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What Is Classical Ballet?


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I have been thinking about this (not for the first time!) since the awards nominations were announced a couple of days ago.  I was particularly interested to see the nominations for Outstanding Female Classical Performance, wherein The Cellist and Five Brahms Waltzes were in the same category as Giselle and Sleeping Beauty.  Stylistically, I would never put them together.  Of course, classical ballet is the rock around which the rest of it revolves, but would you consider The Cellist and Brahms as classical ballet?  What is the criteria?  Perhaps some of you folks who are much more knowledgeable than I am regarding technique can explain the differences to me...over to you!

 

OUTSTANDING FEMALE CLASSICAL PERFORMANCE

Begoña Cao in Five Brahms Waltzes in the Manner of Isadora Duncan (Viviana Durante Company) 

Lauren Cuthbertson in The Cellist (The Royal Ballet)

Momoko Hirata in the title role as Giselle (Birmingham Royal Ballet) 

Fumi Kaneko as Aurora in The Sleeping Beauty (The Royal Ballet) 

Beatriz Stix-Brunel in The Cellist  (The Royal Ballet)

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Well that is an interesting topic Sim!

 

I'm sure that there are people far more qualified than me to comment but there are now so many styles of ballet should they all be sub-divided into different categories or kept more generically together.  I think perhaps what binds them all together is pointe shoes (although not all classical ballets require the use of pointe shoes).

 

I would class Giselle as romantic ballet and Sleeping Beauty as classical ballet.

 

I would put, for example, Bournonville in the romantic ballet category but where should Ashton sit?  Where should Macmillan sit?

 

I think I would be inclined to think of Balanchine as Neo-classical.  Is Wayne MacGregor.  Do we need a separate category for those who work in a similar area to Cathy Marston?  Where would David Nixon fit in?

 

Sorry Sim, more questions than answers.

 

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Sim:  i'd had a somewhat similar reaction.  But we have similar issues with 'classical music' where the term can be held to include everything from work by Monteverdi (or earlier) to John Adams.  

 

Woops!  Janet has just expanded into further questions - I'll be interested to see how this develops.

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3 hours ago, Jan McNulty said:

I would class Giselle as romantic ballet and Sleeping Beauty as classical ballet.

 

In terms of dance history, this is correct. Strictly the adjective "classical" refers to a particular time period - generally the latter part of the 19thC.

 

I'm far less bothered though by the kinds of distinctions others are making here: I think that, for example, Forsythe's work, MaGregor's work, and Marston's, all use the vocabulary of ballet, but in contemporary ways. My favourite Australian choreographer, Graeme Murphy, was even more extreme in his pushing of the ballet vocabulary & repertoire, but the dancers were all fully trained 'classical' ballet dancers.

 

Whereas, dancers trained solely in contemporary technique (eg Graham or Cunningham) have a very different look, style, and even shape of the body.

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Does the Company a work is made for/performed by come into play here at all?

 

One of the differences I note between 'classical' and 'neo-classical' is that the former is very 'pulled up' whereas the latter can take the dancers' bodies 'everywhere'.

 

Maybe the Critics' Circle can enlighten us on the questions posed above?

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I tend to agree with Kate_N here.  Do you need classical training in order to dance the role?  In that case I think it does belong in the Classical category even if the choreography takes the strict Classical vocabulary in new directions with new challenges.

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As has  all ready been pointed out 'Classical' is a much mis-used  term in the music world and  increasingly  it seems in dance ... 

I do think the references to  pointe work, turnout and 'classical ballet technique' are very pertinent to this topic,   my knowledge is limited  compared to some here, but   the  one ballet piece i have performed  despite the overall choroegraphy and the choice of music  made  defintie use of 'classicla  ballet technique'    where contemporary pieces i;ve been in  have consciously  avoided  balletic stuff unless making a point 

 

 

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3 hours ago, Kate_N said:

 

In terms of dance history, this is correct. Strictly the adjective "classical" refers to a particular time period - generally the latter part of the 19thC.

 

I'm far less bothered though by the kinds of distinctions others are making here: I think that, for example, Forsythe's work, MaGregor's work, and Marston's, all use the vocabulary of ballet, but in contemporary ways. My favourite Australian choreographer, Graeme Murphy, was even more extreme in his pushing of the ballet vocabulary & repertoire, but the dancers were all fully trained 'classical' ballet dancers.

 

Whereas, dancers trained solely in contemporary technique (eg Graham or Cunningham) have a very different look, style, and even shape of the body.

 

Yes, I agree.  Perhaps the awards need an additional category of “Contemporary Ballet”?  Not just for Marston, McGregor et al; I’d even put Akram Khan’s Giselle in that category.  

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2 hours ago, Pas de Quatre said:

even if the choreography takes the strict Classical vocabulary in new directions with new challenges.

 

And let's remember! Petipa took Romantic choreography and developed it into classical era ballet. As did Nijinska. Or we could go backwards and look at what M. Vestris did to develop the repertoire of steps  choreography in the romantic ballet - or Bournonville.

 

And so on.

 

Things change & develop.

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9 hours ago, Sim said:

I have been thinking about this (not for the first time!) since the awards nominations were announced a couple of days ago.  I was particularly interested to see the nominations for Outstanding Female Classical Performance, wherein The Cellist and Five Brahms Waltzes were in the same category as Giselle and Sleeping Beauty.  Stylistically, I would never put them together.  Of course, classical ballet is the rock around which the rest of it revolves, but would you consider The Cellist and Brahms as classical ballet?  What is the criteria?  Perhaps some of you folks who are much more knowledgeable than I am regarding technique can explain the differences to me...over to you!

 

OUTSTANDING FEMALE CLASSICAL PERFORMANCE

Begoña Cao in Five Brahms Waltzes in the Manner of Isadora Duncan (Viviana Durante Company) 

Lauren Cuthbertson in The Cellist (The Royal Ballet)

Momoko Hirata in the title role as Giselle (Birmingham Royal Ballet) 

Fumi Kaneko as Aurora in The Sleeping Beauty (The Royal Ballet) 

Beatriz Stix-Brunel in The Cellist  (The Royal Ballet)

 

Cf. also:

OUTSTANDING MALE CLASSICAL PERFORMANCE

Matthew Ball as Lensky in Onegin (The Royal Ballet)

William Bracewell in Dances at a Gathering (The Royal Ballet)

Jeffrey Cirio as Conrad in Le Corsaire (English National Ballet) 

César Morales as Albrecht in Giselle (Birmingham Royal Ballet)

Marcelino Sambé as the Instrument in The Cellist (The Royal Ballet)  

 

Perhaps asking the question of what the difference is between "classical" and "modern" might help, too?  I mean, everything thus far - and below - rather seems to suggest that "classical" = "ballet" (performed by a "ballet" company) and "modern" = non-ballet, regardless of the work, or possibly just a general catch-all?  Can it really be that clear-cut in this day and age?  Or is it just a matter of convenience?  I've seen very little of the "modern" performances listed, so it's difficult for me to comment further.

 

BEST CLASSICAL CHOREOGRAPHY (sponsored by The Ballet Association)

Cathy Marston for The Cellist (The Royal Ballet)

Kenneth Tindall for Geisha (Northern Ballet)

Kenneth Tindall for The Shape of Sound (Northern Ballet)  

Will Tuckett for Lazuli Sky (Birmingham Royal Ballet)

Valentino Zucchetti for Scherzo (The Royal Ballet)

BEST MODERN CHOREOGRAPHY

Michael Keegan-Dolan for MÁM (Teać Damsa)

Dada Masilo for Giselle (Dada Masilo)

Crystal Pite & Jonathon Young for Revisor  (Kidd Pivot)

Luca Silvestrini for The Little Prince (Luca Silvestrini’s Protein)

Gisèle Vienne for Crowd (Gisèle Vienne/Dance Umbrella)  

 

OUTSTANDING FEMALE MODERN PERFORMANCE

Jemima Brown in Step Sonic  (Tom Dale Company) 

Oona Doherty in Hope Hunt (and the ascension into Lazarus)  (Oona Doherty/Dance Umbrella) 

Dana Fouras in MaliphantWorks3 (Russell Maliphant Dance Company) 

Rachel Poirier in MÁM  (Teać Damsa) 

OUTSTANDING MALE MODERN PERFORMANCE

Dane Hurst in Staging Schiele  (Shobana Jeyasingh Dance)

Llewellyn Mnguni as Myrtha in Giselle (Dada Masilo)

Guillaume Quéau in Draw From Within (Rambert)

Kenrick H20 Sandy in REDD (Boy Blue Entertainment)

Jermaine Spivey in Revisor (Kidd Pivot)

 

It's perhaps also worth noting that the term "classical ballet" isn't actually used anywhere in the NDA press release.

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5 hours ago, bangorballetboy said:

One of the distinctions I often look for in this context is the general use of turnout.  

 

Yes, I think that may well be a more important distinction than the presence of pointe shoes.  After all, you could nominate an all-male piece, with none of them wearing pointe shoes.

 

5 hours ago, Kate_N said:

Whereas, dancers trained solely in contemporary technique (eg Graham or Cunningham) have a very different look, style, and even shape of the body.

 

So what if you're trained in both?  I think Rambert, at least, usually takes ballet-trained dancers - and until recently, at least (I'm not sure of the situation with the new AD), they used to start the day with a ballet class, I seem to recall.

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I think the distinction is used because ballet (in all forms) derives from one of Europe’s biggest and oldest codified dance traditions. So even if it’s neoclassical, contemporary, or romantic, it’s all derived from the classical school. And while of course ‘classical’ technically refers to a period, ballet as a dance form is classical in the sense that it is old. It’s pejorative, but it makes sense (at least in my eyes).

 

I do wonder if dancers in other  classical forms would be seen as classical too? I wonder has Khan or Jeyasingh in her more Bharatanatyam derived works been categorised as ‘classical’? And if dancers in other ‘old’ forms of dance (Irish, flamenco, Balinese etc.) have been a part of the category?

 

Perhaps I’m overthinking!

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5 hours ago, LACAD said:

I think the distinction is used because ballet (in all forms) derives from one of Europe’s biggest and oldest codified dance traditions. So even if it’s neoclassical, contemporary, or romantic, it’s all derived from the classical school. And while of course ‘classical’ technically refers to a period, ballet as a dance form is classical in the sense that it is old. It’s pejorative, but it makes sense (at least in my eyes).

 

I'm sure you're right about the distinction, though sometimes it seems to me that the principles of the classical school are in fact distorted in some contemporary work. (I see that the Encyclopedia Britannica defines classical ballet as 'a system of dance based on formalized movements and positions of the arms, feet and body designed to enable the dancer to move with the greatest possible agility, control, speed, lightness and grace'. It's the last word that's crucial, I think.) But when you say 'It's pejorative', do you mean the word 'classical' or 'old'? I wouldn't consider either pejorative myself.

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38 minutes ago, bridiem said:

though sometimes it seems to me that the principles of the classical school are in fact distorted in some contemporary work.


but I wonder if the choreographers of the 1830s (height of Romantic ballet) would have said that about the choreography, style, and technique of the 1890s? 
 

I suspect they would.

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11 minutes ago, Kate_N said:

but I wonder if the choreographers of the 1830s (height of Romantic ballet) would have said that about the choreography, style, and technique of the 1890s? 
 

I suspect they would.

 

Maybe so, but I think there's a difference between development and distortion. Though the judgement as to which is involved will vary!

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On 09/05/2021 at 22:45, alison said:

 

Cf. also:

OUTSTANDING MALE CLASSICAL PERFORMANCE

Matthew Ball as Lensky in Onegin (The Royal Ballet)

William Bracewell in Dances at a Gathering (The Royal Ballet)

Jeffrey Cirio as Conrad in Le Corsaire (English National Ballet) 

César Morales as Albrecht in Giselle (Birmingham Royal Ballet)

Marcelino Sambé as the Instrument in The Cellist (The Royal Ballet)


It does seem odd to me that The Cellist has been included with these other performances?  I feel it is very much modern in the movements used ... some are balletic, some are not ... though of course the female dancers ARE in pointe shoes.  I’d put Akram Khan’s Giselle, Dust and many Wayne McGregor ballets in this category.  Whereas (for example) most Christopher Wheeldon, Liam Scarlett, Valentino Zucchetti pieces in the classical ballet category ... whether narrative or not.  
 

I agree with @capybara that it would be good to get the Critics Circle to explain their thinking.  


 

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Been a long time since I have taken any ballet exams, but surely there are quite strict rules when it comes to what is described as classical ballet technique? Hence the Encyclopaedia Britannica definition.  It doesn't matter whether it is the Sleeping Beauty or Giselle, the movements themselves follow the same principles.  

I don't think the classical ballet curriculum has altered that much over the last 100 years, has it?  It might go back a lot further, I don't know.  However, the greats of old, such as Margot Fonteyn, would immediately be familiar with classwork being taught today if they suddenly reappeared on earth.  Companies are still dancing ballets choreographed for her, after all (and struggling with it in many cases.)  
I would put Ashton firmly in the classical ballet category for that reason.  Likewise  MacMillan.  Some of his pas de deux work might raise an eyebrow amongst the purists, perhaps?  But he could and did choreograph ballets based on pure classical ballet techniques.  I am not that familiar with Balanchine, but the stuff I have seen such as Jewels look to be firmly based on the types of movements practised every day in class.

 

On the other hand, Wayne Macgregor's stuff, certainly doesn't follow those rules.  Nor would he describe himself as a classical ballet choreographer, would he?   So I would say modern dance, modern ballet, contemporary ballet or whatever you like to call it, doesn't demand the same strict positioning of the body, the limbs and the feet as classical ballet.

I would also say that the type of music used adds to the definition of what is and isn't classical ballet.  Try doing any ballet movements to pop records, for example. Nothing to do with the actual music itself.  I am sure someone could choreograph a wonderful classical ballet pas de deux to something like Bridge over Troubled Water.  But for so much stuff, it just isn't possible to perform the steps correctly in time with the music.  Having said that, I have suddenly got an image of a ballerina doing fouettes to this.  Bit slow perhaps?  Maybe Italian fouettes? 
 

 

Edited by Fonty
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William Tuckett choreographed License my roving hands for BRB in the early 1990s to the music of Jimi Hendrix.  My recollection of it is thinking "Pan's People en pointe" and also that I could have made a better choice of Hendrix music to use!

 

I don't think I will ever forget that Miyako Yoshida appeared in this.  I can't remember who else performed in it.

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  • 5 weeks later...

I asked Deborah Weiss, who is a member of the Critics’ Circle, how they categorise classical and modern performances.  She explained that nominations for best classical performance can include anything based on what is regarded as a classical dance technique, such as kathak, flamenco (which apparently has been included in past nominations), escuela bolera etc., as well as ballet.  Best modern performance relates to those based on modern dance techniques, i.e. from Graham/Central European onwards.   

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3 hours ago, Irmgard said:

I asked Deborah Weiss, who is a member of the Critics’ Circle, how they categorise classical and modern performances.  She explained that nominations for best classical performance can include anything based on what is regarded as a classical dance technique, such as kathak, flamenco (which apparently has been included in past nominations), escuela bolera etc., as well as ballet.  Best modern performance relates to those based on modern dance techniques, i.e. from Graham/Central European onwards.   

Still don't see how The Cellist is "classical" under these criteria....

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