Why Ballet Needs Artistry
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- čas přidán 6. 04. 2024
- Welcome to this week's video, "Is ballet becoming a sport?"
In this video, Michael will delve into athleticism, artistry, and technique and talk about whether the relentless pursuit of technical perfection has led us to overlook the need for artistry. The main difference between ballet and a sport is the artistry. We have the physicality of an athlete, but we set ourselves apart through the emotion and ability to tell a story and portray a character through our movements and expressions.
We want to open this discussion up to you. So check it out and tell us what you think- Is ballet becoming a sport?
Let us know what you think in the comments. Thanks for watching!
Get in touch!
Email: michael@balletwise.com
Instagram: @ballet_wise
Podcast: @BalletWise on Spotify
Website: www.balletwise.com
Music created by Kyle Peterson for BalletWise
Produced by Christina Duffy - Zábava
Hi everyone- I am so happy to see this conversation being started. In any conversation there will be things we can agree with and disagree with. But it’s good to let all views be presented so we can find the common thread that binds us as artists, dancers, and people.
Thank you so much for your comments, and I look forward to seeing where the conversation goes.
-Michael
"Ten pirouettes is just ten pirouettes." Exactly. After a while, it's just boring.
it's like an opera singer being able to sing an impressive note and just randomly shouting that note
I'm inclined to agree with you! i was wondering. Am I the only one bored?
Things must evolve or they die
@@JamesChavis-dh6sp no, you are not the only one , i feel like you! At first i was taken by the trend of the great technicality, then i started feeling that that something was missing.
And i got it confirmed here by others as for example loss of soul too and by a video that popped up with young Svetlana Zhakarova.
She has it all.
I agree with you, we are loosing our soul, to much technics without emotion That's why when Alessandra Ferri dance as juliet is the most beautiful ones ! She's so special!
She move my soul!
I think the obsessive focus on athleticism also has a tendency to make the ageism in dance worse as well. Artistry is developed over time, and often older, experienced performers are the most expressive. I'm still relatively young, not quite 30, but so many of my peers have retired solely due to injury preventing them from performing at the same level of sustained intensity as teenagers. Its a real shame to lose all their artistry and acting ability just because they aren't doing 8 pirouettes.
Young retiring isn't new, though, in the olden days a lot of dancers did their turnout & other things in a forced & super unhealthy way, and physio & strength & ergonomics have really made ballett healthier. While also making more athleticism possible. (edit: Which again makes for new injury, overuse & stringent selection, so there we are again with young retiring & dropping out & you are basically right, anyway.. ) BUT I totally agree on the age bit & the selection for athletics - there come the point, where people might have a completely different take on things & all the experience & artistic growth is lost, due to the focus on athleticism & hard steps. So I had the idea of forming a "seniors" dance company for folks in their thirties to fifties or so - focussing more on expression & choreographing pieces together, so people with different backgrounds & ability could use their talent on stage, in spite of age & injuries etc. & barefoot instead of pointe..
Completely agree!
Well said.
For me as a dancer, the ability to express, to make others feel your emotion with your movements, is more captivating than simply making cold and perfect steps. I think this is not only a ballet problem because in other disciplines the artistry has had a huge decrease over time (gymnastics, figure skating). Humans evolve and also techniques, but we don't have to forget the artistry because is part of the beauty of ballet.
Agreed. Gymnastics and figure skating have become unwatchable for me. I hope that doesn't happen to ballet.
i think that is why ballet split the idea of the pas d'action from the divertissement---one for the story/emotion and one more just for the dance...
Classical music too. It's ALL about perfectly "clean" and in-tune notes, and never about true artistry.
They keeping looking like let me show you let me show you. let me show you; without highlighting facial exspressions of elements of performance; and without that they are simply robots.
What ever happened to 'and the dancer dances'. Just to say no more,I'llstop.
Like Master Ballet Academy, absolutely no hate to them cuz they create great dancers, but it seems like all they focus on is how many turns and “tricks” they’re dancers can do and it almost feels lifeless sometimes. They’re dancers are INCREDIBLY talented technically but the artistry feels lost sometimes :(
In Bolshoi theatre today I see no artistry work , only cold jumps and pirouettes. And I’m pretty sure that it works like that because of the wrong direction. And when I came to Stanislavkii theatre Stanmus I saw really convincing stories. And I fell in love. My heart was aching after I saw their giselle, the snow maiden, I cried a lot after Seeing esmeralda. It’s still alive somewhere!
Finally, someone is saying what I have been thinking and seeing. I was a dancer through the late 70’s. Technique today is incredibly precise and clean, but there is no personality. Beautiful and perfect technique, but often almost robotic. No personality or joy that we used to see, only precision. There needs to be a blend of precise technique, dancer personality, and artistry. All are necessary for the beauty and joy of the ballet to be seen, experienced, and enjoyed. Glad someone is finally noticing.
Thank God you are addressing this essential point. Ballet is becoming a bit of acrobatics, circus, so many young dancers who have technique but zero emotion, they are boring...i miss someone like Natalia Makarova, Margot Fonteyn whose arabasque was absolutely a la second, but oh ....the magic, she could tell the stories, her Ondine, unforgettable, her partnership with Nureyev was pure emotion, art, love, nobody cared she was 50+, she was a 15 year as Juliet through her exquisite artistry and narrative.you are so right!
There are plenty of artists out there, but do continue your boomer nostalgia trip
Yes, we need a return to artistry. Funny, watching ballet videos a week or so ago before seeing this video I was thinking the same thing.
Dancers more and more try and distinguish themselves by physical feats: most dramatic jumps, longest balances, most (or fastest, or most exotic turning) fouettees, diverging from historic choreography to add big jumps, lack of partnering skill/line, all do give a colder experience as you say.
And many prominent dancers (even from back some years) represent this physical, showy style. Such dancing is spectacular, fills seats, and gets applause. But a great artist truly conveys a story.
Margot Fonteyn with her superb acting ability & musicality would not be technically good enough for these days: nor the charismatic Nureyev.
E.g. See her extraordinary dancing of ‘Ondine’ [created for her]. At some points one forgets about ‘steps’ & it seems she’s really flying.
Also with Nureyev‘Romeo & Juliet’ where, in her mid-40’s, her acting’s so good one believes she’s a 13-yr old Juliet. (Both clips are on CZcams).
@@shelleysanders9666 Very well said ! I so agree with you !
To be fair, a lot of those videos are specifically for getting clicks & likes. They're flashy & showy and probably don't display the dancers' range of expression, much like competitions. If you see videos where dancers are showing their artistry, show your support for them to encourage them.
"I explained it when I danced it." Margot Fonteyn ✨
"If it needs explaining, I've failed."
Profoundly concise.
For me the problem come from YAGP (and social medias), it's not about dance, it's not about technic, it's about how high you can, how turns you do, more more and more, everything but artistic. And about poor young children, OK they can dance Esmeralda or Kitri variation, but with no technic and it's too hard for their muscles.
MBA
Screwing those girls over and they should be ashamed
It’s such a money grab on social media with their fancy viral PR photographer
And they think they’re renewing interest but a bunch of doofuses who say slay queen aren’t supporting their local arts.
They’re in 6th grade.
Why always the blasted hops on pointe?!!! They're ugly. Yes, the show strength, but...ick.
YAGP has technique and artistry worth the same in the scores.
Agreed. and their idea of artistry is usually what we used to call "mugging for the camera". I have even seen children at YAGP with big (fake) smiles on their faces all through ballet class!
Yes, indeed, and then you think "and after 16/17?" - burn out, no hills to climb.
I think this video says what a lot of us have been thinking for a long time. I had RAD tuition and a lot of emphasis is put on musicality and performance - not to mention marks in the exams. One of my fellow students had a background in performance and she always got better marks than me, even though my technique was much better than hers. I was always trying to get higher extensions etc. but I'm tall and have long legs and couldn't keep in time with the music. My teacher always told me to work within my abilities and that it wasn't important how high my legs went but the technique utilised. She was absolutely right. You tell people that you do ballet and they want to see you wrap your legs around your head and do the splits etc. so they clearly see us as gymnasts too. When I go to see the ballet it's not just athletic performance - it's the music, the sets, the costumes, the artistry and of course the beautiful dancing. That's what we all fell in love with.
To me the pointe of ballet is to master technique in order to go full out on the artistry, but I also do not have good turnout so I rely greatly on my artistic skills in class and on stage. I may be a bit biased 😂❤
You are completely right. I have noticed this trend. It is cold and calculated . Overly-arched feet and -extensions are the standard for young performers today,. Never thought I could say this but way too many fouette turns? By contrast Fonteyn and Nureyev's performances remain unforgettable. Fonteyn' was a graceful dancer. Her arms to the tips of her fingers, her head and facial expression worked to tell the story of the ballet. She and Nureyev were one and it was very moving. You felt something and you'd seen something truly captivating that happened only when they danced together. So much today is amazing but truly forgettable because the art is not there.
I do agree with you! Listening to you reminds me Maya Plissetskaya! Ulanova! Fonteyn! They had so much artistry and technique! Like you said, ten pirouettes is just that. I miss the emotion we used to feel when I watched those dansers on Swan Lake, Giselle. Thanks for your inspiring words! It's about time to listen about the lack of artistry that permeates today's ballet.
Absobloominglutely!!! I discovered ballet at 15 when i saw a 12minute pdd on Ed Sullivan’s American variety show, Dame Margot and Nureyev , white act. It changed my life. Just like that. I became passionately interested, taking lessons, watching everything i could on TV, going to every performance i could, reading all i could, and when i was old enough, traveling to feed an obsession. I gloried in what those of us who lived through it call now “the Golden Age” of the 1960s and 1970s and 1980s when we had many great artists of ballet: Fonteyn, Nureyev, Bruhn, Fracci, Dowell, Sibley, makarova, Kirkland, Baryshikov, and many others, so many others! It is, these days, impossible to describe. You went to the ballet and returned home flying still with what you had experienced. Now ballet has become about how high the leg goes en arabesque. Younger folks complain that they don’t see why everyone says Fonteyn and Nureyev were such a big deal because neither ever lifted their leg over their head or did a backbend that ended way between their knees before the walkover. Shoot! back then, gymnastic floor exercises could even have and profit from some artistry. Watching Olga Korbut to music was fun and joy filled, far from being just a bunch of tricks strung together. Ice skating competitions were often full of artistry. Now only ice dancing retains any of that quality. Everything else is about how many quads a person can do and how many death defying lifts a couple can pull off. The Protopopovs, Peggy Fleming, John Curry would never be able to make it to world wide podiums today. I am sorry: except for the worry that someone might be badly injured, it is boring, even sometimes ugly. A person may be able to astonish by doing an arabesque at 180 degrees, but it is not even pretty, let alone artistry. I talk to my friends now who were balletomanes during the Golden Age, and they say the same. They are no longer lifted by going to the ballet, so, while they might still go on occasion, they don’t really CARE. The dancers who lifted us up to CARE were the ones who were able to fill the theaters for days and days. It was not a myth. Of COURSE they had the technique! But they were the ones who also let the music fill up and trail out of their bodies whether they were dancing story ballets or not, to go beyond technique into the realm of grace and beauty and BELIEVE in the story they were telling or the character they were creating. Dame Ninette de Valois told Dame Margot when she was trying to convince her to dance with Nureyev, a boy 20 years younger, “When he raises his arm, you can see swans flying.” Artistry is using ALL the tools at your disposal to lead someone to CARE about what you are doing, not only technique. The legends were legendary because they could do that over and over and over.
Anyone remember Svetlana Boginskaya? That was the eighties - really odd modern dance steps, but paired with tons of expression & for that time amazing gymnastics skill that had an expressive quality, too!
❤
Ahhhhh.....I watched Nureyev and Fonteyn in Chicago in the 1970's as a child. I met Rudolf 4 times later in Chicago years later. He never spoke to people after performing, but I caught him backstage as a young dancer and told him of our first meeting. He had only met with Claidia Cassidy of WTTW Chicago classical radio, so he remembered meeting a small girl....me....backstage at the Arie Crown Theater. My father was senior architect of this facility and took me to the ballet. As a teen at Boitsov Classical Ballet and part of the company...soloist, I saw every ballet in Chicago...sneaking in backstage at the Auditorium Theater. Those were the best days and most talented dancers.
To artistry and musicality, I now add care, caring about what is being experienced. And that time period was divine 60s - 80s.
This has been an argument in ballet since the art form started. Critics used to slam male dancers for performing excessive turns and jumps at the beginning of the 19th century.
At first the thumbnail had me on the defence but when I listened, I fully agree with this point. Yes, technique is important, but I feel like it’s only a tool to reach the artistry in ballet. Technique shouldn’t be the sole focus of the style, it should be utilized to better convey emotions and personality through dance. This is why I place quite a lot of focus on self expression and improvisation in my own classes. I want my students to be able to express themselves through movement in class and on the stage. I’ve noticed that a lot of students are hesitant to improvise and create their own choreography, which just goes to show how important it is to make opportunities to learn to improvise freely. Because I think that improvisation is a key part in the artistry of a dancer.
👏👏👏🌹
SO true Michael ! Some ballet has become athletic & mechanical. Let us bring back the feelings and musicality so that ballet is music in movement with nuance and true artistry. Well said Michael.!!
Ballet dancers are top athletes who are working as artists.
I’m so bummed seeing social media turn it into athletic virtuosity.
It’s what happened to figure skating!
I’ve been …seeing a lot of social media representation of dance and it’s for an audience of non dancers who are just wow! So much spinning!
Meanwhile…port de bras is just not being developed and 90% of the comments aren’t even sure what that means.
They’re like oh lines and slay queen but they’ve never seen a ballet.
It’s gotten so TECHNICAL, which sure, we need but start there and build your artistry, built the musicality.
This is so well made, your video is amazing.
Tag MBA in it.
The Wozniaks single handedly erased artistic musicality from ballet on social ballet.
And they’re so savvy, it’s about advertising, money and banking on the ignorance of the audience.
On one hand dancers (young women) like Melanie Macintyre are social media juggernauts but she lacked artistry at the prix de Lausanne and she’s got it all…she’s got all the fundamentals but she hasn’t had any experience with other teachers who could help her embrace a more artistic evolution
Watching her dance you see it’s all there but she needs a better finishing school.
Figure skating got tired of the claims of "it's not objective enough and not enough of a sport".
Figure skating deliberately went the "IT'S NOT ICE DANCING, IT'S AN OLYMPIC SPORT" way, all in.
It's one of the most difficult and brutal sports at the Olympics - yet, the "not a sport" opinion still exists.
So many dancers are like that these days! It's sad when you read the comments below their videos, kids are stunned by what they saw and these dancers are becoming their role models.
There is one professional dancer keep popping on my YT, she is a big fan of aesthetics, her warmup clothes looks like one from Barbie dolls, nothing like you would see on most of company classes, and she is a very god athlete but horrible dancer... But her carrier is growing! I see only robot but her fans are amazed by her abilities, and by her clothes.
I remember the feeling when I saw Darcey the first time as a little girl, then Margot, Plisetskaya, Lopatkina...
I am writing this and feel the urge to watch them dance!
Artistry was part of education in my school, and you develop it as you are growing later in life. I hope some of these girls will wake up one day, and start to dance with feeling, and not obsesse about moving boundaries with their turns for money (Melanie and her friends).
Yeah, I see what you mean with figure skating. I feel the same way with synchronized swimming too. I know they’re hiking up the difficulty to make sure that Russia doesn’t keep getting gold medals, but the routines are becoming so fast and energetic, they kinda just come off as manic instead of graceful. It’s like there’s rarely a moment for my eyes to rest when watching recent performances. Not helping is the new “acrobatic” routine category, which puts so much focus on stunts.
@@hwtvi3466 But Russia is kinda one who can into that difficulty as well? The ones who do top quads are Tutberitze's girls and... Illia Malinin (he skates for the US, but is Russian).
Same can happen in Synchro swimming, that's sure. And here's why:
1) all Russian olympic teams have state sponsorship, so they can train more
2) Russians as a culture believe in dedication and serving the society. One can dedicate themselves to many fields, including sport.
The only ones who can compete with Russians at dedication are people from East Asian rice cultures. Japanese, Chinese, Korean. See: Yuzuru Hanyu and Nathan Chen. Most US Americans or south Europeans consider that level of dedication unhealthy and too much. It's definitely beyond life balance and enjoying yourself
Exactly what I think. Melanie and Amber are so cold. But they are rewarded on social media for high legs and 10 pirouette. So sad.
I agree with all points. And I think that artistry starts at school. I graduated from Riga choreography school in 1989 a long time ago. And we had regular acting classes and ballet acting classes where we studied the lives and emotions of the characters. I don't know if this still exists today, but it was extremely helpful. If you have emotions behind the movement, it changes everything. We need to bring emotions back so people who watch performances don't have to read libretto every second to understand what is happening on the stage. Technique is like the foundation of the house, but it's lifeless without anybody living there.
Personally, I like movement & music & don't always need a theatrical story. But the overfocus on high extensions, acrobatic jumps & endless pirouettes (though I really envy spinning talents!!) has kind of ruined what dance is about. When I studied dance, one really old classic-instructor said something like, "it's not how far up your legs go, but HOW they go up! If you can't capture the house with a 45° arabesque, I'm not interested in a 180° arabesque!"
She was the mean kind of old school, and of course also said we need to get our legs higher & called us all sorts of lazy, but sometimes what she said was spot on.
And the most amazing dancers can just stand on stage, or reach one arm, or angle their head the weest bit, or stick one toe out & it's like they touch your soul & change the course of planets by that tiny move!
Like Sylvie Guillaume. She can start a movement with her hip, turn her head and the following arabesque just emphasizes the emotion. That's artistry. You feel every move she makes. The movement moves you. And her extension is an emphasis of the feeling. Same with Daniil Simkin, his tecnique so grounded that he can then move an arm and extend the music so that you feel it, see the music. That's artistry.
Oh I do so agree - artistry means nothing to so many teachers and students. Raised hip to get leg higher in 2nd, twisted hips and shoulders in arabesque ditto. No-one is taught the exquisite arabesque line anymore - no-one can hold that line in grand jete en tournant 'cos it's essier to flick the back leg instead. I could go on. Maria Callas was not known for hitting notes for the sake of it - she moved audiences with her voice: no 'listen to me holding this high note for hours' for her! Artistry, passion, interpretation, and character mattered. She was superb.
Well put. The only thing I would push back on a bit is that I don't think that a lack of a story in a ballet necessarily means a lack of emotion or artistry. Just as abstract art can convey emotion and move people, I think a story-less ballet can do the same, as long as it is actually danced with artistry. Unfortunately though, I agree that artistry has been under-emphasized in favor of photo-perfect poses, flawless lines (read: bodies), and impressive tricks. But it's hard to portray artistry in an instagram post, and that's what really matters (I'm sort of joking there, but it's kind of a laugh-or-I'll-cry kind of joking. Can they do 20 pirouettes? Sure! Are they beautiful dancers? We may never know!)
"Art is an expression of emotion." I agree with Michael's perception, entirely! I'm 77 and have slowly sensed that dance has become preoccupied with technique, separate from human emotion. I agree with you completely, Michael...I need to feel something when I see a performance. That's what art is...an expression of some aspect of being human.
AGREED.
For me, The Royal Ballet dancers are the best in the world BECAUSE they FEEL ….
And THEY MAKE ME FEEL.
So many companies don’t make me feel. Sadly, even the one in my own city.
(This was a very wise video.)
Give me Carla Fracci any day. This new style...I believe ballet is following the trends of everything else of modern times: gritty and emotionless. Unfortunate, but there will always be a remnant upholding the classical standard.
OMG, this almost made me want to cry. Someone, SOMEONE is actually saying what I have been feeling for so long! I have been teaching for over 50 years and now focus on teaching adult students. I am always telling them that yes, technique is vital and yes, adults can be taught good technique. (I am often called "pernickety") but the most important thing is artistry; that is what makes it ballet. It is an art and NOT a sport. Whether you are creating a character, telling a story or simply feeling the emotion that the music brings out it must have the person first and foremost. I only said to my students in class yesterday after they did an allegro where there was a spark in the eyes and feeling in their movements, that I must have seen countless millions of enchaînements like this in my life, but when I saw that one it was like I had seen it for the very first time. Because it was about the feeling. Sorry to rave, but I am so passionate about this. Thank you so much for speaking out. I hope things will start to change. I no longer feel like I'm trying to tackle this alone.
I agree with you. And also, I find very interesting what you said about contemporary dance, it might be the reason I never really appreciated this type of dance. I always preferred classical ballet and character dance because I believe it needs more artistry.
Plus, I believe that social media might be a factor of why ballet has become like that. Showing 10 pirouettes and high extensions makes unfortunately people much more popular than artistry. If we publish a video of Giselle's mad scene and a video of the adage in the second act with the développé à la seconde, it will be the adage that will mostly be preferred because it seems impressive. I think its always about being impressive.
Furthermore, I think it is sad when I see some people saying that a dancer is bad if he hasn't high extensions or a big turnout. People often only judge the technique and never the artistry.
I am also angry when some says that dancers of the ONP are less good just because they haven't higher extensions like other compagnies (Sylvie Guillem is an exception). I thing it is justly what is making their charm because it is one of the rare compagnies that focuses more on the artistry.
Sorry for the bad English.
Alessandra Ferri, in Romeo & Juliet, is the epitome of artistry and technique!
It also helps that Prokofiev’s music is absolutely fabulous!
Do you happen to have a clip of her best dance part (I know nothing about ballet)?
@@strawberrylime33 czcams.com/video/LCVaPERBzIs/video.html
My teacher used to have the same discussion with me. I understand what you say and I agree with you, it has become a bit more like a show rather than a tale or piece of art so to speak.
We want to have all the technique but not compromise on the artistic.
BRAVO BRAVO BRAVO
finally you SAY IT and gently too! Thank you !
I love this conversation. I love America, though I think our modern, fast paced American culture has appreciated doing, accomplishing, superficial, quick disposable things, quantity, more than it appreciates feeling, being, depth, natural/real beauty, quality (technique is a big part of the quality, but the inside needs quality too). People prefer sports & competition over the arts, & people will watch the arts when made into a competitive show, so maybe dance was trying to become more relevant & “cool” in America & it has gotten out of hand. I don’t know how much artistry is being lost in other countries, but it could be because America has such a big media influence on the rest of the world? I don’t know. I do know that, though I love perfecting my own technique, I don’t love watching other dancers nowadays. When I was younger, it was the old West Side Story that gave me the passion to start dancing (specifically “Cool Boy”). Fred & Ginger got me into ballroom dancing, but that has become mostly technical & cookie cutter, probably because of the competition aspect. But like in old gymnastics & ice skating, you can still compete artistically.
Other forms of dance are more tricks & acrobats & less dancing. People care more about being a tough “bad [donkey]” all the time. I do want a return to artistry, real beauty & depth, open hearts. I want to go to the theatre to feel & experience it, not just look at the surface & actions of it. Maybe starting this conversation will help the pendulum to go back a little more, so thank you for bringing it up. There is currently push back on our modern culture, with slow living, getting back to nature, rejecting “hustle culture” or having to be “tough” & competitive when you’re naturally sensitive, etc, so maybe that will help too. There is a movement on getting in touch with yin “feminine energy“. I feel like the technique & tricks of dance are the yang “masculine energy” & the feeling & being/the artistry are the “feminine energy”, & we need both. Yin & Yang. It’s not good for the pendulum to swing too far either way. It’s not good to separate them.
This conversation makes me want to go watch Shen Yun, based on their philosophies on dancing from the inside out.
Oh I agree with you : the lack of time to go in details and depth because of the business type linked to the fast pace of American life. It is actually pretty sad. I think in France for example, they are still in a slower pace, I guess dancers might not consume sports, activities, Arts like Americans.
Can't stand the over splits and "hitch" to get higher developpe in second. Ugh. And penche beyond 180 in Swan Lake? Why, just
why?! In something more modern, fine. But the classics? No.
I do ballet by the RAD method and musicality is soooooo important! it's a big mark on our exams. our teacher is constantly telling us "what does it matter what you can do if you can't keep neither consistency nor musicality?". she had us repeating dances over and over again until we could understand what the music was telling us.
i have a really good grand battement devant and à la seconde, but i can barely lift my leg from the floor on derriere, so my teacher started staying with me during barre and blocking my leg, so i couldnt go higher on devant and on la seconde because she told me "if you dont have a consistent work and you cant show the same grand battement on derriere that you show me in devant/second, you are not doing them in my class until you improve your derriere"
i used to be really annoyed because i thought to myself "but i can get them so high! it's super unfair" but looking at videos where i do each at a different height makes me realize how important is the musicality and the consistency. ok i reached my head, but i'm a count behind, therefore im speeding to get on time, so what is the point?
I believe the variation where we see the lack of musicality the most is in Esmeralda, with dancers trying to show off their balancés, although ballet is not a sport where you do the max you can to prove you are better than others, it's a form of art where you show you are better than others by acting, not just performing some tricks.
ballet is gracious, beautiful and, as i said multiples time before, consistent. i would love to see all those talented dancers taking more to preserve the art that ballet is
It’s about feeling the music once the technique is perfected to the point that the body and mind can relax and express what it feels. I’m amazed how many dancers are stiff and their movements are rigid. To have flawless technique is one thing but when you begin to look robotic all artistry is lost. Artistry comes more naturally to some than others. Too technical becomes boring!
Im a ballet dancer and have been since I was a child and I have the advantage of having the background of being an actress on top of doing ballet and I feel like it helped not only in class but also on the stage during performances. Also I've always said that ballet is a sport because we train juat as much if not more than athletes and what we do isn't easy. We push our bodies in ways the body isn't meant to be pushed in and use muscles that the average person don't normally use.
Technique is only the bare bones of ballet. To become an artist of the ballet takes time, and the understanding of character building, finding the touches that flesh-out a performance. Over emoting is just a bad as too little.
Dance is the art of making music visible.
The reason why I come back to ballet because I look so stiff and awkward while dancing, and I want to learn the graceful movement
As a dancer in the 80s I totally agree with your views now a teacher for many years seeing more and more posts on social media that are horrible bring back the artistry the telling of a story with beautiful lines and feelings for those positions ❤ballet is beautiful not s circus act all my teacher/dancer colleagues feel the same
Bravo 👏 👏 👏 ive been saying this for years. If you study the history of dance it started as a way of telling a story with dance. Ballet means to dance. Fonteyn was the last great dancer as far as im concerned. As you say, a lot of focus now is more toward athletics. The original idea of en pointe was to appear as if floating, personally id prefer less point, less pirouettes, less how high can i go, and have more passion. Just my opinion, im old so i guess im old fashioned x
I agree with you completely. I believe that the artistic directors do not take the time to tell the story to the dancers, who, in turn are not able to convey it in their interpretation. This is especially true in the US. The dancers have become robots with perfect movements. Ballet is an art. All dances must convey emotions because, if not, they become a sport.
Hi Michael, I'm so glad you brought this up. I have been noticing since I was a little girl watching Ballet from the 60's, till now... how the ballerinas of today are very athletic ! The days of "The Red Shoes" by Powell,and Pressburger are long gone. I'm not looking for a ballerina to wrap her legs behind her head,and spin 20 times in a row,although it's entertaining for the moment. I love the ballerinas that have something that we lack these days...."Grace". The gentle movements of the body, the facial expressions of pure Bliss,or Sorrow, the beautiful "Arms",where have these aesthetics gone ? I do notice that even the female figure skaters have become more athletic...gone are the days of the beautiful, graceful styles of Peggy Fleming. I miss the grace,and beauty of days gone by. Maybe the women or the choreographers of today feel they need to showcase strength over grace. I just don't get it ? Thank you for speaking to what so many of us are thinking. Cindy
I think figure skaters earn points through the difficulty of the skills they perform. Therefore, the more difficult the skills are, the more points they will receive. I think there is still supposed to be some sort of artistic requirement, but it's all very nebulous. Pure, beautiful artistry and storytelling is not going to win medals, unless the skater can also perform the most difficult skills.
I loved figure skating in the '80s, and the sport has gone downhill in entertainment from then on except possibly for ice dance because the ice dancers put a lot of effort into portraying a character on the ice.
For me, one of the major factors in not wanting to watch is that they allow music with lyrics, which opens the door to so many music choices I dislike. I have the same problem with rhythmic gymnastics. Thankfully, artistic gymnastics only allow vocals, but no actual words. They have also become very strict about requiring artistry in floor routines. Gymnasts are deducted for insufficient artistry. The criteria is listed in the code of points. ❤
I agree that today’s students and dancers are far cleaner, and that’s actually one of the reasons that ballet is not as interesting anymore. As a composer and pianist, I also regret the fact that instrumental and vocal performers are also pitch perfect and play very accurately. This perfection takes the human element away, it takes away the sense of challenge, and therefore, the sense of struggle and the emotions that come with it. Stravinsky regretted the fact that decades after he wrote the impossibly high and challenging opening bassoon solo of the Rite of Spring, even conservatory students could play it perfectly effortlessly taking away the rough, angular and “prehistoric” sound that he had originally intended by writing it so high. When people perform so perfectly, it simply looks like an Olympics competition and not art. In the past, even in circuses, sometimes acrobats faked a sense of struggle in order to get an emotional response from the audiences.
In ballet (and all other arts), technique should be completely subservient to and in the service of artistry. While artistry without adequate technique is very difficult to achieve, displaying perfect technique without artistry is even more irrelevant. It would be like random words strung together pretending to be poetry.
💯
Stravinsky didn't 'regret', but expressed some nostalgia for the original way of playing it and the world was changing in his time. He was a modernist composer, and many people disagree with the modernist view. We should respect the composer by playing the music or dancing the piece the way the composer/choreographer intended, to bring that art work to life. If Stravinsky did not intend for that note to play with perfect pitch, then don't. But if you are playing music that requires that pitch perfect, then you should strive to play as close to perfection as humanly possible. There is nothing wrong to be a good gardener and make a beautiful and comfortable garden, instead of letting the wild nature grow weeds.
I am a ballet neophyte at 40, but I have fallen in love with it and have been watching everything that I can about it, and I do see what you are saying. I’m a theatre kid so I have noticed that the audience is focused on each fouetté, which is so exciting! But I do notice that one who can spin and spin seems to be more incentivized than the story of what is going on! It surprises me so much!
I think that athleticism ranks higher in the USA than other countries that make sure that they are doing flawless technical and acting.
As for as contemporary dancing goes, I don’t get it. It all looks the same to me and I am not moved.
My choir director used to say that we could sing at our audience or we could touch someone’s heart with facial expression and intention. That is what performing in theaters should be if anyone were to ask me- and you did, so here you go.
So glad you are addressing this! I am an old dancer (75) and to me technique is important for strength and safety. Artistic expression tells the story. I am glad bodies are being hopefully preserved by teaching more about the functionality of the body. Artistry is critical.
I find it interesting that everyone is bringing up this topic, yet no one is changing. I’ve also started to notice that when I go to smaller studios, but not necessarily worse, just studios with less funding, the artistry and quality is very much there. I think with social media we have started trying to catch people’s attention in as short of a time as possible which happens through the crazy athletic turns and jumps. No matter how much we talk about this topic nothing will change until directors of big companies change.
This is a fantastic presentation!!!
Glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for watching!
I totally agree..... excellent video
I've only heard only one other ballet youtuber talk about this.
So thank you Sir for speaking about this
I believe that one reason we are losing artistry (true artistry not choreographed 'mugging") is because so few people actually study or even see art - they don't go to museums, they don't go to the symphony, there is no art education in school and it has once again become 'elitist" because to experience art you hav to pay SO much money. You used to be able to see art free on the telly (remember all the concerts that White House used to televise during the year - opera, ballet etc.?) So, the students today do not know what art is, the younger teachers really don't either...who will teach it, then? We need to take our students to the museums we need conversations and in depth exploration of what it means to develop and BECOME truly artistic....and it needs to be incorporated into the every day ballet classroom - from day one.
The purpose of art is to TOUCH YOUR EMOTIONS! Technique can impress you - but only art can TOUCH you!
You’re so correct! I think Kansas City ballet does a fantastic job of preserving the artistry. They fill their principal dancers with emotion, making old ballets like Giselle a truly magical, heartbreaking experience. They also do a marvelous job with contemporary story ballets like Jekyll and Hyde.
I'm a competitive figure skater as well as ballerina. I skate with some extreamly technically skilled skaters but they have no artistry at all....its impressive the jumps and spins and footwork they do but it feels empty and cold. I am not as technically skilled right now but I've been told by many audience members and old school coaches that they enjoy watching me skate because I'm so expressive. I don't have an axel or 10 perfect revolutions on every spin... but I skate with meaning/feeling to give a performance.... I wish more skaters would skate with artistry and expression from their face to the tips of their fingers. Instead of it being so stiff and focused on perfect foot work.
“A dancer is not great because of her technique; (s)he is great because of her passion.” From Martha Graham. Technique is the foundation of our art. But artistry is the whole point of dance! Telling a story with our bodies.
Thanks so much for this discussion. I, like so many, have been enthralled by the perfect Balanchine babies & the amazing Russian legs, but I have realized that the story is not only missing, but may be, as with Balanchine intentionally avoided...leaving a brilliant show of athletics. I'm so happy to hear others noticing this shift. I hope young dancers & choreographers also notice and avoid this shift.
This same thing has happened in ice skating.
It has become boring.
A bunch of quads and as many "skills" stuffed into a time slot as they can.
Beauty has been sidelined.
For me Yuna Kim was the peak of female figure skating. Ever since her Olympic silver medal I've been so disappointment watching figure skating competitions.
this guy gets it. i think he’d be friends with my ballet teacher
You need decent technique in order to allow the artistry free rein and prevent injuries. If your pirouettes, arabesques, etc. are sloppy, it will distract the audience from the story. The really great dancers can show their characters through the various steps of the choreography in part because of decent to excellent technique. Yes, we get focused on how many pirouettes can you do in a row, etc, but there's a place for that, too, because ballet tells so many types of stories.
I think the problem is more with competitions because I see so many ballet CZcamsrs who dance beautifully who do give tips on better jumps, etc, but also emphasize artistry.
However, I do disagree about some contemporary ballet pieces. Very often the pieces are expressing extremely complex emotions but they're using a movement vocabulary that's related to but not the same as that of classical ballet. I like that it gives a wider range of options for expression. I saw Hong Kong Ballet perform to Mozetich's "Affairs of the Heart" in a more contemporary style and they did an excellent job of portraying the range of human emotions inherent in the music.
Amazing! My thoughts couldn't have been said better! You are absolutely right!
Thank you for discussing this. I always think ballet needs more artistry.^^
I think part of the issue is that emotion by its nature is personal and unquantifiable, and how society sees it and its expression changes with time.
If we ignore the dancing and think about the acting, there's a whole spectrum from "ham" (stagey and overblown) to "so refined the emotions are invisible". And we can probably agree that both extremes are undesirable, but where the optimum place on that spectrum lies - well, that's subtly different for everyone. One person's perfect expression is someone else's overacting; one person's "mere flick of a finger epitomising flight and freedom" is another person's "robotic lack of emotion and personality".
Similarly there are dancers we all agree make us feel the story, but others who fall on different sides of the line for different watchers. Likewise, choreography. There are plenty of sections of classical choreography where the steps themselves seem formulaic (to me) and the emotion is supplied purely by the dancers, while conversely some modern choreography has a wider vocabulary so that even without an overt story the audience (well, me again) is moved. And vice versa - neither classical nor modern has the monopoly on quality.
I think there's a bit of a fashion towards minimalism recently which may come across as cold to some, and that's not bad per se, just a change in style.
That said, there's definitely also a trend towards movement as plain gymnastic tricks. I've observed this particularly in competitions for young dancers in the "contemporary" genre - and for myself, I find it tedious. In fact, I think this is exactly the kind of thing this video speaks against, quite justifiably.
IN 1975, I had Pauline Koner's one trimestre of ELEMENTS OF. PERFORMANCE. SHE CAME OUT OF RETIREMENT. To slow us down from overly ambitious goals. That will only be perceived as 'dilletante'. She didn't want us to be robotic. That perceived. She then commenced to show. How to transform using facials exspressions. Once we were all sitting down like a pow wow peace sit down on the floor in Studio A. Right before our very eyes. Pauline Koner guarded her still life form into elements of believability in the sense of a brief episode changing right before our very eyes her mood then another mood then another mood and then another mood.
Agree, Agree, Agree. I attend dance competitions where girls are just wearing (barely) a leotard, no tights and doing a glorified floor routine. It's hollow and demoralizing. Athleticism and technique are a given. But it's the transcendence into artistry that makes you a dancer, not an athlete or a gymnast, but a storyteller through your artistry, through your dance.
I worked all my professional life in opera, and I learned from great Italian maestros that you cannot just learn the notes and be able to get around the score. The expression, the meaning, has to be baked in from the first reading. Something like this has to be present in dance, too. Stravinsky said he was the conduit for the Rite of Spring: anyone who works through music has to be a conduit for the music, not just "able" to perform, surely? I would add that in ballet the horrible custom of applauding individual technical feats has accelerated the cross-over to a sporting model.
A high level of technique frees a dancer to focus more on artistic expression. But I disagree with your stating that abstract, contemporary ballet lacks artistry. And as much as I love story ballets, where emotion is about the character of the role being played and not about the dance being performed. In non-story ballet artistry is not stripped out because a character and its emotion are absent. The dancer's artistry then relates to the dance and there is-or can certainly be-emotion about the movement. Every dancer I know in the New York City ballet, whose repertory consists of mostly abstract ballets, will describe emotions connected to each of those ballets. Take Alexei Ratmansky's latest work, Solitude, which in the words of the NY Times critic "Unleashes the Pain of War." That is a contemporary ballet without a story but with an enormous amount of emotion pouring out.
Ballet means SO much to me and everyone around me. EXCELLENT video. Artistry is how I fell in love with it!!
Definitely! You have touched on a subject that I have been saying for years (over 10 years and more). I have stopped buying tickets to see ballet live in London, because the big ballet company there has moved so much to choreography by non ballet artists who isn’t using beautiful music and is only interested in height of leg, turns and extreme moves showcasing technique and nothing else. I remember as a student being told by the teacher who choreographed an end of year piece, “..don’t show emotion, just dance it! “ and I could not ‘just dance it’s like she wanted, because the way I danced used emotion and artistry. Shortly after this, I gave up ballet because I was so disillusioned.
I ABSOLUTELY Agree!!
The Artistry, MUST Be Present in BALLET, I too, have Lived in my Entire Life, be a Sport.
Because without the Artistry, Dance means NOTHING, because We Are SPIRITUAL Beings, not, ..
Technic Machines.
It's Physical Art, like a Painting. I know what you are Saying, BIG TIME!
Thars What I Think.
There IS A PROBLEM, ..
Robots, are NOT ARTIST'S.
The are Robots.
Being HUMAN, is Living ART!
My Body, is Art, my Dance, is Art, and So is my Life and my SOUL! It's ALL, ..
ART!
Just our CREATOR Intended it to Be. I will Never accept the Machine as an Artist.
Ever! And this is EXACTLY What I am Seeing in Classes, ..
Technically Sound Dancers, who look board in Class, but when they See me Dance, they Stare. Sometime they even come up to me and sat, Thank You, it's such a Pleasure to Dance with Yuu in Class
Surprise too, this was Saud to me Recently, and I'm, nearly 70 years old.
But I can Kick Butt, because I am an OLD School PRO Trained Classical BALLET Dancer, Nothing else will due, I change the Choreography All the Time. My Body doesn't like New School. I've been Dancing All my Life, stopped early on Pro like because I didn't like what I was Seeing happening to Dance so I quit, but Never Stopped Dancing.
Lot of Instructors don't like u when. I change the Choreography but that's to bad, I.do Anyway and they know Why, I tell them Why
Open Adult BALLET Classes are FREE-ER to Dance in, thars my MO, ..
Now.
I'll do my Way, it feels good like that. The other way feel Fake, Shallow, Empty, and void oif Emotion. Not my "Cup of Tea"
Ok, I'm done ranting I'm about this, it's just that I've Never Heard Anyone say it before, so, ..
Thank you.
✨💞✨🙏
Rudolf Nureyev described himself as a romantic dancer and the audience could be moved to tears when he and Margot Fontein danced, together or alone they both exuded artistry and joy which was why they were both loved so much. Romance seems to have largely disappeared from contemporary society, showing closeness and warmth towards each other is not "cool" and everything is seriously competitive. Maybe contemporary ballet is just reflecting contemporary attitudes.
I agree. Its not about how many turns you do. This often happens to the detriment of musicality and therefore artistry.
I feel like this is what Gelsey Kirkland was trying to make a statement about when she created her school focused on training dancers for story ballets and artistry in ballet. I was disappointed that it didn't really take off very much. Agree with everything you said. Much more common to see reels, youtube clips, and tiktoks showing crazy extensions and millions of turns than to see a gorgeous character scene, and it's a sign of the times. There are good evolutions as well, such as ballet becoming slightly more diverse and that's a great trend to see. But I'm not sure this topic is likely to go in a direction we all want given that the US has not had a super strong support for the arts, doesn't really understand classical ballet, and only tends to connect with it as an athletic/gymnastic pursuit. Ultimately the western audiences and sponsors are the ones causing this trend IMO.
I used to think that in order to dance "beautifully," I had to have extreme flexibility, but I learned that dancing is not about hitting extreme positions, its about *PATTERNWORK!*
The MAJOR flaw with ballet is the one directional turns. All of the long turning is done in one dirwction , and this makes for UNBALANCED pattern-work. This is also the major flaw in figure skating, and so many of the sports: UNBALANCED abilieties.
This is what sport does to art: it distorts things. The human body is a balanced thin
@@cristina8868 Thank 💖 You!
Variations in ballet are called variations because the dancer can choose which way to pirouette, etc. I get your point but I would not want the patterns of the classics messed with, present day choreographers can deal with multiple patterns.
When you see a grand jeté beyond 180 degrees it actually looks ugly. The best dancers use technique to tell the story.
Ballet can never be considered a sport despite it's progressing athleticism. 4 things to my mind define sport, Speed, strength, height and length. With these four you compete in your specialty event to win. Dance has four basic requirements - technique, musicality, artistry and performance. It is difficult to judge these four in competition as they are subjective and will always be at the whim (no matter how knowledgeable or professional) of the adjudicator. This then should negate any activity considered subjective in judging. Rhythmic gymnastics, ice skating, ballroom dancing, synchonized swimming etc but these are another topic. They are nice to watch, or not, but seriously are they sports? Ballet requires strength developed over years of training but not without the four basics. Yes we train like sports people but our goal is not to win it is to entertain using taught or inherent artistic abilities. Apologies for my long winded commentary but I hate the thought of ballet in the Olympics.
You are absolutely right!
I agree, a dancer has to have the technique to carry the artistry. What I object to is the growing emphasis being put on the ability to perform flashy tricks: multiple pirouettes, higher jumps, death-defying lifts, joint-killing flexibility. The world is a fast, crazy, competitive place prone to emotional disconnection; it's a relief to watch a sensitive, lyrical dancer perform in something not akin to the Olympic Games.
Hello Ballet Wise! I'm a life long ballet lover but a first time watcher of your page. You bring up a very important discussion.
I wonder if you heard Dame Darcy Bussell speak at this year's Prix de Lausanne award ceremony? I found it spot on for this particular conversation. She said
"To our wonderful candidates: I would love to remind you first and foremost, you are an artist. The social media showreels and extreme poses are not true reflections of our emotional, provoking art. Please, please focus on how your expressive moves will contribute to the storytelling ability of dance. You are unique and you have a story to tell with each and every move you make".
I often look forward to the prize winner for best artistry at the Prix because I'm hungry to see it. Especially in today's students.
I've never seen this channel before either. But since you mentioned Prix de Lausanne, you might like the videos a channel named "ballet reign" has in which the two young dancers, whose channel it is, provide their insights on the finalists. ❤
Thank you! I will check it out ❤
I am also shocked to see how such young girls are on pointe. Their bones are still so soft. Surely there is some policy or oversight to control that?
The over emphasis on competitions being your motive for career advancement now over slowly working your way up through the company ranks has been the biggest detriment to ballet in its centuries long history as it evolved out of Opera in the Italian courts. Opera and its subsequent child Ballet grew out of storytelling in real time, full stop. Until the early 20th century and the ability to record and capture audio and images for playback, live was all there was. And, you grew up in these companies and went through a "system" of Advancement, hopefully. But in the 90's the ballet competition as a means of getting noticed by artistic directors really started taking off and then with the advent of social media it went gangbusters. Now you have ABT principal Dancers like Daniil Simpkin who never went to a school or worked their way up through a company. He privately trained with his retired pro parents and won a bunch of competitions while promoting it all on social media and boom, insta-star. Before 2000 this would have been absolutely unheard or. It is the confluence of many things culturally creating this sitiation. I do not know if we can go back honestly but I certainly hope we do. Gymnastics is gymnastics, ballet is supposed to be art.
Totally agree … tricks abound ..I miss the strong personalities like Suzanne Farrell ,gelsey , merril …no one comes to mind like these
The ballet competitions are responsible too. And even the top schools ignore the arms, like they're only there for balance, not coming from the heart
I think that putting so many eggs in the Altheticism basket is what has gotten ballet into its current position where most regular folks just don't see the appeal. "It's just people prancing around, nothing happened in the story" is a sentiment I've often heard repeated. If the community had chosen to go harder on storytelling and emotion, I truly think more people would feel like they get it.
If the way you get more butts in seats is reliant on higher jumps, more extreme backbends, and more hypertended knees than you can shake a stick at, then you will eventually crash into the hard boundaries of the human body. At a certain point, there will be no more we can ask of our bones and muscles, and folks who subscribe to that school of thought will have to throw up their hands and say "ballet is officially dead!" Because their ballet was based on chasing novelty. Also, that's why dancers get hurt so damn much. It's not sustainable, and it's making ballet less accessible to audiences. That's a solid game plan for killing an art form, in my opinion. Give me the artistry every time! Because emotions connect all of us.
Yes!! Nothing against competition, but I feel like schools that focus on it are straying further from artistry. I got accepted into a ballet boarding school that focuses on competition. I’ve never done one and never plan to do so. I’m constantly put down about my technique, and even got rejected from the school next season because of it. To me, artistry is SO much more.
I think Rambert (uk) manages this three legged balance. But many of the young dancers I see on instagram etc are technically incredible but I would agree they are more like athletes than artists and there is something a bit empty in how thin, supple and technically brilliant they are.
its like we call things sport in order that they wont be diminished by the creative title of art.
ballet is the medium by which these artists axpress and that doesnt change that it requires athletic ability, cariovascular health - its impressive
There’s always been a tension between virtuosity v. artistry. & the combination of those. Balanchine, Graham, Character dancing, Corps de ballet, pas de deux solos …. and yes the near reduction of art from gymnastics, skating has made these less appealing - less moving. Though I do appreciate 10 pirouettes & triple tours (from a recovering 6ft2 male ballet dancer) …
Before I saw your video, I was just thinking that male ballet dancers, particularly, are now doing gymnastics, with no feeling. Also, in the old days ballerinas did not have to do arabesques backwards right over their heads. And they now all look the same. At least I know it's not just me that feels this way. Thanx so much for voicing what I think.
Another thought:- Would a classical pianist be praised for playing Rachmaninov's 2nd piano concerto at a hundred miles an hour, despite the odd bum note? I doubt it, but dancers are lauded for more turns, higher leaps with lousy techniques, and sloppy finishes. If classical technique is not what makes classical ballet, what does?
I do agree. Artistry is more important for me. I need to experience the story in my heart and body. Less gymnastics and technique and please more Artistry/Love/Emotion - softness please!
Like figure skating, where it's all jumps jumps jumps, and staying skinny to keep the jumps.
agree 200%! well said
Madame Boitsov in Chicago has been teaching artistry for many decades. But the snob society of Chicago has never given her talent, which is from the Bolshoi, a chance to blossom. I can attest to this as the first graduate of the Boitsov Classical Ballet School of Chicago, back in the 1980's. Mrs Boitsov is a true gem, but the society and papers were owned by news critics. The Russian ballet school, teaching the Vaganova Technique, is the best in the world...hands down. A technical perfectionist is cold and boring, but true dramatic talent, stage personality and good solid technique becomes the true beauty of ballet.
Completely agree
impose on ballet students the need to put a meaning on a developpe, a battement, steps must express the emotion, the story, not just the step.
You bring up a VERY important subject here. But I don't think the problem is limited to the ballet world. It's a wider cultural problem. It's not just ballet that is "dying." It's all of the arts (literature, drama, film, music etc.). And I don't think it's the teachers that are to blame...it's the culture as a whole. If you want to return to the days when artistry was just as important (if not more) than technique (which is something I agree with 100%), then I'm afraid the only way to do that is to return to a pre-Digital Age. Okay, I'm being semi-facetious because obviously that's not going to happen (though I would love it if we could dump all our phones and social media into some deep chasm for a time in order to "re-set" the culture, so to speak). Speaking of which, my own feeling as to why dancing is so technical, cold and "sport-like" now has less to do with the teaching than with dancers who post their 15 pirouettes for the millionth time on social media. I won't mention any names (it would be too long a list although some have a more addictive tendency to do this than others) but it's the single thing that fast-tracks this delicate art form into the realm of "arena sport" and technique-fandom. Not only does it mislead the greater public into thinking that "phenomenal technique" equals "greater artistry" but, because we can now witness all the "tricks" from the comfort of our homes, it discourages people to actually GO to the theater because they don't think there's anything extra waiting for them once they've been repeatedly beaten over the head with the 15 pirouettes and other virtuosic technical feats. As the saying goes, why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free? And the uneducated public has good reason to believe that the "milk" is nothing greater than the "15 pirouettes." Story? What story? There are certain company directors guilty of turning ballet into a sport too by routinely featuring the technical wizardry of their notable dancers or trainees/competition headliners on CZcams in the form of endless posted "shorts" for promotional purposes. Another problem is that if you say anything close to what I'm writing here, the response is usually an accusation of "elitism" or "pearl-clutching" (I suppose they mean the pearls swung before swine? Sorry, couldn't resist!). In all seriousness, this is a very crucial discussion you are bringing up and my fervent hope is that your video goes viral. We're in very hot water right now as a culture--as a species. I don't mean to sound alarmist but what's happening in ballet is merely a symptom of a greater infection that poses a far more disturbing threat. The arts have long been under assault. I agree that dancers are collectively more advanced in their technical capabilities than ever before. We have phenomenal athletes in the dance world at all levels. But we have very, VERY few who are truly great artists. I have a hard time thinking of any, to be honest, and those that spring to mind are on the verge of retirement or have already retired. There are some great teachers left but they can't compete with the forces that are disintegrating our culture. As a part-time reporter on dance, I've watched them teach and I've sensed their frustration. I also watch clips of them teaching or coaching well-known principals and I can see that they just aren't "getting through." The dancers often seem more preoccupied with "capturing" the moment for social media and sometimes I get the feeling they almost, subtly seem to be poking fun at these venerable coaches as if they are either being too "harsh" or "Old World" or maybe as a way of advertising how "hard" their chosen "sport" is (as someone else has commented here). So how are such teachers to get through to the dancers of the future when they are confronting the far more powerful and nefarious forces of a digital and tech-obsessed age? Namely: greater self-promotion, narcissism and self-obsession (which leads to weak artistry), more merging of art with politics (which only serves to keep art "small" since art seeks truth and cannot conform to ideology of any kind without corrupting that truth) and fierce obsession with all things science and tech-related (which obliterates the patience, sensitivity, isolation, reflection, inspiration and struggle it takes to even understand what a high benchmark in artistry looks like, never mind what it takes to attain it). Why bother doing all that when you can get easy applause for your amazing pyrotechnical feats or gushing adoration for your Tik Tok-inspired "pop" ballet choreography in a 10-second post? Why make it "hard" when you can just work until the technical stuff is "easy" and just..well... have all the glamour and praise come easy too? Your point about "telling stories" sums up exactly what's missing. But how can you even begin to "tell a story" if you beat out everything "original" about your personality and just talk and act and post like everyone else? Even the way dancers talk about their art form now, with irritating and jaded acronyms and jargon peppering their (usually vocal-frying) speech attests to how we're seriously in danger of losing our grip on the whole purpose of art---which is to help us continually evolve as a civilization--keep us from going extinct as a species---keep those AI monsters of the future from shutting us in a black hole and throwing away the key. Okay, I'm being a tad dramatic but at least I'm giving you a story, right? On a more sober note, what's interesting to think about is how a dancer like Suzanne Farrell manages to "tell a story" with every gesture even though she was the great muse for what were mostly the "plotless" ballets of George Balanchine. So she gave you a story even when there was "no story." She kindled the viewer's imagination at every turn. Hence it's not so much that choreography needs to contain an obvious narrative. It's the job of any artist in any medium to convey information that is ineffable---that opens the door to truth (even if all we get is a glimpse of it through a momentary feeling or epiphany). Farrell (and others of her generation) did this with sublime commitment and humility before the art form. It wasn't about showing off their technique, good looks, great lines, cool jargon, media "personality" (remember when ballet was a SILENT art form and you learned of the dancer's personality through their movement quality only?) or jaded, mediocre, blandly stylized humor. It was just endless searching and endless creation. We can easily "teach" this. The problem is, can people hear it through the noise of unrelenting media, tech, politics and self-promotion/campaigning in the hopes of achieving principal status by way of a huge "media following?" What is disturbing is that they often succeed in achieving that "next" rank. But the artistry fails as a result. Some technically very gifted dancers whom I'd hoped would develop into the next great artists are, indeed, principals at major companies today but, sadly, are thoroughly unwatchable. We already know they can do the 15 pirouettes without a hitch. But the artistry is abysmal. They don't even seem to understand the concept. The only concept they understand is the concept of "killing it" on stage. And "kill it" they do---in fact, they have no idea how thoroughly they are killing it.
I am unsure about this content. Perhaps it applies more to American ballet as against the international productions. There are a great many ballet companies today that marry all the components of theatre into their work. The Paris Opera Ballet, the Russian companies, Britain's Mathew Bourne and Birmingham Royal Ballet to name a few are pure magic on stage and bring real emotions into the audience itself. Yes there are contemporary dance companies, but even among them there is drama. Northern Ballet Theatre in the UK create some astounding storytelling. So yes I am unsure about the particular viewpoint in this video.
Theatre as many facets like a well cut diamond. Sets, lighting, sound, music, costumes, atmospheric stage effects, choreography, expression, and when they all come together they sparkle and dazzle.
Fitness and athleticism are essential to a dancer. The days are long and the work is hard but the magic still crosses the footlights.
There is always the anticipation and buzz of excitement as the orchestra tunes up and the lights begin to fade.
The story begins as the curtain rises.
Nureyev should be the standard. And for modern dancers I think Marinella Nunez from the Royal Ballet is just amazeballs and awesome sauce she is so good but also has that artistry. Lets all list dancers who have both and who have great artistry even though their technique might not be perfect.
My fave dancers:
Margot Fonteyn
Natalya Markarova
Maya Pisetskaya
Rudolf Nureyev
El Donn
Marinella Nunez
Vadim can't remember his last name he has more technique than artistry though.
There are more that I can't think of now but they are mostly Russian or European.
Was it Vadim Pisarev? Thank you so much for the above list! I agree 100%
I would love to mention
Marcia Haydee
Richard Cragun
Alicia Alonso
Erik Bruhn
Carla Fracci
Moira Shearer
It was Vadim Muntagirov currently a principle with the Royal Ballet. He has no strain in his moves and just makes everything look so effortless.
I like your list too.
There is a documentary, possibly a clip on youtube, on Rudolph Nureyev and he dances with Carla Fracci.
And there is also Monica Mason formally of the Royal Ballet.
Alicia Alonso she did hops on pointe in arabesque in Swan Lake instead of 32 foutte in this clip: czcams.com/video/krcmx4vdeTU/video.html
Wow! Thank you for all this. I adore Monica Mason!