Comments on: The evolution(?) of extreme ballet

By: Antonio

Antonio — Thu, 02 Jan 2014 16:11:05 +0000

Thank you for this!
I am a retired ballet dancer who always had and still have a great love for pure classically correct lines, no doubt learned from my teachers. I was lucky enough to study Anatole Vilzak, who was in the last graduating class in St. Petersburg, 1917, the year of the Russian Revolution.
It is SO important to understand the rules, how they came about, why they exist, and especially, what happens if you break them. They CAN be broken, but they must be understood. As a male dancer, my hero was Fernando Bujones, who had an exquisite control of the pure classical line while still choosing to break it, consciously, from time to time.
It is an artistic mistake to think that MORE is going to make the dance better or more exciting. It would be absurd to say that Sylvie Guillem is a greater dancer than Pavlova, simply because she carries her lines to a further extreme. But what would people think today if someone, a great artist, were to appear, and to dance like Pavlova, with her style and lines? Many people who have grown accustomed, even jaded, by the extremes of today’s style and choreography, would probably completely miss out on the profound beauty of her dancing. This is the danger of constantly pushing for quantity over quality. It hurts the audience as much as it hurts the art.
It IS okay to break the rules from time to time, but first one must MASTER them and know WHY they are being broken.

By: Nakis

Nakis — Tue, 24 May 2011 22:05:51 +0000

There are no specific rules I believe as to what is beautiful or right in ballet. Talking about a specific image or pose means nothing. You have to see the scene complete, the entire performance in order to see and feel the dancer in movement. Some dancers can be extrarodinary with great extensions and other without them. What is important is how the dancer interprets the part, not just the technique but the soul you can see and feel through movement. For me the most extraordinary dancer is Sylvie Guillem. I have seen her many times on stage and she is the one who touches me most deeply. So graceful, so deep in her interpretations despite what some of her detractors say. I saw her recently as Manon at La Scala in Milan and it was one of the most extraordinary experiences of my life. She was utteryl profound, utterly moving. All these things about her extensions and technique wit no feeling seem pointless; It is just the opposite. The bottom line is the techniques are different but Sylvie Guillem is a great artist, Fonteyn was a great artist as was Carla Fracci or Gelsey Kirkland or Allessandra Ferri. How can anyone in his right mind take any of these dancers (it is easy to point out at Guillem, people have been doing this for years) without aknowledging their utter beauty and artistry?

By: Chris

Chris — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 19:47:52 +0000

As a ballet dancer currently dancing in a company I will say this: There are times when doing “classical” ballets that the exaggerated lines are in fact a detriment to the work. That having been said I think that it is human nature to push boundaries. For me ballet is a pursuit of perfection that I will never achieve, but wanting better feet, higher extensions, more turns etc etc are just stepping stones towards that perfection. Neo what you are saying about the lack of artistry in dance today is valid, there are very few dancers out there today in the world class companies who have both the limit stretching physique and technique as well as that little something extra that makes them amazing. But I think that has always been true, technique will keep changing and the required aesthetic will continue to develop but what makes someone extraordinary will remain indefinable and rare. My 2 cents.

By: Emily

Emily — Wed, 29 Sep 2010 17:22:54 +0000

I wish the ballet lines were more like those of the old days. I’m a dancer but I’m not very flexible or hyper extended. I feel like it would be much easier emotionally and physically for girls if the lines weren’t so extreme, if they were more practical…but I guess that’s what makes ballet have that “untouchable” quality.

By: Sara

Sara — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 20:58:36 +0000

A most interesting article! I THOUGHT I was a fan of extreme ballet, until I saw The Red Shoes last month (for the first time), and was awestruck by Moira Shearer’s dancing. Fitting the dance of the Red Shoes perfectly, she has an off-balance, wild quality in her (endless and FAST) turns and jumps that I had never before seen. So artistic. And I was left will many pictures in my mind of her gorgeous lines, which were not extreme, but so feminine and beautiful, and particular to her. I’m going to take to heart the piano player’s comments above when I’m in ballet class. I’m 38 and continue ballet purely for enjoyment and fitness, but teachers get frustrated if you seem artless, no matter how technically or extremely you execute any movement.

By: Jackie

Jackie — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 14:00:21 +0000

YOU ALLLL NEED TO GET OUT OF THE OLD DAYS AND INTO THE NEW STYLE OF DANCE. You are blaming some of the best dancers of all time because they moved on with the style? If ballet stayed the way it was in the 30’s and 40’s no one would want to go to the theatres to see it. Times have changed and with it the style of dancing must change as well. It needs to appeal to the croud with a more contemporary style and more extreme, just as candles turned to lamps ballet must turn from fluttering on pointe to amazing performances done by NEW STYLE dancers.

By: David

David — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 04:17:16 +0000

I think some one said ‘less is more’ and that applies to artistic forms so the viewer or audience participates in a more considered way. David

By: Janine Melillo

Janine Melillo — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 02:24:39 +0000

I found this page while searching for a silhoette of a ballerina in arabesque to use in decorating a ballet studio window. I was taken by the lines created by Zakharova. Later I came back to the page to read about her.
This is a very interesting discussion and one that concerns me since both of my daughters have been taking ballet for 3 years now. They are becoming more serious about it and imagine themselves professional dancers. I have worried about not only the extreme toll that ballet appears to take on the body, but the near poverty that I see life-long dancers living in.
It is interesting to note that both of my daughters have been involved in traditional Chinese and German dance for far more years. I’ve never had to worry about their bodies being damaged in those forms of dance, although the sexist messages of the dances have concerned me.
Is there a life of non-extremes in ballet? Can one enjoy the art form and performing w/out being in professional companies?

By: Katrina

Katrina — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 21:46:25 +0000

As a former dancer with/hyper extension. I appreciate watching Sylvie Guillem because I know the work involved in overcoming the physical drawback of hyper extension. Yes it forms beautiful legs and feet. But being loose jointed made the mechanics of jumps and turns much more difficult plus the thighs tend to become over developed.
Todays ballet has lost alot in translation, where is stage presence and story telling and being one with the music. Today its the athletics and the contemporary dancers rolling around on the floor like Madonna at the MTV awards.

By: Lisa

Lisa — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 14:19:32 +0000

Today a beautiful young dancer dealing with this push towards extremes with restraint is Veronika Part. Old world training and the demands of global star quality have produced a young woman willing to deal with these issues of extremes and the capabilities of her amazing physical qualities. In La Sylphide with Martine Van Hamel as the old version of a ballerina they present an exquisite look at the life of a ballerina, a woman, in todays world.