Category: Ballet

Ballet originated in the Italian Renaissance courts of the 15th century. Noblemen and women were treated to lavish events, especially wedding celebrations, where dancing and music created an elaborate spectacle. Dancing masters taught the steps to the nobility, and the court participated in the performances. Terms like ballet and ball stem from the Italian word ‘ballare,’ which means ‘to dance.’ By 1661, a dance academy had opened in Paris, and in 1681 ballet moved from the courts to the stage. Early classical ballets such as Giselle and La Sylphide were created during the Romantic Movement in the first half of the 19th century. This movement influenced art, music, and ballet. It was concerned with the supernatural world of spirits and magic and often showed women as passive and fragile.

Ballet has always been a very controversial art and sport. A lot of people argue that it is not a sport, One side of the argument claimed that ballet was not a sport because it didn’t contain a winner and a loser. It didn’t depend on competitiveness and measurable achievements. The other side of the disagreement reasoned that ballet deserves the title of ‘sport’ because of its close to impossible physical expectations and the passion of dancers. I personally believe ballet is a sport. In my opinion, ballet is one of the hardest and most competitive sports to be a part of and train for. Ballet is so physically and mentally demanding it puts a lot of pressure on the athletes therefore a lot of people do not make it as professionals. Many factors can affect your training as a dancer, especially in ballet. Factors like injuries, your physique, your hair color, your skin color, and your height. This can be very challenging for many dancers as no matter what training or practice you’ve had when you take part in an audition or want to be a part of a company if you are too tall or too small for their height requirements you may simply not get the job or even be allowed to audition because you are not what they are looking for. This can be really tough because the height and size of your body can be extremely difficult to change.

The race has been a huge fight in ballet. Many professional dancers feel they have been victimized and discriminated against them in their training and working career due to the color of their skin. Ballerina Chloe Lopes Gomes accuses a ballet mistress at the Berlin State Ballet of racism. She sees herself as a victim of so-called white facing. Ms. Gomes only joined the company in 2018 as the first and only to date black member. This is astonishing to see now in 2020 that the majority or most of the cast and ensemble of dancers are mainly white dancers. Here is an extract from www.dw.com a news and media site that interview the dancer. During those two and a half years, I was under the supervision of a ballet mistress who said that ballet should not take me because I am Black and a woman of color in a ‘corps de ballet’ is something that is not aesthetic, not homogeneous,’ Lopes Gomes told DW. ‘She made racist jokes and comments.’ The ballet mistress is said to have repeatedly racially discriminated against her, for instance, by demanding that Lopes Gomes apply white makeup for Tchaikovsky’s ballet Swan Lake. This is a very explosive topic since white facing or making people of color wear make-up to give them the impression that they look or are white violates the ballet house policy under former artistic director Johannes Ahman as other people of color also dance in the company. After Ahman left the Berlin State Ballet in December 2019, however, the ballet mistress reportedly demanded that Lopes Gomes do just that. Ms. Gomes said ‘I felt very humiliated, but above all, I was very surprised that she felt no fear of being punished,’. This is appalling and makes ballet very controversial and unappealing. This is only one of the thousands of incidents that have happened to black dancers. Fortunately, ballet has been progressing and moving in the correct direction in all of these factors.

In 2020 a variety of advertisements were produced and shown on British tv screens that revealed a new reflection of ballet. Amazon delivered an advert that described the show must go on. The advert was approximately 2 minutes long and was about a young female black ballet dancer aged 16-18. The advertisement consists of the young girl being chosen for the lead of her school production that later in the advert gets canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic. Throughout the advertisement, it reveals the girl at home and rehearsing for the show in her home. In the end, she does a performance outside, using some amazon products. This is a huge revaluation for the performing and ballet world because amazon is such a huge company with a very wide audience. That broadcasts on huge quantities of screens, targeting different groups of people and reflecting the diversity of the art well. A report and review by the sun newspaper illustrated the advert’s content and headings. Simon Morris, vice president of global creative at Amazon, said: ‘Our TV ad is inspired by, and pays tribute to, the unbeatable human spirit and the power of community that we have witnessed so often this year.’ Whereas Ta’s Vinolo added: ‘When I was growing up in the French countryside, there were no young black girls studying ballet with hair like mine, or even on TV, meaning I had no one to identify myself with. ‘Being on this shoot helped so much with this, enabling me to own who I really am, who I want to be, and what I represent. I am so proud to have been part of this project since the message of it means a lot to me and even more so in this very difficult time that the world is going through. These comments and quotes show a huge impact to a wide audience that the industry is changing and becoming better and rightfully so more diverse.

Despite there being a huge development in ballet as a race there are still many male and female dancers and artists that feel discriminated against in ballet’s society. There is a video I discovered on YouTube named the uncomfortable truth of being a black ballerina published on the 13th of November 2020. The dancer named Marie-Astrid Mence has been a member of ballet black since 2014-a seminal dance company formed of black and Asian performers who astound audiences with displays of balletic beauty and power. In this documentary profile, Mence narrates the uncomfortable truth of her life as a ballerina and her struggles in the industry that fails to see past her skin color. She speaks about pointe shoes and how they are specifically designed to match your skin tone, to extend your leg line. She commented I find it funny and wonder why they never match mine. This comment itself is just astonishing. So many other products and everyday objects have been corrected for people with darker skin. For example foundation. Foundation was a huge topic that had a lot of controversies because almost every makeup brand only ever supplied a very short and limited amount of dark foundation; however, this has changed so why haven’t pointe shoes?

As a performer myself and someone who has always admired ballet as an art form and a sport, these news articles and reviews are exceptionally challenging to read and hear. Ballet and dance as a whole should be inclusive and a movement that you are proud to be a part of, not something that has a nasty backside too. I am hopeful that this will improve relatively quickly additionally I believe with the upcoming black lives matter movement could help impact the ballet community. Race should have nothing to do with any sport. There have been several huge changes and occurrences that have impacted this but it is now moving in the correct direction.

Since the first development of Ballet in the 1500s with the Italian renaissance or the first traveling company with Sergei Diaghilev the levels of diversity in ballet and well known dance companies/productions [modern day] have been extremely low and have completely lack in producing a more diverse ballet company. Misty Copeland is one of the very first African-American/Black ballet dancer at the American ballet dance company, said in her interview with CNN, “The ballet world doesn’t really celebrate or have women of color,”(South China Morning Post) . The quote signifies the under the surface “highlighted” racism that can still occur in the prima ballerina profession. Misty Copeland talks more about her [ interview with CNN] that there would be times companies and teachers would judge her verbally and/or through communicative gestures that she did not simply “fit”. Some of theses comments that were made here were she did not have the right body type and even that some of her certain features did not match the tone of a professional ballerina. In a more symbolic way theses all mask a level of hidden racism and expectation still in some of the ballet schools and companies.

In 1990 Lauren Anderson, A famous dancer for the Huston Ballet, was among one of the very first African-American/Black principal Ballerina. Lauren Anderson is known especially for her role in the dance/choreography of Cleopatra, which Lauren Anderson got high recognition, Lauren has also worked with George Balanchine, a famous choreographer. The most important part of lauren career in ballet is the first african american/black prima ballerina, she also got to be the lead in a lot of the performances at this ballet company. Another really influential prima ballerina is Raven Wilkinson (also is misty copeland’s mentor). Back in the 1950s Raven was The very first black woman to dance [as a soloist] in the biggest classical ballet companies, Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo and the Dutch National ballet. Raven Wilkinson faced many obstacles as a ballerina, She would often be looked down upon many ballet goers because had already a depicted opinion of what African Americans are labeled as, poor speech, not well dressed, too poor to participate in certain activities (like ballet). Raven Wilkinson was often was told to say she was of spanish background since she was a lighter skin black/african american but, raven constantly expressed that she never wants to hide her identity because it is apart of her and is should not get in the way of her doing ballet. Raven Wilkinson and Lauren Anderson were some of the most influential and noteworthy women of color to affect the ballet community by being the first to join a racial controversial sport like ballet and influence many other women and men to join ballet.

In Pointe Magazine they write about the drastic differences between the demographics from ballet dancers from a white/european background and other minority surrounding backgrounds (african american/black, Hispanic/latino, Pacific Islander, Middle eastern, Native American, and Asian background), “ Racial demographics in the U.S. have changed dramatically in the past three decades. Hispanics, who made up just 6.45 percent of the population in 1980, made up 16.3 percent by 2010. The African-American population has increased from 11.52 percent to 12.6 percent; whites are expected to no longer make up a majority by 2043. Dorothy Gunther Pugh, the artistic director of Ballet Memphis, Of Ballet Memphis’ 19 dancers, 4 are black, 2 are Asian, 11 are white and 2 are Hispanic. “Diversity in ballet is not only a big issue for african american background dancers but for many other dancers in other backgrounds” (Carman, Joseph). This quote is especially important because It gives a visual and statistical representation of how demographics in dance companies do not have an even or closely distributed amount of diversity in their dancers.

There are many factors that contribute to why modern day dance companies are still not as quite diverse. It contributes racial barriers, Income status social hierarchs, and other “ridiculous” factors that can inhibit people of color. In an article by USA Today a highly influential organization helps influence diversity in ballet companies, Since many dances who are minorities are thrown into the dancing world with very few role models and helpful tools in the dance world many few company directors have gone lengths to influence a higher level diversity [in ballet] by attending auditions, reaching out to smaller and bigger dance schools, and much more. A lot of this coordination is developed by the (IABD) The International Association of Blacks in Dance.

Ways to minimize the lack of diversity in ballet is for the ballet community (companies and schools) to have a complete rethink and reinvention of what ballet should mean to each community, There should be a bigger diversity training in ballet schools, especially for today’s youth which can later on add an updated all version of ballet. Minorities today should know if they want to participate and make it in ballet, you need to find something in it that mean a lot to you, not have to focus or setbacks and the thought of “never been done before” or “the impossible”. Ballet is an extremely influential art, It has been and impact in history across the world, and should be looked at for its art and many forms of dance taken from culture/traditions and even life situations and not by who of what racial background has a better “look” to fit. I personally believe, just like Eric underwood, a professional ballet dancer, believes that the world of ballet can not change in diversity overnight or just by one person.

Introduction

Modern dance is a style of dance that developed as a reaction to the strict rules that defined ballet. Historically, modern dance began as free-form style lyrical ballet among a community of professional ballet dancers who refused to stop dancing. Isadora Duncan and Ruth St. Denis promoted modern dance as a way of continuing their dance careers, according to their biographies. The first modern dances choreographed required no dancing en pointe or rigid adherence to ballet movement.

As a dance form reacting to the constraints and formality of ballet, a modern dance developed through the ideals of 20th-century America, such as democracy, social protest, and individuality, disregarding the strict aristocratic roots and conformity from which ballet emerged. This changed the language of dance choreography and the way that dances developed. Modern dance is built on the concept of rawness. It focuses on the dancer’s strong relationship with the floor, methods of contractions, release, and movement, and the connectivity of breath.

Modern can be performed in bare feet, or with a half-sole style shoe that will allow freedom in the foot while providing protection from the floor. Though developed out of the distaste for classical ballet, modern and ballet are closely linked in the complexity of technique, coordination, and musicality. The syllabus for modern dance originates from the ballet movement. The difference is that today’s modern dance is infused with contemporary interpretive movements. In some respects, this is a return to the most primitive dance techniques where the body moves instinctively and improvisationally.

Many modern dancers ‘feel’ their movements outside of their physical bodies. This technique helps these dancers expand their skills. Modern dance groups today are a microcosm of visual art created in dance. The audience sees what modern dancers feel and is inspired. During modern dance performances, audiences enter the dance and the dance theme with dancers through optical dance staging. A good example of this is found in Micaela diPauli’s Fire Modern Dance solo. It is powerfully interpretive with full dramatic nuances.

Contemporary dance

Contemporary dance is a dance performance genre that developed during the mid-twentieth century and has since grown to become one of the dominant genres for formally trained dancers throughout the world, with particularly strong popularity in the U.S. and Europe. Although originally formed by borrowing from classical, modern, and jazz styles, it has come to incorporate elements from many styles of dance.

In terms of the focus of its technique, contemporary dance tends to combine the strong and controlled legwork of ballet with modern dance’s stress on the torso, and also employs contract-release, floor work, fall and recovery, and improvisation characteristic of modern dance. Unpredictable changes in rhythm, speed, and direction are often used, as well. It sometimes also incorporates elements of non-western dance cultures such as elements from African dance including bent knees, or movements from the Japanese contemporary dance Butoh.

Dance techniques and movement philosophies employed in contemporary dance may include Contemporary ballet, Dance improvisation, Modern dance styles from the United States such as Graham technique, Humphrey-Weidman technique and Horton technique, Modern dance of Europe Bartenieff Fundamentals, and the dance technique of Isadora Duncan.

Contemporary dancers train using contemporary dance techniques as well as non-dance-related practices such as Pilates, Yoga, the acting practice of Corporeal mime – Étienne Decroux technique, and somatic practices such as Alexander technique, Feldenkrais Method, Sullivan Technique, and Franklin-Methode, American contemporary techniques such as José Limón technique and Hawkins technique and Postmodern dance techniques such as Contact improvisation and Cunningham technique, and Release technique.

Contemporary ballet

Contemporary ballet is a genre of dance that incorporates elements of classical ballet and modern dance. It employs classical ballet technique and in many cases classical pointe technique as well, but allows a greater range of movement of the upper body and is not constrained to the rigorously defined body lines and forms found in traditional, classical ballet. Many of its attributes come from the ideas and innovations of 20th-century modern dance, including floor work and turn-in of the legs. Modern Dance is related to ballet, but aims at different types of performance, instead of classical ballet. Many of its dancers have been trained in ballet, and modern dance companies are rather similar to ballet companies.

Modern Dance was developed in the 20th century, mainly in the United States and Germany. In the early 1900s, several female dancers began rebelling against the strict rules of classical ballet. The pioneers of Modern Dance in the United States were Isadora Duncan, Loie Fuller, Ruth St. Denis, and Martha Graham. George Balanchine is often considered to have been the first pioneer of contemporary ballet. The style of dance he developed, which lies between classical ballet and today’s contemporary ballet, is known as neoclassical ballet.

Conclusion

The future of modern dance appears to be venturing into new spatial realms as it develops from a standard dance technique to a futuristic dance drama. Note that a modern dance trio can create a defined pattern with the adagio and soloist enhancing the dance theme. The choreography may include aerial movements, using weight sharing and supporting balance for adagio, as well as a solo that exemplifies iconic free-style modern dance. Creative thinking skills are developed through dance, as well as learning the value of discipline, commitment, and work ethic. Self-confidence develops as young people overcome the challenges to master new goals, learning to apply themselves and accomplish any task put before them. Moreover, dancers will work on creating shapes and movements through imagination and exploration. This is beneficial to all aspects of life, creating endless opportunities for future development

Dance teaches people about music, rhythm, and beat. They also have a better understanding of spatial relationships and learn to think with both sides of their brain. Besides, dancing keeps you fit. It teaches the importance of movement and fitness in a variety of ways through a variety of disciplines. As well, dancers learn to coordinate muscles to move through proper positions. Dancing is a great activity to pursue at almost any age provided you are in proper health to handle the rigors of dancing for life.

Impact of Ballet on Human’s Body

As the body extends, movements expressing each feeling are shown. Dancing is one of the forms of art that allows a person to express his/her creativeness through his/her body movements. It is something that is free and fun but at the same time powerful. According to the Department of Health & Human Services, State Government of Victoria, Australia (2013), dance is a popular recreational activity that can be done by an individual, partners, and groups. It has different types which are ballet, hip-hop, jazz, ballroom dancing, belly dancing, tap dancing, salsa, square dancing, and pole dancing. Ballet is a classical way of dancing that is performed in the theatre that uses costumes, props, and also pointe shoes that lets the dancers stand on the tip of their toes (Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre, n.d., para _). Ballet just like any other type of dance has a combination of music and movements, yet it involves things such as lighting and costumes that make the performance more dramatic and sensational (King, 2016, para 2). All types of dance cater to different movements, techniques, and methods but it all gives people satisfaction through seeing the power, passion, talent, and hope of the dancers to be heard. Ballet despite being a wonderful form of art, there are factors that not just the professional dancers, but also future dancers should be aware of.

The ballet world lets us see more of a disciplined, yet magical way of dance that tells us a story through the techniques that are shown (King, 2016, para 1). Ballet dancers do not bring us ballet mainly by its choreography, but by telling us about its history (Bedinghaus, 2019, para 7). In the previous centuries, ballet was performed at celebrations such as weddings and extravagant events mainly for elites. Then, the community grew when it was funded and supported by an Italian Noblewoman which is Catherine de Medici, and when King Louis XIV transformed ballet from a hobby into a training. In the 19th century, ballet became a movement for romantic acts such as courting. And as of the 20th Century, ballet is now performed in a refined version of classical ballet which is called neo-classical ballet (PBT, n.d.). Ballet introduces many techniques but the most dominant right now is the Russian ballet. In the history of ballet, the Russian and American ballet greatly contributes to the expansion of neo-classical ballet (Bedinghaus, 2019, para 6). As they are a refined version of the classical form, the Russian ballet has the touch of the Russian traditional folk dance (Kent, n.d.). While the American ballet all started with George Balanchine and Lincoln Kirstein who started the School of American Ballet in New York City which provides training that focuses on classicism (School of American Ballet, 2019). The Russian ballet is known for its technique which is the Vaganova Method. It is a method by Agrippina Vaganova which has a strict system that gives a clean and rich movement that is still evolving as of today. However, if the instructor or coach does not teach it very well, it can lead to injuries. Meaning to say, the Vaganova method is a very disciplined technique that aims to perfect the new poses and aims to have continuous growth throughout its process (International Ballet Summer Workshop Estonia, n.d., para 5-7). Meanwhile, the Balanchine method by George Balanchine is the opposite of the Vaganova method. It is a method that disrupts the rhythm of the music creating a bouncy, energetic, and jazzy performance (Lukens, 2003, para 3-4). On the contrary, it only offers in developing the strength and control of the dancer(IBSWE, n.d., para 10-11). Thus, this method aims in portraying a more independent movement.

Dancing requires the movement of the whole body. As the ballet dancers extend their movements, their bones and muscles are stretched, but it is not the only effect of ballet on the body. In ballet, there is a discipline in weight because the lower the body fat of a dancer, the higher the quality of the performance can be. On the contrary, ballet dancers are having menstrual cycle disorders, particularly amenorrhea with 20%, and oligomenorrhea with 10%. In addition, ballet cancers have a later occurrence of menstruation and have an irregular menstrual cycle that lasts longer than 30 to 60 days (Stokić, E., Srdić, B., & Barak, O., 2005). On the other hand, ballet dancers are required to have a proper diet that can boost their stamina which includes the intake of calcium, vitamin D, and fibers due to its intensive training. However, it affects the health of the dancer. Due to the strict requirement and pieces of training, there is a higher prevalence of eating disorders in ballet dancers with an estimate of 83%, and anorexia nervosa (Ringham, et. al., 2006, p. 503-505). Ballet may look like it is relaxing and therapeutic, but circumstances are not good for the body of the dancer as it makes them prone to having both eating disorders and menstrual cycle disorders, particularly for female dancers.

Over the years, ballet was under continuous debate about whether it is a sport or not. A sport or not, ballet dancers are somehow like athletes. For athletes as well as dancers, their feet, ankles, or legs are one of the foundations of their careers. Once it was damaged, it can greatly affect or impact an individual’s performance (Ackiewicz, 2015, para _). Dancers need to ensure that their ankles can withstand the stress of balancing their bodies. Also, in ballet, dancers use a specific shoe called the pointe shoes that allow them to stand through the tip of their toes.