Why have so few effective narrative works been produced in recent years?

[Fonty]

I wouldn't call many of Wayne McGregor's offerings ballets either. 

[assoluta]

I wouldn't call many of Wayne McGregor's offerings ballets either. 

 

I wouldn't call any of Wayne McGregor's offerings ballets. I refer to them as 'pieces'.

[Bruce Wall]

I wouldn't call any of Wayne McGregor's offerings ballets. I refer to them as 'pieces'.

 

Perhaps - if the majority of his vast programme notes are to be trusted - might they not best be termed 'equations' ???   

[Beryl H]

He doesn't.  If anything, he calls them dansicals.

 

I can never pin Matthew Bourne's style down, it's interesting how good his more "classical" style is in The Red Shoes, lots of pointe shoe dancing, perhaps one day he will create what he calls a "ballet"

[Pas de Quatre]

What about the "ballet within a ballet" in his Swan Lake? The Royal family watch from a box on stage and you see what they are watching. Although a pastiche, the classical ballet is extremely well done.

[FLOSS]

There is no simple answer to this question and yet there seem to be plenty of people who are only too happy to tell us that what is wrong with ballet and, narrative ballet  in particular, is its reliance on a classical dance vocabulary which is several centuries old and that the problem would be solved if only young choreographers would jettison all that old fashioned danse d'ecole and embrace contemporary dance.

 

There are several problems with this solution.The first and most obvious is that you can't compensate for a lack of skill as a storyteller by creating or acquiring a new vocabulary.If you have nothing to say, you have nothing to say, whatever choreographic style you adopt.The second is the myth of the unchanging and inflexible nature of classical ballet. While the basics as taught in the classroom to each generation may not appear to have changed that much modifications have been made over the years by a number of major teachers.This has resulted in the existence of a number of training systems each of which has its unique approach to teaching classical dance. The Vaganova system is currently the dominant one.But it is the choreographer's skills rather than the dance style or the method of teaching which are being tested when a ballet is created  When creating a narrative work it is the choreographer's abilities as a storyteller,his capacity to create individual characters through movement with whom the audience engages, his mastery of his chosen dance vocabulary,his ability and willingness to adapt that vocabulary to his needs as a storyteller, his ingenuity and inventiveness in doing so, and his effective use of the score which determine whether or not a narrative ballet works as a piece of theatre. And isn't that the ultimate test of such a work? 

 

Some months ago I was talking to a friend at a performance of the Invitation who told me that the Invitation had come as a great relief to the powers that  be at the Royal Ballet at the time as there had been considerable concern,up to that point, about MacMillan's abilities as a storyteller. You can understand this when you compare him with Cranko who had a real facility as a storyteller. Something which MacMillan lacked. Of the six full length ballets which MacMillan created only three really work as effective narrative works the other three have major defects and while they may be dusted off occasionally, they are none of them likely to find a place in the permanent repertory however hard Lady MacMillan tries to persuade us otherwise.

 

It is only a few weeks since we saw the latest attempt to breathe life into MacMillan's three act Anastasia. I don't think that there was universal agreement that it was worth all the time and effort involved . For many people MacMillan's instant three act ballet does not work as he fails to convince them that the first two acts add anything of real worth to the third act which he had created in Berlin. At the time it may not have seemed as threadbare as it does now because by casting Rencher and Beriosova as the Tsar and Tsarina and requiring them to repeat the roles of Elgar and Lady Elgar he gave the characters an emotional depth which his own choreography failed to generate.The characters' emotional depth seemed to elude most of the dancers cast in those roles in the most recent revival.It might be helpful to remind ourselves that MacMillan was in his early forties and had been making ballets for something like eighteen years  when he created the three act Anastasia. He had already created Song of the Earth and his Romeo and Juliet and his other two failed story ballets lay in the future. He was not the great universal choreographic genius that some would have us believe he was. but then as Balanchine acknowledged when he said of Ashton and himself we may make bad ballets but we don't make boring ones, all choreographers make some bad ballets

 

It is against that background that I judge Scarlett's efforts as a choreographer, Making a three act ballet is an ambitious undertaking for a choreographer of any age. It is most unusual for someone of Scarlett's age to do so. I do not think that he should be treated leniently because of his youth or subject to heavy criticism because of his decision to use classical dance vocabulary. I don't think that Frankenstein is a complete failure as it has some very effective scenes. Its weaknesses are structural. Scarlett would have benefitted from editorial input to help him to identify those elements of the story which, however much he loves them,need to be cut because either they overstay their welcome or do not work in balletic terms. It will be interesting to find out what changes,if any, he makes for San Francisco. 

 

I don't think that the success of a narrative ballet depends on the choreographer's creation of an entirely new dance language which no one has seen before. What it does depend on is the choreographer choosing a story which is suitable for dance treatment and his/her ability to tell the story through dance.When it comes to the choreography it is the choreographer's ability to create characters,reveal their emotional states and describe incidents through dance which counts.With the exception of mime gestures the steps and positions codified in classical dance are similar to the letters of the alphabet in that they have no meaning in isolation from one another. They acquire the potential for meaning and communicative power when brought together and placed in a particular order in conjunction with the music by the choreographer. But even then, like the words written by a playwright, they only have the ability to communicate with the audience if the choreographer has selected movements appropriate to the characters and the situation they find themselves in. No one would say that a playwright working in Britain for an Anglophone audience would improve his/her chances of success if he/she wrote for that audience in Italian. So why do people think that a complete change of vocabulary is called for?

 

Great choreographers are great thieves who know who to steal from and when to do so and are not above snapping up unconsidered trifles from other dance genres when the need arises.As long as they make their borrowings their own no one will complain. I see no need to abandon the classical dance tradition because of a lack of really first rate choreographers but I do see the need for a bit more supportive oversight by those whose money is being spent. Sometimes you can be too close to the detail to see the overall effect of what you are doing. For example I think that the audience needed to know why the Creature behaved as he did and that if he had been given a proper entrance in act 2 we would have been aware of him as a brooding presence throughout the scene of celebration .

Edited December 15, 2016 by FLOSS

[Pas de Quatre]

Well said Floss.  All writers draw on the same vocabulary but use the same words differently.  Although some have invented new words/vocabulary it is not necessary to do so.  Likewise composers generally have the same notes at their disposal!  So while innovation in dance can be a breath of fresh air, an inspired ballet using traditional vocabulary is just as valuable. 

[Jan McNulty]

What about the "ballet within a ballet" in his Swan Lake? The Royal family watch from a box on stage and you see what they are watching. Although a pastiche, the classical ballet is extremely well done.

 

 

 

Just because there's a couple of minutes of pointe work it doesn't mean that the production is perceived as a "ballet production".  Matthew Bourne himself does not seem to see his works as "ballet productions".

 

What I do know about MB's works is that he has a knack of putting together terrific shows with very high production values and clear story telling.  Perhaps some of our more ballet-based choreographers could do with some mentoring from him!

[Pas de Quatre]

But many beautiful ballets do not include pointe work.  I wouldn't class MB as ballet, but he has shown he can use it.  I haven't seen Red Shoes yet.

[Colman]

What disqualifies MB as ballet, or at least being in the same tradition as ballet? 

[Pas de Quatre]

Personally I think he is very much in the tradition of ballet, but perhaps just calling his work ballet would give people unfamiliar with his work a wrong impression.  To me he has a breadth of vision, taking from classical ballet, contemporary & jazz depending on what serves his purpose.

Edited December 15, 2016 by Pas de Quatre

[Jan McNulty]

Personally I think he is very much in the tradition of ballet, but perhaps just calling his work ballet would give people unfamiliar with his work a wrong impression.  To me he has a breadth of vision, taking from classical ballet, contemporary & jazz depending on what serves his purpose.

I think MB disqualifies himself from ballet; he does not describe his works as ballets. I have seen him talk on this subject on a number of occasions.

[Colman]

I'm not sure that what he says, for whatever reason, matters to the question.

[DrewCo]

It might be helpful to remind ourselves that MacMillan was in his early forties and had been making ballets for something like eighteen years  when he created the three act Anastasia. He had already created Song of the Earth and his Romeo and Juliet and his other two failed story ballets lay in the future. He was not the great universal choreographic genius that some would have us believe he was. but then as Balanchine acknowledged when he said of Ashton and himself we may make bad ballets but we don't make boring ones, all choreographers make some bad ballets

 

I found your whole post very helpful, but wanted to throw in the exact quote from Balanchine -- at least as I have seen it -- because it has a slightly different twist:  "Mr. Ashton and I may make bad ballets, but we never make incompetent ballets."

 

For sure, all choreographers have their failures (whether interesting or boring).

[assoluta]

I found your whole post very helpful, but wanted to throw in the exact quote from Balanchine -- at least as I have seen it -- because it has a slightly different twist:  "Mr. Ashton and I may make bad ballets, but we never make incompetent ballets."

 

For sure, all choreographers have their failures (whether interesting or boring).

 

To paraphrase your own quote from Balanchine:

 

"all choreographers have their failures (whether competent or incompetent)."

[JohnS]

I've been thinking about Floss's post 105 above for some time and just wanted to add a few comments.

 

I always read Floss's posts with great interest and appreciate the deep knowledge and insight they bring to the Forum. I do wonder if some of the judgements made are a little harsh, particularly in relation to Anastasia and Frankenstein.

 

From Floss's post it seems clear that the three act Anastasia is considered by Floss to be one of Macmillan's 'failed story ballets'.

 

"Of the six full length ballets which MacMillan created only three really work as effective narrative works the other three have major defects ... when [MacMillan] created the three act Anastasia, he had already created Song of the Earth and his Romeo and Juliet and his other two failed story ballets lay in the future."

 

A number of eminent critics and several contributors to the Forum have argued that the thee act version works dramatically for them and that the first two acts do shed light on Act 3: the earlier acts provide an idealisation of what Anna imagines her life might have been like in Imperial Russia. The Tsar and Tsarina, her brother, sisters and Rasputin are all developed in the first two acts and so Act 3 becomes much more understandable in terms of many of the characters who appear. The film of the Imperial family at play, including skating, has also been presented on stage in the earlier acts, to my mind very effectively.

 

Floss refers to the Tsar and Tsarina being better developed because of parallels with Enigma Variations:

 

"At the time it may not have seemed as threadbare as it does now because by casting Rencher and Beriosova as the Tsar and Tsarina and requiring them to repeat the roles of Elgar and Lady Elgar he gave the characters an emotional depth which his own choreography failed to generate."

 

I'm afraid I haven't seen the 'Enigma Variations' ballet (I do hope it’s not too long a wait) but I find it hard to see how dancers playing roles in other ballets would generate as much tension as we saw on stage from Gary Avis, Kristen McNally, and others. I'm also not sure if Floss is suggesting that a triple bill which includes both Enigma Variations and the Act 3 Anastasia would be dramatically more coherent than the three act ballet. I don’t think this is what is being suggested as it’s surely only in the three act ballet that we can see the Tsar and Tsarina roles being fleshed out. But if we’re talking about Enigma Variations and the three act Anastasia being performed in broadly the same time frame (by Rencher and Beriosova), I do find it it a little difficult to see how this would add significantly to the dramatic tension in Anastasia.

 

Turning to ‘Frankenstein’, Floss states:

 

“I don't think that Frankenstein is a complete failure as it has some very effective scenes. Its weaknesses are structural. Scarlett would have benefitted from editorial input to help him to identify those elements of the story which, however much he loves them, need to be cut because either they overstay their welcome or do not work in balletic terms.…For example I think that the audience needed to know why the Creature behaved as he did and that if he had been given a proper entrance in Act 2 we would have been aware of him as a brooding presence throughout the scene of celebration.”

 

I am pleased that Floss found some scenes very effective. I thought it worked very effectively in the theatre and some scenes were indeed gripping. That isn’t to say that it wouldn’t benefit from some revisions. Like Floss I would welcome further development of the ballet, giving the Creature more prominence at the end of Act 1 and at the outset of Act 2. In addition I have some difficulty with Victor who in the ballet knows with complete certainty that the Creature has killed William (the Creature shows Victor William’s coat) but Victor does nothing to save Justine. Doesn’t it call out for a solo of absolute remorse? But these are minor and the thrust of Frankenstein is I find clear and dramatically convincing, including the effective story-telling in Act 1 which may not be particularly original but it is I think beautifully executed. The recent BBC broadcast underlined for me the narrative dynamic.

 

Given the above I do find it a bit harsh to describe the ballet (paraphrasing) as ‘not a complete failure’.

 

I don’t think much has been said of Christopher Wheeldon in the discussion on the dearth of successful narrative ballets to date. I would just say how much I have enjoyed Alice and Winter’s Tale and think these excellent narrative ballets, with memorable productions and performances by the Royal Ballet.

 

Apologies for the length of this post but I would just emphasise that for me the narrative ballets mentioned above have provided wonderful performances, at times giving that raw, gut wrenching experience that makes me want to return to these ballets again and again.

[Odyssey]

"I don’t think much has been said of Christopher Wheeldon in the discussion on the dearth of successful narrative ballets to date. I would just say how much I have enjoyed Alice and Winter’s Tale and think these excellent narrative ballets, with memorable productions and performances by the Royal Ballet."

I agree. For me the immediate future of the narrative ballet, as far as the Royal Ballet is concerned, rests with Wheeldon.