The statement of ‘ballet is the foundation of dance’

[Doing Dance 1]

“Ballet is the foundation of dance.” This statement, and the sentiments that it embodies are incredibly detrimental to the dance world as a whole. The idea is that in order to be a successful dancer in any kind of way, one must first study and master ballet. Only then can you be treated as a “serious” dancer, worthy of notice and pay. This attitude, by its very nature, then takes the many other valid dance forms and puts them in an “other” category that is inherently viewed as “less than.” 
 

https://www.danceplug.com/article/why-ballet-is-not-the-foundation-of-all-dance-arts-and-culture

 

This article and its thoughtful look at dance and it’s place in cultural historical contexts has just been ringing in my head after receiving a mail out from the Royal Ballet School in which it states ‘Classical ballet is the foundation of all styles of dance’.

https://mail.royalballetschool.org.uk/76ZA-LW0C-0C9966EB387733C815GTJCF29A31C12A2D449D/cr.aspx

 

 

 

Edited January 20 by Doing Dance 1

[OnlyDance]

Would this fix it? - "Ballet is the foundation of western/European dance"

Couldn't help but notice that the author of the danceplug article "can be found teaching ballet and modern dance"!

There's plenty of dance college training in the UK that doesn't purely focus on ballet. Is it different in the US? (Genuine question) 

[Colman]

You’d need to say something like “formalised European dance”. 
 

For example ballet wouldn’t have much influence on old style sean-nós Irish dancing, I think, but certainly would have on the version formalised by members of the  late 19th C British middle class.

[Doing Dance 1]

15 minutes ago, OnlyDance said:

Would this fix it? - "Ballet is the foundation of western/European dance"

I think this statement would be better, but still inaccurate. 

Ballet is around 400 years old so to be purely academic even this statement would suggest that there was no dance in The West/ Europe pre Ballet. 
Obviously this is nonsense which is why we must be mindful of these often ingrained broad statements.

As dance educators, what we say and pass on to the next generation is so important and influential institutions have a duty to be mindful of the power they hold when they publish any such statement. 
 

‘What exactly do we mean when we say that? Is it historically accurate? Is it aligned with ideas that uphold inequitable, unjust norms within the dance world and world beyond that? Are there ways in which we can refine our language to be more intentional, accurate and nurturing of all within our dance communities? ’

 

https://www.danceinforma.com/2021/08/01/is-ballet-really-the-foundation-of-all-dance-forms-an-investigation-and-exploration/

Edited January 20 by Doing Dance 1

[glowlight]

Perhaps...'Ballet provides a solid foundation for many other types of dance'?

[Doing Dance 1]

5 minutes ago, glowlight said:

Perhaps...'Ballet provides a solid foundation for many other types of dance'?

Absolutely, or if you’re an institution something like, ‘at X we use classical ballet as the foundation for our curriculum…’ and note its benefits/ transferable skills to other disciplines. 

[Ruby Foo]

Ballet certainly isn’t the foundation of tap dancing or some styles of traditional Jazz such as Afro jazz. In fact I’m sure there’s a discussion to be had about whether Ballet has actually diluted some dance forms and not in a positive way. If some historical / ethnic and cultural forms of dance are picked up by exam boards/ vocational schools where the students are highly classically trained then the results are a far cry from the original style.

[Swanwings]

I was taught that development of dance comes from 2 strands; performance and social. The performance side definitely does have its roots in ballet, originatng in Italian Commedia del arte, French courts etc. However the social dance scene, steming from country dancing, national, ballroom, regional , etnic etc... is where the styles such as jazz, tap, etc have all come from; they do not therefore have any roots in ballet. The crossover has happened mostly in the late 19th (music halls) and 20th century where these styles from a social aspect have become popular as performance styles as well.  Happy for a dance historian to correct me?!

Edited January 20 by Swanwings

[Tango Dancer]

4 hours ago, glowlight said:

Perhaps...'Ballet provides a solid foundation for many other types of dance'?

 

I'd agree.  It's not the foundation of all dance but it's certainly influenced a lot of other forms of dance and there's a lot of read across between ballet and a lot of other dance styles and it's been adopted fairly widely.  So I do bellydance and there are a number of steps that have come from ballet that are used in bellydance by a lot of teachers now because they're elegant and look good.  So for example arabesque in second position is used by one teacher, another one has us use a rond de jambe fairly often to practice balance and extension and because it looks good in a slowish dance.  

 

I'd also say that it's very helpful for other dance styles.  I dance social tango and I've found my balance has improved significantly since I started ballet.  I seem to pull up and in more and have a lot more core strength and ability to stay on my axis.  One of my tango teachers was a former ballet dancer who teaches "ballet for tango dancers." I think definitely doing ballet helps with other dance forms. 

 

I'd also say that dance doesn't exist in a vacuum, it's subject to change, adaptation and evolution.  The type of tango I dance has changed significantly from the one danced in 19th century Argentina, hand positions are different and the leg movements have changed because we're not now dancing in longer skirts.  Bellydance has changed and evolved over the years with new schools emerging (such as American Tribal style) and wide differences between even neighbouring countries and cross fertilisation, e.g. between bellydance, flamenco and burlesque where there's a lot of overlap.  As one teacher said to me the other week, there are only so many ways of moving your body.    

[Beezie]

May be an unpopular opinion, but I have tried a number of different dance forms as an adult.  Ballet is the hardest (despite appearing easy to an untrained eye.). The discipline and muscle control needed to dance ballet seems close to unparalleled.  I would believe, from limited experience, that being moderately good at ballet would build skills that would let someone excel at other dance forms.

[Beezie]

I would further add that I think some of the verbiage around ballet makes people feel like they cannot be successful at dance if they aren’t successful at ballet.  I think that is destructive.  I can see why someone needs to take ballet to develop in other dance types, but they don’t need to excel in ballet in the same manner that a classical ballerina would excel in ballet.  

[Tango Dancer]

10 minutes ago, Beezie said:

I would further add that I think some of the verbiage around ballet makes people feel like they cannot be successful at dance if they aren’t successful at ballet.  I think that is destructive.  I can see why someone needs to take ballet to develop in other dance types, but they don’t need to excel in ballet in the same manner that a classical ballerina would excel in ballet.  

 

I think you're right I started other forms of dance first and came to ballet later. So I did street dance, decided I liked dancing.  Then I did tango and decided I liked dancing with people.  Then I tried ballet to improve my tango but didn't enjoy it.  Then I tried Bellydance and discovered I also liked wearing a hipscarf and shimmying.  I tried ballet again and it didn't work for me.  It was only when I was in my 40s and found a good teacher that ballet clicked for me. 

 

I think it's definitely the hardest thing I do physically.  I'd say tango is harder emotionally because you have to have a relationship with your partners and respond to them.  So I always check before tango that I'm a good headspace and check before ballet that all body parts are working.  

[Peanut68]

We don’t insist that to be a good writer in English one must first be a good writer in Latin & German & French…. All languages at the ‘foundation’ of the English written word as we know it today (& I’m sure many many other things that are influences too from other languages/countries/

dialects/cultures & even sounds from nature/engineering etc!

Embrace the history but don’t be restrained by it!

Embrace ballet if it works for you but don’t feel contained by it or excluded from it! Just  MHO!

Edited January 21 by Peanut68

[Legseleven]

Is this the statement used by IDTA? 

[LinMM]

As someone who started with ballet and from a young age I’d say it’s one of the most difficult Dance forms to actually look accomplished in because it requires so much strength to develop first. 

However when I had a very long break from Ballet I did loads of other styles of dance both National type dances, Limon style modern dance, Indian dance ( mainly Kathak but a little Odissi mixed in) and the most beautiful form of “belly dance “ Raqs Sharqi the classical Egyptian form (which  doesn’t have any ballet moves in!) 

What I found was that when I eventually went back to ballet some 20 plus years later having engaged with these other forms of Dance had helped enormously with my expression there. I felt so much freer! 

So I don’t think you need to do ballet to be good in other forms of dance but I definitely think if you have done ballet it will make you generally stronger which is helpful. 

[Ruby Foo]

I think a strong classical dancer is at a disadvantage in the tap dancing world. For a start there’s the strength in the ankles which is problematic for tap as the ankles need to be loose. Then there’s the problem of keeping the parallel alignment of the legs and feet and not letting them turn outward which is not easy for a trained ballet dancer. Then there’s the issue of weight and relaxation which is in tune with the very essence of rhythm and the culture and storytelling of black rhythmic tap. Then there’s the rhythms themselves which certainly in new black rhythmic tap are based on jazz and the joy of spontaneous improvisation and sometimes the complete obliteration of tempo. It’s tricky to break down everything you’ve been taught previously and to work with no rules. The best tap dancers are those that have been brought up with their souls in the culture and they transfer their language and story to others in the purest form. 
I can see my Afro- American jazz teacher ( Alvin Ailey) now, brimming with frustration at us ballet students because we failed to bring the essence of the style. It was simply impossible for us to rid ourselves of what had become integral to our brains and bodies.

[LinMM]

In my Raqs Sharqi class ( no longer do) both the teacher and one of the really good dancers in that class had never done any ballet. 
It takes quite a while for ballet people to really let go of their hips and core!!! 

 

I’m a bit hesitant to say though that you can only be any good at something if you come from a particular culture though almost certainly may find it easier.