought that his works were "neoclassical", because they were created after the classic period in ballet (i.e. after Petipa).

Is someone able to clarify this for me, please? :wink:

thanks a lot :toot:

silvy

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Silvy, I think he is not using "classic" as a technical term, as in classical, but as a descriptive term. In English, many well-loved things that have been around a while are described as classic (classic cars from the 1950s, classic rock on stations that play "oldies", etc.)

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Hi

I have been reading "Balanchine's 100 stories of the great ballets", and read that he describes some of them as "classic ballets" (like Symphony in C, for instance).

I wonder what he really meant - I always thought that his works were "neoclassical", because they were created after the classic period in ballet (i.e. after Petipa).

Is someone able to clarify this for me, please? :unsure:

thanks a lot :thanks:

silvy

Leigh I agree with you. Everything he created was classic, period. I've heard and read that he rarely (if ever) explained the meaning of his ballets. I guess if you could ask him the question, 'what does it mean?' he might come back with

'Well, what do you see?' :)

For me, 'neoclassical' would mean the collected works of 20th Century choreographers who IMO line up behind Balanchine: Fokine, Ashton, Cranko, MacMillan, Forsythe etc. Balanchine's NYCB was a laboratory. It was a genius' workshop. Ballets such as "Ballet Imperial," Diamonds from "Jewels," "Symph. in C," "Nutcracker," "Coppelia," Theme & Variations," etc. I guess, were hommages to the memory of his Maryinsky heritage.

On the hand, ballets such as "Concerto Barocco" "Agon," "the 4 T's," etc. are visual manifestations of the music. Here's some quotes I found which state the case better than I can. "Dance is music made visible" (Balanchine): He was always concerned that the music be seen. This is why he favored no costumes save leotards et.al. for his modern works. "Dancing can reveal all the mystery that music conceals" (Baudelaire). No one could visually interpret Stravinsky's most abstract ideas other than Balanchine. "Good choreography fuses eye, ear & mind." (A. Croce). "Dancing is silent poetry." (Simonides). Just my .02. I hope this helps.

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