Ballet Beyond Tradition

Anna Paskevska

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2005
• eBook ISBN: 9781135878795
• Topic: Media & Performing Arts
• Subtopic: Music

For nearly a century, the training of ballet and modern dancers has followed two divergent paths. Modern practitioners felt ballet was artificial and injurious to the body; ballet teachers felt that modern dancers lacked the rigorous discipline and control that comes only from years of progressive training.

Ballet Beyond Tradition seeks to reconcile these age-old conflicts and bring a new awareness to ballet teachers of the importance of a holistic training regimen that draws on the best that modern dance and movement-studies offers.

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Moving Beyond Tradition

1
INTRODUCTION

All dance forms use the body as the instrument. All require flexibility, strength, control, awareness of intent and meaning, kinetic energy, and musicality or rhythmic awareness. The body in motion obeys physical laws, thus, moving efficiently through space is dependent upon a recognition and understanding of the forces, both within and without, acting on the body. This work explores ballet technique from the perspective of consciously understanding these forces by analyzing and discussing concepts used in modern dance as they relate to the balletic vocabulary. These concepts offer the opportunity to think of the technique in different terms, to change the words and ideas used to impart the intent of the technique, and to encourage students to perceive movement from a deeper and truer (in terms of the physicality of the technique) perspective.

I have chosen The Illustrated Technique of José Limón by Daniel Lewis (1984) as a paradigm of modern dance technique, because the concepts Lewis discusses precede the many applications that have emerged in the postmodern era yet, they remain inevitable features of motion. No matter what style of modern technique is practiced, all address the same basic concerns:

1. Moving from the center

2. Distribution and use of weight and the sister concepts of fall, recovery, and rebound

3. Isolation of parts and the relation of parts to the whole

4. Opposition to create breadth and balance

5. Suspension as it manifests in phrasing

6. Succession to guide in the use of transitions

7. Potential and kinetic energy as they impact dynamics

These terms may not all be part of the lexicon of contemporary choreographers, nevertheless in practice the qualities they suggest are inescapable part of motions. For example, weight, suspension, and opposition are certainly features in Release technique.¹ We can readily recognize the use of potential and kinetic energy in the works of Paul Taylor, Bill T. Jones, or Lucinda Childs, among others. I would further suggest that all dance disciplines share the same concerns and emphasize one or another feature of the human movement potential through the aesthetic they espouse. My aesthetic was formed by the Western theatrical traditions and it is from that foundation that I relate the concepts of modern dance to ballet practice.

Many dancers draw on somatic and body/mind techniques in their training. The term “somatics” can be broadly defined as the body perceived from within, that is, a subjective apprehension of the effect of movement on one’s body. In this sense, this book approaches ballet technique from the perspective of a personal experience, but a personal experience that manifests itself within an established aesthetic. There are a plethora of somatic techniques that are available as resources for dancers—including yoga, Pilates, Alexander Technique, Bartenieff Fundamentals, Body Mind Centering™, Feldenkrais, and the work of Irene Dowd and Eric Noel Franklin in Ideokinetics—the concepts underlying the Limón technique are most applicable to my purpose because they deal with quality of motion as contrasted with neuromuscular repatterning, which concentrates on alignment, freedom of the joints, and flexibility. I am far from dismissing the “mechanics” of motion, as there can be no quality without correct usage of the body, but while I address correct usage, the emphasis of this work is on quality and nuance, and presupposes a thorough knowledge of ballet technique.

While using the Limón definitions for the concepts to be discussed in depth, I will refer to the various somatic approaches and styles that are practiced in modern dance today as they become relevant to the subject. My intention in this choice is to avoid the stylistic differences both in the classical and the modern idioms. It could be said that I aim to deconstruct the forms, and address the usage of the motions in their sparest manifestation.²

It is precisely because ballet training is so focused on the practice of a specific physical vocabulary that the quality and dynamics of the movements can be somewhat obscured. In this context, the Limón concepts point the way to reconnect ballet training to a more thoughtful physicality because they address the quality of the gesture yet, when understood as concepts, can be abstracted and even modified from their specific stylistic application, and therefore serve more directly our understanding of ballet technique. These concepts can enhance the experience of learning and of performing ballet; and guide us back to a discovery of the intent of the vocabulary and the physical roots of the movement: These roots are firmly embedded in human movement potential and the way the body interacts with its environment, yet this physical aspect of the classical technique becomes too often buried under a veneer of stylistic idiosyncrasies.

Ballet has been evolving for about three centuries. In that time, it has had the opportunity to develop rules and regulations necessary to support its aesthetic, the use of turn-out foremost among its distinguishing features. Terminology arose out of a need to name the movement performed. Terminology is a shortcut, a system of symbols that facilitates communication. But it can also serve to create distance between the meaning and the physical gesture. In a studio populated by non-French speaking students, ballet terminology loses some of its impact. For example, fondu meaning to melt, in no way gives a clue about the actual movement, but instead indicates its mood: melting, yielding, soft with some resilience (like taffy).

Typically, ballet terminology describes the quality of a movement and not its mechanics. But when the name of the step only conjures up the shape and surface muscular manipulation of the body (which is the almost inevitable result of learning by imitation and rote), the dancer performing it is likely to overlook the support of the inner musculature, and the roles gravity and contact with the floor play in motion. Furthermore, the quality, motivation, and underlying dynamics of the movement are obscured rather than illuminated. The dancer performs the movements without comprehending their significance. It could be said that dogma separates us from real experience.

Although modern dance uses some ballet terminology, it has also developed a language of its own. Like the original intention of naming ballet steps to describe a quality of moving, modern dance terminology addresses basic physical responses and also conveys the concept governing motions. In many instances, it abstracts the concept from a particular movement and allows it to serve different applications. For example, both the Graham and Cunningham techniques (among others) utilize the contraction, but the movement itself is quite different in each technique, although both involve the spine. Concepts are sign posts. They point the way back to the source of movement and provide dancers with the means to address the forces underlying specific movements. Concepts guide dancers in the understanding of dynamics, effort, motivation, and the relationship of the body as it occupies and defines the space in which it moves. These concepts are fundamental to human locomotor activities, and as such are relevant to ballet technique as much as to modern dance.

A standard question directed at teachers is “What kind of ballet do you teach?” If the teacher can claim an affiliation with a well-known choreographer or a respected school, their legitimacy is established. The question also suggests that there is a perception of basic differences that distinguish one form of training from another. But, in a conversation at the Royal Ballet School in 1981, Sulamith Messerer, a prominent master from Russia, remarked, “There are no trends in ballet. There is good ballet and bad ballet, that is all.” By this statement, Messerer acknowledged the innate wisdom of the technique, and the universality of the precepts that govern its execution. Stylistic differences cannot be denied, but they primarily serve to emphasize the range of application and interpretation possible within the canon of the art form. When the interpretation is in harmony with physical laws, it advances the technique and is “good” ballet; when it does not recognize the principles of motion, the dancer’s subjective experience, and thereby execution of the vocabulary is undermined, and it is “bad” ballet.

The evolution of ballet is furthered through time by the imagination and creativity of choreographers. They modify and stretch the prevalent methods to serve their vision in the choreographic field. Their achievements demonstrate how the technique can be used but do not, initially at least, constitute a training method. For example, it would be rather silly to call the movements that Nijinsky used in L’Après Midi d’un Faune a technique.

Inasmuch as the role of teachers is to prepare dancers for the field, training methods at higher levels generally keep pace with specific choreographic demands. For example, most major companies have schools where they hone their students in a chosen style. This is necessitated by the fact that in the United States there are no state schools as in Russia, England, or France, where students are trained within a homogeneous aesthetic. Thus, here the focus on a specific style typically occurs after a base technique has been established. Therefore, the initial years of preparation address, or should address, the establishment of basic technical skills that include building the appropriate musculature through the repetition of the vocabulary. In other words, at the early stages, establishing basic technical skills takes precedence over stylistic considerations. (The early stages of training refer to young children as well as college students who experience dance for the first time.) Furthermore, basic skills continue to support dancers’ performance even at the most advanced stages.

Within “basic skills,” I would include the correct anatomical alignment that provides the foundation for correct usage of the joints, including turn-out; and a knowledge and clean execution of the steps and positions of the classical vocabulary as defined by the danse d’école (the academic school style of classical ballet first formulated by Beauchamp). This knowledge encompasses the correct placement of the head, and the arms, and the inherent dynamics of individual steps (as well as their usage in enchaînements). Keeping in mind Messerer’s statement when considering “correctness;” a movement is performed correctly when it is in harmony with the physical laws of motion as they apply to the body.

There are three aspects to dance training:

1. The physics of movement, which relates to human potential for motion and addresses the acquisition of technique.

2. The mechanics of movement, which addresses the acquisition of vocabulary.

3. The aesthetic that shapes the gesture.

In the moment when inside motivation encounters outside forces, the two meld into an inseparable entity, resulting in an intentional and meaningful gesture. This gesture, carried out by the muscles moving the bones, is guided by the mind that understands the concepts and by the brain that controls the motion. The ability to engage in meaningful and intentional gesture presupposes a base vocabulary that is acquired through training.

The ballet class serves many purposes. First, it instills motion patterns and encourages the formation of a musculature that is in harmony with the goals of the broad classical aesthetic, i.e., turn-out and carriage of the upper body. Once the fundamental movements have been integrated, the emphasis shifts to combining steps in ways that challenge the dancer to experience weight adjustments and transference, maximize their potential flexibility, and hone their expressiveness, musicality, and phrasing. We often equate “advanced” with “complex;” thus many steps strung together and performed at a fast tempo are thought to be more “advanced” than fewer steps at a slower tempo. But an advanced execution of the vocabulary also, and for me rather, manifests in the ability to address a greater number of details within any step or combination. Thus, a simple combination that allows attention to detail can teach more than a complex one performed sloppily.

For professional dancers, the class affords an opportunity to reconnect with the foundation of their strength and to address any compensation, shortcuts, or idiosyncratic use of the body, that may have arisen in performance of the choreographic repertory. This is not only essential for dancers who are in companies that have an eclectic repertory, but also for those who have a classically based repertory. Contemporary ballet choreography, as well as the eclectic repertoire of many ballet companies, often challenges the limits of our physicality; to meet these demands, dancers may resort to “cheating” on stage, and need to return to an honest execution of the vocabulary when in class to enable them to cheat again, credibly and with a plomb in the next performance! But flippancy aside, returning to correctness is also a return to basic precepts that ensures that the motions are performed from an anatomically correct base, and thus has the added benefit of prolonging life in the dance by keeping the dancer healthy and free of injury. Thus, an advanced class will generally address the same considerations as those covered in an intermediate class.

The goal of this book is to broaden the base from which ballet is taught and to encourage the recognition that the steps of the technique are manifestations of the principles that underlie motion. Furthermore, the aesthetic of ballet is inherently part of the technical aspects of the form, i.e., any position relies on physical factors for the manifestation of the aesthetic quality. Any discussion of movement implicitly includes the physical factors that make it possible, and the aesthetic consideration that guide its execution. The modern dance concepts discussed in this work are abstracted to address the quality inherent in the movements of the classical technique.

Chapter 2 offers a brief historical look at the development of dance from both the choreographic and the training perspectives. Subsequently, the Limón concepts are explored in terms of their relevance to ballet technique. In the third part of this work, the concepts are illustrated by applying them to the practice of the ballet vocabulary within the structure of a class.

This book is written with the dance student and the dance teacher, in studios and at universities, in mind. This includes people who are curious about their craft, want to understand the body better, and who are willing to entertain the idea that all dance denominations share certain fundamental truths, and that dance—not ballet, modern, or other forms—but dance itself is the domain in which dancers dwell.

SUGGESTED USES FOR THIS BOOK

There are several considerations that are addressed when giving a class. Although they may appear obvious to most, if not all, of the readers, they nevertheless need to be stated.

First and foremost, the class is about what dancers in that class need to know and practice. Therefore, the teacher is always guided in the practic...

Table of contents

• CONTENTS
• ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
• FOREWORD
• 1 Moving Beyond Tradition
• 2 The Concepts
• 3 The Practice
• GLOSSARY
• NOTES
• BIBLIOGRAPHY
• INDEX