Is Ballet a Team Game?

[Globetrotter]

Last week during my daily run, I got to thinking about Football and Ballet - having season tickets to both. Football is most successful when played as a team game - when players put the team above their personal acclaim. The New England Patriots are thought to be the epitome of team and are competitive every year despite losing almost all their 'star' players. There are many teams with more talent, yet the Patriots seem to get it done.

Ballet seems to tolerate teamwork in the corps, but is more interested in cultivating stars. That is, I doubt most dancers work hard not to stand out in the corps. And I may go see a company perform, but am always interested in exactly who is performing. I've traveled a few hours just to see a specific dancer.

So, as it is with sports, are some ballet companies more a "team" while others are more "stars? How do you tell? And what is the value of teamwork in ballet?

[SanderO]

It would appear that the analogy is flawed. All football games... all sports have very rigid structures, the field, the rules, the team size, how the game is played.

Ballet, although it involves many "players" and can be called atheletic, the similarities end there. Not all ballets have the same casting.. most feature a pair of dancers with "supporting" roles from soloists and the corps... or maybe not. There can be, and often is virtuosity.. which may look similar to an athelete super star... But ballet is meant to be something very different from sport. It can be a story... or a mood... a work of art... There is no battle to find a winner!

All the components make the ballet work... must work! And that includes the choreograoher, the set designer, the costumes... the lighting and of course the music... of did I forget the dancers? What an amazing, complex and nuanced interaction... compared to a football game? Are you serious?

[Farrell Fan]

NYCB is a team; ABT is a collection of stars. I don't know how to prove this pronouncement, but when you've seen these companies as much as I have, it becomes quite obvious.

[Globetrotter]

It would appear that the analogy is flawed. All football games... all sports have very rigid structures, the field, the rules, the team size, how the game is played........... What an amazing, complex and nuanced interaction... compared to a football game? Are you serious?

SanderO, you seem to have missed my point and yes, I am serious. I am interested in the 'teamness' of the two disciplines and that's it. In sports there exists a continuum of teamness. But does that same continiuum exist in dance, specifically ballet?

For example, as a professional musician, I've been on stage, in the pit and on the bandstand. There are very professional groups of musicians who sound great and have never met before the gig (and might not after). As a result, I think 'teamness' in music performance is over-rated. The continuum probably exists, but doesn't impact what is heard by the audience very much. And this is true for the rigidly structured classical music as well as the complex and nuanced jazz music.

But back to ballet and football. As an audience member I think I can sense 'teamness' (as does Farrell Fan above) but I don't know why. And my dancer friends are thrilled when told they 'stood out' in a performance, which doesn't seem much like a team reaction. Hence my conundrum.

[SanderO]

Globe,

If one means by teamness the working together of separate parts to create a whole, then I would say that ballet without the virtuosity of a principal can appear very team like.. and with some participants shining out it teamness is diminshed.

For sure many artists/performers have big egos (sportsmen too) and they use the cast (team) as a backdrop or platform for their own expression... whether intentionally or not.

The team concept for me is more how many dancers can weave themselves into a seamless tapestry... even with principals shinng brighter.

But you may be right... maybe I am missing the thrust of your post.

[carbro]

Obviously, each member of the corps de ballet depends on all the others to do the right step at the right time in the right place. This is no less a concern for the principals. If a corps dancer is out of formation, the principals may have to change their blocking. Yes, everybody on stage, backstage, in the studio is working together to make the performance the best it can possibly be.

What else do you need to define teamwork?

[pas de chat]

I would have thought it should be a team game, just like an orchestra. If you have a line of people all doing the same thing at the same time, you want them to be in sync. As with acting, the crowd in the background should be complimenting, rather than distracting from the main action. Surely as with acting, all cast members help each other to 'set up shots', and give each other moves to react/respond to?

Balletbogsville 3, Dancing Athletic 0

[pas de chat]

What else do you need to define teamwork?

Chemistry may be another element. All kinds of people may be able to go through the motions of something perfectly. but sometimes magic happens in the casting. In a rock band, it may be the difference between the session musician and the bond between the band members. In an orchestra or choir, it could be a familiarity with your regular colleagues and conductor's ways of doing things. In acting, certain people just feed off each other really well, bringing things to life. In some memorable TV shows, for example, it seems that everyone was cast perfectly from the biggest stars to the smallest roles. You just can't imagine anyone else in any of those roles. In the world of ballet you do get to see different people playing the same role, like different orchestras performing the same symphony. I suppose in sports some famous line-ups and pairings may have been able to read each other's moves, signals and thoughts really well.

[bart]

And then there is the element of individual competition within the team or company. This can work well, as long as the primary loyalty is to the group performance. But personal jealousy, egocentricity, and giving too much weight to private agendas can complicate matters and harm the group effort --in ballet as in sport.

[SanderO]

I suppose in team sports when someone seeks to really do a me me me thing we call it grand standing... almost as if they are simply trying to excel for themselves and not for the team.

In many team sports there are different roles and some may seem to be more important than others... the quarterback or the pitcher for example. In ballet, it is the principals who get to display virtuosity... it's often the nature of the choreography of the piece... there is one Giselle and a dozen or more wilis.

When you see a principal in a role, you want to see them excel, even stand out, but that doesn't diminish their integration into the entire work. A perfect performance is like a woven tapestry... some threads or parts stand out but together they make a whole.

I think we like to see some principals and some dazzling virtuosity. But some choreography is all team and no stars. We recently saw In The Upper Room which seems to be such a piece. It was a very interesting piece and the music seemed well matched for this type of choreography. Yet, the company seemed to be subordinated to the choreographer and her choreography in this case... she seemed to be the star!

A ballet company without strong principals seems like a conundrum.

[Helene]

Various thoughts:

The critical question in my mind for a dancer in a company is whether he or she can fulfill his or her role in each ballet. At NYCB like at PNB and a number of other companies, a dancer may be a Principal in one role, and the back of the corps in the next one on the program. In this light I always think of the moment in A Chorus Line where Cassie is trying out, and the Director gives her correction after correction to stop looking so star-like and to blend into the rest. A Kirov corps member who tries to do a star turn in the middle of the corps of Swan Lake will not last long in that behavior.

I've mentioned before that when I see a corps with members that look very different from each other, I tend to see the similaries, but when I see a corps with members that appear to look very much the same -- like POB, similar heights and builds -- I tend to see differences, which is why it's still possible to see that budding star in the Kirov corps.

From all that's been published, there is deep competitiveness within ballet and sports. There's a reason that one of the platitudes that Kevin Costner teaches Tim Robbins in Bull Durham is "I couldn't do it without the team" and that we can laugh when we hear it in just about every post-game/post-championship interview. (I bet even Charles Barkley has said it.) And on the opposite side, for every "glass in the toe shoe" story, for example, there's a "I couldn't let my skates go unwatched, or someone would have damaged the blades" story.

Or there's the example of the Seattle Symphony, recently the subject of articles in the Seattle Times and Seattle Post-Intelligencer, where it was reported that a razor blade was hidden in the mail and a cup of hot coffee was put in the overhead mailbox of Principal Horn John Cerminaro, his car was keyed in the Symphony parking garage, and threatening calls were made to his home, for a combination of, according to these articles, ego and his connection to Music Director Gerard Schwarz, about whom the symphony players are split. (The implication being that if he was more likeable, they wouldn't hold it against him in quite the same manner.) Symphonies are even more reliant on teamwork and even more hierarchical than ballet, because except when the Principals have the night off, it's rare to be in a mini-soloist or leadership role in the equivalent of "corps." This is not a situation that can last long.

[bart]

Or there's the example of the Seattle Symphony, recently the subject of articles in the Seattle Times and Seattle Post-Intelligencer, where it was reported that a razor blade was hidden in the mail and a cup of hot coffee was put in the overhead mailbox of Principal Horn John Cerminaro, his car was keyed in the Symphony parking garage, and threatening calls were made to his home [ ... ]

In Seattle!?!?!? Among classical instrumentalists!?!?!?!? Helene, you've just destroyed two of my strongest illusions.

[Helene]

In Seattle!?!?!? Among classical instrumentalists!?!?!?!? Helene, you've just destroyed two of my strongest illusions.

Amazing, isn't it, that some members of one of the country's greatest arts institutions are doing an impressive reinactment of Junior High School.

[pas de chat]

There was a radio programme about Frank Zappa on recently and his work with an orchestra('s?). in which something was said about the quality of orchestra playing going downhill after members came back from their break in the bar!

It's strange that some types of creative work are so much better when produced by only one person and with other projects, a group produces something more magical than a single person could have done.

Also, when you are one of the participants in a group effort, you may not be the goal scorer, or the one carrying the main melody, but you feel the buzz of the whole thing going on around you. In dramatic productions more minor characters and small details can make a big difference and be very funny or moving etc. I guess in sport, the players who aren't so obviously in the limelight, do a great job tirelessly setting up opportunities and openings.

[JessandSamdance]

Actually, I feel that even with the principal dancers on the stage everyone is working as a team. The background dancers create the mood, the spirit, and the feelings needed for the audiance to understand the emotions being portrayed. The principal dancers are part of the team in the sense that they are, as we would say in hockey, the "frontline". They are up front and sort of "carrying" the show, but they don't make up the team. Even the people backstage that help set up and help make the sets are part of the team because they help everything come together. Honestly, if you believe that ballet isn't a team sport you haven't opened your eyes very wide. More than one dancer is needed, therefore we all work together and coincide to make one brilliant performance.

[carbro]

I completely agree, J&S. I have seen many performances where the principals were fine, but the overall performance was blah, because the corps was listless or sloppy or not quite present.

Glad to have you aboard! I hope you'll introduce yourself on our Welcome Page.

[Ray]

One of my great disappointments as a corps dancer was that there was not more pride in being part of the corps, the team. I found this to be especially true of the male dancers, who seemed never to know how to LOOK at the other dancers to keep in line, etc. The paucity of male dancers in the field breeds a very entitled perspective among some guys, I think. I always envied the corps women's ability to cohere and, seemingly, to intuit where they needed to be in relation to others in order to create a greater whole. OF COURSE, however, there were many, many exceptions to this generalization, as you can imagine!

[Hans]

I was pretty amazed at the cohesive male corps of the POB in the "Jewels" DVD, not least because of what you mention, Ray, which I've both seen onstage and experienced firsthand.