Compare and contrast: three women dance ballet to classical music
The other day the following little ballet to music by Beethoven, set on three women, appeared in my YouTube recommendations. And so I watched it. I didn’t hate it but I didn’t much like it: too static, very “on the music” in a way that seemed rigid and unimaginative, no especially interesting patterns in the placement and movement of the women in relation to each other, and ornate “fussy” arms with wrists that break the line.
Judge for yourself, though:
However, the ballet evoked remembrance of ballets past. In case you think that business of the three dancers in a row behind each other is an innovation, let me introduce you to Balanchine’s “Apollo,” composed to Stravinsky in 1928. That’s nearly 100 years ago. It was extremely innovative at the time, and it has lasted. It’s about the birth and growth of Apollo, helped by the three muses of poetry, mime, and dance. Here are a couple of very short excerpts, performed by the very same company as that first clip above, the Royal Ballet:
Another long ballet comes to mind with the following short segment for three women (one man briefly enters about halfway in and rather quickly exits). Set to Chopin, it is Jerome Robbins’ “Dances At a Gathering” from 1969. I saw the original many times, and although the dancers in this video (National Opera of Paris, 2014) lack some of the expressive beauty and feeling and flow I recall from those earlier days, it will nevertheless give you some idea of what I’m talking about. The movements seem naturalistic and almost inevitable rather than strained:
I hesitated to put the following clip up, although it features three women plus three men from that same 2014 Paris Opera production, and is one of my very favorite segments from “Dances At a Gathering,” a work I consider a ballet masterpiece. It just doesn’t seem to have the sweep and power of this segment in the original when seen in person – at least, as I remember it. That was absolutely thrilling and made the audience gasp at what I call the “swoops” and the “tosses.” Here the swoops (3:14 to 3:45) aren’t done with the same abandon, and the tosses (4:34 to 4:48) look a bit like the men are throwing around sacks of potatoes. Picture something far more dramatic and yet appearing completely easy at the same time, an expression of pure delight.
And yet…and yet…it’s still is very beautiful. I think these dancers do as well as any modern dancers can – the sensibility of ballet has changed, and there is much more emphasis on technique – and the choreography remains impressive in its use of the music’s threes and dramatic crescendos:
Enjoy:
Two questions: 1) A general question for Neo– in your opinion, does the choice of composer make a difference to the dancers’ performance, or only the specific composition? I’ve always thought of Beethoven as a relatively “heavy” composer, but maybe that’s just me; 2) Are the men in the final video dancing en pointe for a few brief sequences? I watched the video on full screen, but couldn’t tell whether the men were actually dancing on their toes for a few seconds here and there, or whether it was an optical illusion caused by the stage lighting.
In any event, I enjoyed the videos– the dances are indeed beautiful even if, as you note, the sensibility of ballet has changed.
PA Cat:
The choice of music sets the tone and mood, but I think that especially affects the choreographer even more than it affects the dancers. It’s not even so much the composer as the choice of a particular piece, for composers with a wide range of works that can help convey different emotions.
The men are not dancing on pointe in that ballet.
That first video felt like the gals were going to break into a stepping or cheer routine any minute now.
I didn’t hate it but I didn’t much like it: too static, very “on the music” in a way that seemed rigid and unimaginative, no especially interesting patterns in the placement and movement of the women in relation to each other, and ornate “fussy” arms with wrists that break the line.
neo:
From your description I’m reminded of Rick Beato’s complaints about digital rock, where the music is controlled by grids, so that it can be easily edited in a software app, instead of old-school where the music speeds up and slows down organically and it’s not so easy to edit out mistakes or rearrange sections.
I appreciate your dance posts and accompanying commentary — also that you provide excerpts for the specific aspects you wish readers to attend to.
I don’t mind the catch-as-catch-can education you provide, but if one were interested in harnessing the web for a better grounding in dance, what would you suggest?
huxley:
That’s certainly a good question, and made me realize that my knowledge of dance comes from (a) having danced myself for a long time (b) having watched countless live dance performances from an early age, including the greats during what is often thought to be the Golden Age of 20th Century dance (c) coming from a dance-loving family; and (d) having thought and written about it at some length. The internet had nothing to do with it, although I love the fact that I can watch videos now online, including some of those older performances.
So when you ask what I would recommend I’m a bit stumped. But after some reflection, here’s what I’ll say. Firstly, besides watching old videos of the greats, one of the best writers about dance is Arlene Croce. She was the dance critic for The New Yorker from 1973 to 1998 and an excellent writer about dance. Dancer and choreographer Merce Cunningham said that “Speaking about dance is like nailing Jell-o to the wall,” (same for writing about it, I guess), but Croce could nail that jello pretty well. Her dance writings have been compiled into books (including an excellent one on Astaire and Rogers), which can be found here. Croce was sort of canceled by early cancel culture, by the way, for writing an essay described here by Terry Teachout, in 1995.
I may end up writing a post about that.
Another thing I would suggest is watching dance documentaries such as this one on Balanchine, or one on Diaghelev, or Paul Taylor, or any number of other dancers or choreographers of dance directors. This is a video I’d recommend about ballet in general and Cecchetti technique in particular. Much of my early training was in the Cecchetti method, which is incredibly difficult. Looking at that video again just now, I notice that one of my teachers, Vincenzo Celli, appears in it (much younger than when I knew him) at 13:52.
Neo–
Thank you for your detailed reply to huxley– I definitely want to watch the videos you’ve recommended.
Is there a notation for choreography as there is for music? That is, can a modern choreographer duplicate something by Balanchine? Or does every choreographer start from scratch more like a new painting. (Probably not an apt comparison since paintings are available to duplicate.)
I thought it was fine, as a one-off. If every dance they did followed the same approach and patterns, then yes — it would become threadbare pretty quickly. I’ve always been a sucker for this piece by Beethoven, so that helped, too!
https://amp.theguardian.com/books/2022/sep/16/diaghilevs-empire-by-rupert-christiansen-review-brilliance-of-the-ballets-russes
New book out. Posting in case any of the ballet aficionados were not aware of it.
Yawn.
I so tire of Neo’s ballet posts that, in all respect, I usually ignore them. Ballet dancers are usually abused by their art, and I know personally one in her early 40s who was seized by ballet before she was 13, attended the NC School of the Arts from out of state, had a professional career, and her feet were ruined by age 40.
Show me another classical art that physically abuses its members as ballet does. I cannot think of one.It is akin to ignoring repetitive concussions in NFL players [despite all the protection provided by helmets].
At the risk of being tarred as a philistine (although the historic Philistines were actually pretty artsy, likely being descendants of Phoenicians or other Greek Mediterranean peoples, whose artwork has always been declared first rate by modern critics) I share Cicero’s reaction to ballet. I love the music but all the prancing around and posing on stage is distracting. And at the risk of being accused of closeted homosexuality, I find male dancers particularly distracting, what with the codpieces and again, the posing and prancing in tights. As far as I can ascertain, most male ballerinos (is that a word?) are, in fact either homosexual or otherwise indiscriminate in their sexual habits. So sue me.
Midori Ito more engaging
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LIzYlQhiBRo
Cicero:
Actually, it’s not unusual for art forms to cause injury. Musicians are prone to repetitive motion injuries. Singers get vocal cord nodes, etc., and it’s not unusual for them to have surgery that can sometimes go wrong. And most sports likewise are hard on the body.
Many of ballet dancers’ physical problems are driven by psychological needs to drive themselves, or bad directors. Plus, it depends on their training. That last video I recommended to huxley explains how the right training can be injury-protective. Many famous dancers perform to a fairly advanced age and go on to a vigorous and healthy old age.
That said, of course not everyone likes or appreciates ballet, for all kinds of reasons.
I so tire of Cicero’s certainty (not always), someone woke up grumpy today? 🙂
How do the dancers feel? Are there some things they like better than others? Does this show up in their performance? Asking for a friend.
Steve:
What you call posing and prancing, others find to be a rare combination of extreme athletic skill plus artistry and also sometimes acting ability, plus the strength to lift 110-pound ballerinas and make it look easy.
As far as sexuality goes, I would say that the rate of homosexuality in male dancers is certainly higher than in the general population, but it’s probably less than 50%. Here’s a thread on a subject, in which several male dancers say it’s by no means a majority. Most of the male dancers I’ve known personally have been straight, but gay male dancers certainly are not rare. And there are plenty of male dancers with stable marriages. Most dancers retire quite early (by their 40s) and then often teach, and have quite stable lives.
As far as the tights go, it’s certainly no more revealing than what male swimmers or divers wear, or male wrestlers, or males in any sport in which a bodysuit is worn.
There is so much that is dark and grey (reflected in every other thread) that elegance and grace shines through in its absence,
Needless to say the forms of culture are reflected in the understanding of a culture
OT but not irrelevant: Has anyone else had trouble accessing Neo’s site tonight (Sunday 10/16)? I’ve been trying ever since Miguel posted at 10:26 and kept getting timeout messages until just now (midnight 10/17).
Ive tried for half an hour to get in
Miguel cervantes; PA Cat:
Yes, the same thing happened to me just now for a while. Server problems again at the host. I’m not sure why it’s happened a few times lately, because for the last year or two the host has been really good. Hopefully, it will go back to working well again.
I’m on a group server but I pay extra to get on one that only has a few sites, so it won’t get overburdened and go down. Usually it’s fine, but lately it seems to have gotten overloaded every now and then. If it keeps happening I will have to take it up with them.
neo:
Thanks for the recommendations! Those will take some time to digest, but it’s so amazing the education one can get on the web.
I’ve got the New Yorker on DVD (though it’s a bit cumbersome), so I can check Arlene Croce. The New Yorker was great when it was great. I did take in her canceling.
Speaking about dance is like nailing Jell-o to the wall.
Reminded me of:
Writing about music is like dancing about architecture.
Which turns out to be one of those quotes everyone said, but no source is definitive.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Writing_about_music_is_like_dancing_about_architecture#:~:text=%22Writing%20about%20music%20is%20like,for%20dismissing%20music%20criticism%20altogether.
There was a minor early classic on software development (1982) titled “Nailing Jelly to a Tree.” Which isn’t a bad description of the process.
tcrosse:
Yes, absolutely. Dancers have favorite roles, favorite choreographers, favorite steps or types of movement. You might really enjoy this video and also this one, where a dancer narrates a video of one of her principal roles.
When I was young, I didn’t like a lot of things, including ballet and country music.
I don’t hold it against myself. A big piece of growing up is defining yourself out of the infinite possibilities available. It’s necessary so you have a focus.
But after I became more secure with my choices, I began to reassess and discovered I was flat wrong about quite a lot, especially when it came to art forms.
Furthermore, if I relaxed a bit and looked for the good and interesting within an art, there was a decent chance I could find what others already appreciated.
And I could share their enjoyment.
@ huxley > “A big piece of growing up is defining yourself out of the infinite possibilities available. It’s necessary so you have a focus.”
Very astute observation.
It’s also true as you get older and make new choices, and focus on different possibilities.
“To everything there is a season….”