New member: Electra

[Electra]

I have always loved classical & neo-classical story ballets. Also ballets that are plotless but traditional in style ( for example Balanchine's the Crystal Palace (Music: Bizet's Symphony in C) and Jewels ( music by Strawinsky, Faure, Tchaikofsky)

I have just written a libretto featuring the German musician Robert Schumann. The work is meant to be a romantic and classical ballet. to the music of Schumann's works.

A friend who teaches dance has disappointed me saying that classical ballet is a dying art !! I sincerely hope and believe she is wrong since crowds always flock to see the Nutcracker, Giselle, the Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty, and other romantic productions.

[Helene]

Welcome to Ballet Alert! Electra!

There are several reasons to be optimistic. First, there aren't very many schools for modern dance technique, and classical ballet training is considered a requirement for many forms of dance. Many ballet dancers, especially men, have described how they were interested in pursuing other forms of dance while studying ballet, and then the ballet bug bit them. Whether or not individual dancers do, a required ballet foundation means teachers are teaching and ballet technique is going strong.

The second is a small but hopefully growing movement to reconstruct Petipa's ballets from a combination of the Stepanov notations, descriptions of the ballets from their premieres and early performances, period lithographs and drawings, original scores, and other source materials from their performance histories. One of the glories of these productions is that mime is restored and storytelling is prized.

I'm sure you know Balanchine's Davidsbundlertanze, set to the Schumann piece by the same name, with some direct references to Schumann's life and his relationship with Clara Schumann. I would love to see more ballets set to a wider range of Schumann's music.