theology of ballet

[Mel Johnson]

Bühnentanz is the general term for "theatrical dance" which includes ballet.

[Brendan McCarthy]

I hope it's not too late to add some thoughts to this thread. You mention that you are a Jesuit. Have you come across Judith Rock's Terpsichore at Louis-le-Grand (Baroque Dance on the Jesuit Stage in Paris)? It's a study of baroque ballets staged by Jesuit teachers between 1660 and 1762, published in 1996 by the Institute of Jesuit Sources in St Louis. Apparently it was conventional wisdom in Paris at the time that "there is no one like the Jesuits for doing pirouettes". I hope you will think this a good augur for your research.

One your other Jesuit confreres, Claude François Menestrier, wrote a treatise in 1682, Des Ballets ancienes et modernes seolon les règles du théâtre. He is one of ballet's earliest historians and (I think) may have organised some of the dances at Louis-le-Grand.

The seam you intend to explore is potentially quite rich. It's arguable that Frederick Ashton cannot be completely understood in abstraction from the Catholicism he knew as a child in South America. Leigh Witchel was kind enough to mention some pieces I've written for The Tablet. I've put the Ashton piece on a (dormant) weblog. It's short and was written for a Catholic readership, but you may find it of some help.

Have you thought about the anthropologist Drid Williams? She has (I haven't actually read the article, I'm afraid) analysed the Catholic Mass as a choreographed ritual.

The other piece of preparation I would suggest is immersion in Joan Acocella's pieces for the New Yorker. She has a sensibility that is quintessentially Catholic (see this interview with Suzanne Farrell) - I love her observation on Balanchine - "Religion need not make a person rapt and impractical. For every St. Francis, there is a St. Dominic. I think that Balanchine's faith in a world beyond time is a large part of what enabled him to work so pragmatically within time - to have what I call an aesthetic of improvisation. This is an old story: a firm structure bestows freedom."

About John Neumeier: have a look at a programme note he wrote about his Saint Matthew Passion. It was shown on Bavarian TV and 3Sat on Good Friday. Did you see it?

And another Jesuit reference: William Forsythe and your confrere Friedhelm Mennekes SJ took part in a forum on Bridges to the future - museums, music and the performing arts in the 21st century. This is the link.

[Volkmar]

Dear Brendan McCarthy,

I thank you very much for your comments and informations.

I found Judith Rock's book in our Munich library and read it with a lot of enthusiasm. I knew about Jesuit ballet in Vienna (middle/end of 17th century, where the stage was almost as large as the Vienna State Opera today; the old stage of the Jesuit theatre is currently in a process of renovation ....) I know also about Menestrier and his work. These works became a foundation for my own dedication for ballet and dance - also because this is one of the Jesuits traditions...

I tried to contact Joudith Rock, but that failed at least until now.

For the project I turned meanwhile to the theme of "spirituality of theatrical dance ("Bühnentanz")". During my 2-months-stay here in Munich I had the excellent opportunity to make interviews with some principal dancers of the Bayerische Staatsballett. I will contunie my contacts this fall, after I have moved to Innsbruck.

Yesterday I found an interview of John Neumeier recently given to the Jüdische Allgemeine, where Neumeier too states that dance is something spiritual. I will follow that track.

Generally I am very pleased by the great interest and support I am finding for my project - here in Munich, in Vienna, in Paris and elsewhere.

I am still in a state of collecting material. As far as I can say it know, I will write the book in 2008 and plan to make a German as well as an English edition which will be written not as translations from one language to the other.

So I am still very interested in any information regarding this large field. I hope to be able to read the articles you wrote in The Tablet.

Thank you also for the informations on Ashton and Drid Williams. I would be very interested to read her article. Where can I find it?

This week I am moving to Trier, where I will teach at the university the following term. But I hope to find some time to continue my research on spirituality and ballet.

With a lot of greetings from Munich, Volkmar

[Brendan McCarthy]

Dear Volkmar

The reference I've been given for the Drid Williams essay is:

1994: 'The Latin High Mass: the Dominican Tridentine Rite' [JASHM Monograph 1 - Journal for the Anthropological Study of Human Movement]. Autumn term, Vol 8, No 2 pp vii-87. Here's a short biographical note about Drid Williams

I hope the moderators won't mind if I offer a link to one other piece I've written. It's an interview with the English choreographer David Bintley, the director of Birmingham Royal Ballet, whose religious convictions run deep.

Best wishes with your research.

Brendan