In her epilogue, Ms. Homans poses the question:”Is ballet really over?” It may seem odd to begin with the end, given that her extensive, highly detailed coverage of the evolution of classical ballet would suggest otherwise, for it is an art form populated by impassioned impresarios, insatiably driven dancers and choreographic geniuses.
However, when one reads her fascinating linear journey of classical ballet, which focuses on its European roots from the blended French/Italian court of Catherine de Medici through to the Sun King, Louis XIV, then spreading to Denmark, Italy, Russia, and Britain to finally culminate in the U.S. in the Russian-American mountain of genius, Balanchine, whose summit is beyond reach, one can see why she would ask such a question. But is she right?
Ballet as a Mirror to Society
Homans takes pains to dissect the art of ballet, an art with its feet delicately poised but firmly planted in aristocracy and deeply steeped in court etiquette. Or so it begins, and from the 16th century to the 21st, it both depicts and manifests the political and cultural landscape in which it flourishes or languishes, as the case may be.
Thus, for those who may like to think that classical ballet is a shallow art form involving tights, tutus and dancing on toe shoes to a trite story, Homans does a fabulous job of providing contexts that are wonderfully entertaining as well as edifying. There is much more to ballet than the The Nutcraker and Sleeping Beauty, though these are treated meticulously as well.
Classical ballet has its evolution and its methods - much like the world of music - such as la belle danse, ballet de cour and ballet d’action hailing from France, the Bournonville method in Denmark, the Cecchetti method arising in Italy, the Imperial ballet in Russia, the Royal Academy of Dance in the UK, and finally, the burst of creativity and change that would splinter and invigorate dance throughout North America – modern dance, contemporary ballet, the Broadway musical and ballet-jazz.
The spread of ballet throughout Europe – its revival and greatest manifestation in Russia through its dancers, choreographers and composers (many later transplanted to the United States) – takes its source from the premier city of style and fashion – Paris. The irony lies in the fact that although the French court radiated its art throughout Europe, ballet in France began to languish in the mid-19th century, that is, until its expat choreographers set aflame the Russian world of dance as that century came to a close.
The Shift from the Male to the Female
Women were only marginal actors in the early centuries of classical ballet. It was a form that exemplified the beauty of the male form, its power and masculine grace until it reached its apogee in the early 19th century in the danseur Auguste Vestris, who was then promptly supplanted by Marie Taglioni and her ethereal dance technique, especially as La Syphide. Since then, the spotlight has continued to focus primarily, though not exclusively, on the prima ballerina.
Until Taglioni, women dancers were regarded as morally compromised women, and some certainly were. Taglioni’s perceived virtue and her light-footed dancing perfectly meshed with idealized Romantic views on the feminine ideal. Unlike her precursors, she embodied what is decent and correct, thus moving away from the come-ons of lascivious dancers to the pristine purity of ballet as a movement towards spiritual heights. She was in fact, the first ballet superstar.
It was not until the 20th century that the male ballet dancer began to re-emerge through the likes of Nijinski, Nureyev and Baryshnikov. And it is no accident that the greatest dancers and teachers came from Russian stock – no nation has made ballet so inextricably linked to its national identity and so deeply loved as in Russia. And it is this love and vision and flawless technique that they took with them to America.
Balanchine and the End of the Road
Although George Balanchine was the product of Russia’s Imperial ballet, it was not until he stepped off the boat in New York that he finally breathed the air that allowed him to create to the full extent of his genius. Although his genius is undisputed, it is in the final chapters dealing with Balanchine, with whom Homans studied, that she seems to lose perspective, behaving like a giddy schoolgirl in the presence of greatness.
Homans’ all-consuming love for the master and his works, again meticulously scrutinized and given historical and sociological context, nevertheless verges on unabashed idol worship. Granted, it is easy to be awed by Balanchine’s gifts, especially when one has worked in the full rays of his genius. She credits him with giving ballet its tradition, and yet following his death, she bemoans what she perceives as a now-dying art, as though Balanchine’s “tradition” is but a house of cards blown away by mean-spirited death.
Although ballet was and is an ephemeral art, now made more permanent by modern technologies, it has persisted through five centuries of human history and cycles of intense interest and indifference. The 18th century dance critic Noverre, the 19th century choreographer Bournonville and now the 21st century ballet historian Homans have all lamented the downward spiral of ballet. Balanchine may well have seen it coming by saying “Après moi, le board”, but after the ‘board”, surely, will come a renewal, as all art is eventually renewed. Is ballet really over? This reader thinks not!
Bibliography
Homans, Jennifer, Apollo's Angels: A History of Ballet, Random House, NY, 2010.
Sylvie Nantais - My love of words began by the age of three. I hung around my siblings and learned to read before I even began school. I started writing ...
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