How did the Ballet Russe and Nijinsky Influence the Gendering of Ballet? Consider both Repertories and Choreography.
Today, when the average individual thinks of dance, they quite often think of ballet. But if ballet itself is a cultural stereotype of what 'dance is,' the specific art form of ballet itself has a legion of cultural stereotypes attached to it. Legendary choreographic interpreters past and present have attempted to break such ballet cliches and stereotypes, with different degrees of success. But perhaps the greatest tradition breakers of ballet as an artistic form have come from the dances and dancers of the Ballet Ruse, such as Nijinsky.Some of the stereotypes the Ballet Russe under the leadership of Nijinsky attempted to break were that ballet as a female art, conducted in a series of tightly constrained feminine steps, performed by dancers in highly recognizable dance costumes such as tutus, to conventional (then popular) strains of music. Although some of these stereotypes still dominate the common 'music box' conception of dance and even professional da
People came to see the Russian ballets to see the great star-for the first time there was a male star of the ballet on the same level as its female stars. However, when they came to see Nijinsky, they were also, however unwittingly introduced to a new form of conceptualizing the ballet as a way of embodying human emotional and physical experience. nce in general, the Ballet Russe and Nijinsky were able, if not to break some if not all of these artistic constraints by introducing new ballets, new choreography, and new dance music. The Ballet Ruse conceptualized ballet as a professional dance art form, not as a subsidiary to opera or other artistic performance forms. The Ballet Russe was a highly theatrical Russian ballet form. It featured the dancer, not necessarily a female dancer, center stage. It became a drama of motion and often, although not always, of emotional movement and emotional 'story' as well as a simple recreation of intricate physical steps or a simple love
Some common words found in the essay are:
Ballet Russe, Lake Giselle, , Russes West, People Russian, Specter Rose, Ruse Nijinsky, Ballet Ruse, Russe Nijinsky, ballet russe, art form, ballet ruse, female dancers, russian ballet, art form ballet, dance ballet, attempted break, form ballet, professional dance, break ballet, attempted break ballet, ballet ruse nijinsky,
Approximate Word count = 662
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)
|
