The ballet “Concerto Barocco”: different dancers bring something completely different
“Concerto Barocco” is a Balanchine ballet that was created in 1941 as an exercise for his students. But it is an indisputable masterpiece that seems nearly as fresh today as when it was choreographed. It has the dancers interpreting and reflecting the intricacies of its Bach score without parroting the music slavishly, or doing anything clichéd. The ballet is one of those rare and perfect marriages of music and movement.
The steps themselves are not all that difficult; after all, Balanchine only had students to work with at the time, and technique in general was nothing like as advanced as it later became. The ballet depends on other elements for its beauty and charm: its intense musicality and its inventive, complicated, and somewhat mathematical patterns.
“Concerto Barocco” has been performed by many dancers over the years. As with all ballet choreography, the quality of what the viewer sees—tone, feeling, emphasis, attack, beauty, pace—depends on the dancers of the hour, and not just their technique by any means. I plan to demonstrate that by cueing up the same short segment (about a minute and a half long) done at three different times by different casts so that you can compare and see what I’m talking about. I’m going to show them to you in reverse order of time, to show what we’ve gained and what we’ve lost.
But first here’s a short overview of the role of the corps, which is onstage for the entire 20 minutes of the ballet and dancing up a storm the whole time. Here’s just a little except (a bit over a minute) to show you what I mean, featuring a 2012 version done by the mother ship, the New York City Ballet. As the narrator says: “Hear the dance; see the music”:
Next we have the segment I’m using to compare different versions in different years. It features the two female soloists. I couldn’t find a recent New York City Ballet video that contains this particular passage, so I’ve used the following one, which showcases what appears to be the Paris Opera Ballet. I don’t have the year, but it seems fairly recent (two of the dancers have only very recently retired and one is still performing, so I’m guessing it’s some time between 2005 and 2015). It’s not atypical of the sort of thing you often see today. Here, the solo dancers emphasize their technique and a sort of twisted off-balance esthetic. I’m really not sure what’s going on in terms of what they’re trying to convey, but it’s my least favorite version of the three. I get a sense of strain, stress, and rush, and although they’re dancing on the music they don’t let it flow through them:
This next video is of the New York City Ballet, and it is exceptionally beautiful. It was made in 1966 (a bit blurry, but well worth bearing with that). It features one of the greatest dancers of all time, Suzanne Farrell, when she was 20 or 21 years old. Commentary is almost superfluous here, but I’ll just say that Farrell brings to this (as she brought to virtually all things she danced) a very rare spiritual quality and a spectacular technique that is masked by her exceptional fluidity of movement and her surpassing musicality. She is the second soloist to enter, from the right of your screen, the sweet Apollonian calm in the eye of the storm:
Lastly we have one of the ballet’s very earliest casts. This is Balanchine’s company the New York City Ballet again in 1951, just a few years after the ballet was created. Note the complete absence of strain. Nothing is forced, all is gentle, charming, restrained, and smooth as silk, and yet the movements remain clearly defined (particularly with Le Clercq):
[NOTE: If you want to watch the entire ballet instead of the short segments I’ve selected, just click on the YouTube logo for either the first or the second videos, or both, and you can watch it. Unfortunately, for the third segment, that’s all there is.]
Individual dignity. Individual diversity. A constellation of physical, mental, and character attributes adds a colorful flare to any production.
My goodness, thank you for this, especially the advice to “see the music.” That’s almost absent in your first example. And then the Balanchine comes in and you are in a different world of harmony and movement. Just lovely
I am not a ballet fan, but I marvel at the grace and athletic skills of the dancers.
Your literacy about dance is wonderful. Your generosity with that gift is remarkable and laudable.
In a perfect world you would require us all to appreciate at least a little of what dance means: we might then fight a lot less.
If neo says it is a masterpiece, then it must be.
I am fascinated by Neo’s fascination with ballet…the dancers, not the music.
I know a professional ballerina who retired at age 42; her last role was the lead in Nutcracker. Her feet have been basically destroyed (profound bunions) by the 3 decades she stood and danced on her big toes, almost daily in practice or performance. Plus the dietary rigors these women go thru…gaining a pound is not acceptable.
This is surely not uncommon for those few who are able to make ballet a paying career. We don’t hear about that, nor do we hear about sexual harassment of the young, slim, beautiful ballerinas-in-making. Their ballet masters are almost exclusively male, as far as I can tell, and older. Any Weinsteins there?
Knowing this, I prefer the music. Tchaikovsky by himself is sufficient!
Cicero:
In the dance world there’s a lot of discussion about anorexia as well as foot problems and other orthopedic problems. I touched on some of the physical abuse issues here.
As for the Weinsteins of the dance world, they tend to be a lot more attractive than Weinstein himself, but they exist. It’s pretty complicated, though, and I wrote a fairly lengthy post recently on the subject. See this.
My daughter mad on ballet. I did the dutiful dad thing and went to a concert last Saturday. I can tell you first hand that the girls who laser focus on dancing are wire-thin due to the effort it takes to stay in shape, not some sinister eating disorder. The top girls & boys are like marathon runners. And they eat steak! Watching them dance is somewhat entrancing, like watching a fire flicker.
powderburns:
I lived in the ballet world for decades, and I also taught ballet. Yes, some dancers are naturally thin. But some are not naturally thin at all, and many of those have eating disorders.
Eating disorders are quite rampant. Some people do not get thin despite tons of exercise, and the thinness required to be a dancer is extreme. See this, this, and this.
I’ll keep an eye out. My sister had anorexia, but she got better, sort of. Never meant to make light of it, just an observation.
I have been proper fasting, for two years. I always thought weight loss was 90% exercise. But in my befuddled old age I have discovered diet is most of it.
Like your work.
I did not read the post. I decided just to watch the vids as a news cleanse.
I watched the first after hearing what the ballerina said about how perfect it is. I wondered to myself, “Maybe it’s my lack of sophistication, but they do not seem to be with the music. They are a half a beat too late on everything and KLOMPING like today’s runway models.” This music pours right into the heart–and their dancing was annoying for missing the beat and being so pretentious about it Then I saw the next two vids. Then I read what Neo said. OK!
This is precisely why we come here to this blog – to see that we are not alone in being with the beat of the universe when so many of our contemporaries miss it.
Interesting videos, but heck, that is one challenging choice of music. Difficult even for Balanchine dancers, even Suzanne Farrell, to measure up to the Double Concerto (my own personal favorite of Bach’s). I see several others here had a similar response. Those in the first video seemed so off-pace I wondered if it were a video/audio recording issue, or even distance from the camera? Once heard a great timpanist describe how his position at the back of certain deep stages requires him to hit his beats a hair early so the sounds hit the violinists (and the audience) at the right moment. Hard for me even to imagine getting that right!
I appreciate that you have written about the negative aspects of ballet, Neo, but I missed them or do not recall them. I was also speaking about the broader world’s neglect of these. I don’t read most of your ballet pieces because ballet does not interest me.
I would only allow a son to play football if he wanted to punt or place-kick. Thus I would also veto a daughter’s desire to dance ballet.
Thanks very much for this – a breath of fresh air after being dragged through the sewers by the Dems.
In the 1951 clip I don’t think a single leg rose as high as in the other 2 clips. And the arms and the faces went along with the music.
Also the smaller stage (necessitated by early television?) actually improved the visual composition, which suits the music. In the other 2 clips the chorus groups were sort of out there in the void.
Sometimes with ballet videos the music is patched in later. That can make for a synchronization glitch. I have no idea whether it was done for any of these videos, though.
What a lovely palette cleanser from all the daily news! I read each of your ballet essays and forward them to my sister-in-law, who is a former dancer. And is also a big lib, so I’m hoping she may cruise around your site when she visits. 🙂
The last video is so effective to me because they look like they are almost creating a dance to just some music that is playing in a studio somewhere. It looks natural and flows so differently than the other videos. I know it is hard work and also hard work to make it look effortless. The contemporary dancers seem much more athletic (not in a horrible way), and the earlier dancers are just so skinny in their legs!
The dancers in the 1951 video look like they’re enjoying themselves.
That is the first time I had seen ballet set to Bach’s music. I couldn’t place the name of the piece- another commenter informed us it was Double Concerto- but I knew the music by heart.
Very graceful.