Ballet and modern dance

[CathrineFL]

Of course there is a difference, hence the 2 names.
Ok, Modern is much more free in movement, there are less standing rules.
Classical ballet is not as free, there are certain ways of doing things
and you don't (normally) change them.
There are lots of differences between the 2, right down to the shoes.

Cathrine

[Amy Reusch]

In article <19970706193...@ladder01.news.aol.com>,
cathr...@aol.com (CathrineFL) writes:

>Of course there is a difference, hence the 2 names.
>Ok, Modern is much more free in movement, there are less standing rules.

hmm.... of course, there are those who might argue differently, saying
ballet's fascination with flexibility leads to more freedom of movement
than is generally found in modern... but of course, that's not what you
were referring too... I was watching the Bill T Jones/Arnie Zane company
a couple of weekends ago and enjoying how he threw entrechats into his
choreography here and there... It got me to wondering what "ballet" steps
are still taboo in modern... so many more are allowed now than in the
early days, but I suspect there are still some that are considered
No-Nos... how about pirrouettes?

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Amy Reusch - eye4...@aol.com
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[Dudley Brooks]

Amy Reusch (amyr...@aol.com) wrote:
: In article <19970706193...@ladder01.news.aol.com>,
: cathr...@aol.com (CathrineFL) writes:

: >Of course there is a difference, hence the 2 names.
: >Ok, Modern is much more free in movement, there are less standing rules.

: hmm.... of course, there are those who might argue differently, saying
: ballet's fascination with flexibility leads to more freedom of movement
: than is generally found in modern... but of course, that's not what you
: were referring too... I was watching the Bill T Jones/Arnie Zane company
: a couple of weekends ago and enjoying how he threw entrechats into his
: choreography here and there... It got me to wondering what "ballet" steps
: are still taboo in modern... so many more are allowed now than in the
: early days, but I suspect there are still some that are considered
: No-Nos... how about pirrouettes?

As a former Ballet dancer, now a Modern Dancer, but who still takes Ballet
class, I see a distinct and unmistakeable difference between "Modern
Ballet" (Ballet which borrows from Modern) and "balletticized Modern"
(Modern which borrows from Ballet).

It doesn't matter what the *steps* are. Ballet dancers simply *move* in
*one* way (emphasis on the vertical, hiding of effort, use of
peripherally-motivated rather than centrally-motivated gestures, different
use of the torso from Modern, arms have different quality from legs,
emphasis on shape rather than, say, weight or momentum, etc., etc., etc.)
-- they have too many years of training in their muscles to be able to do
it any other way -- and Modern dancers move in a *different* way (there
are so many, many styles of Modern, some at completely opposite ends of
the spectrum from each other, that it is almost impossible to generalize).

Sometimes the difference is subtle, though. I was recently in the office
of a local "Modern Ballet" company while they were watching a tape of a
Stephen Petronio piece. I was surprised by how balletic the piece was (I
think I had Stephen Petronio confused with someone else, who does Contact
Improv -- no, *not* Steve Paxton). But the dancers in the Ballet company
were saying "Gee, I don't think we could dance Modern Dance like that."
What was funny was that the Petronio piece looked to me exactly like the
work the Modern Ballet company performs!

In answer to the question about "borrowing": Old-style Modern Dancers
preached "the unique gesture" -- not borrowing *anything*, finding your
own vocabulary. One of the things Post-Modernism is about is
"appropriation", so *any* ballet (or other) step is up for grabs.

-- Dudley Brooks
Run For Your Life!...
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San Francisco
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