Ballet Dance Analysis

Introduction

Ballet dancing is both an art form and a sport; one must have the athleticism and stamina like that of an Olympic athlete while still maintaining the grace, beauty, and musicality necessary to make every movement look effortless. It is a physically demanding craft, the body must conform to such great feats of flexibility, strength, balance, and agility to perfectly perform every jump and turn. At the same time, dancers are required to be expressive & artistic, translating their emotions to an audience, using the music as a guide to how they must perform the choreography.

From my first ballet class, I was told to come in with strict attire: hair up in a slick bun, a specific color of skintight leotard, wearing tights underneath,

The dancer is a prop in their own artistic design, and like how a painter must carefully decide on every stroke, a choreographer must carefully decide on every shape or movement. Thus, the concept of “lines” come about: the lines that a dancer makes with their bodies become a crucial aesthetic element of the entire piece itself. For example, long straight lines are typically preferred by most choreographers as they are the most pleasing to the eye. (BalletHub LLC, 2018) However, not every dancer’s body is born to have those ideal lines. A culture of perfectionism permeates the ballet world; every step must be performed to the utmost perfect standard; any small mistake or stumble will cost the serenity of the entire performance and the stake of the dancer’s career. In the 21st century, as dancers become increasingly more talented and skillful, this artform truly becomes significantly more difficult for all to succeed in. To what extent does the culture of ballet affect the physical and psychological well-being of the dancer?

Due to this strenuous culture of perfectionism and elitism in the world of ballet, ballerinas have felt intense pressure to uphold the artistic standards of their teachers, choreographers, and companies. This, in turn, leads to various effects on their physical and psychological

There is now an ideal physique for professional ballerinas in numerous companies: long neck, slim, short-medium length torso, long legs with complimentary long arms and high insteps in the soles of the feet. (Nolan, 2015) However, the Ballet Body has gone through an evolution throughout the ages. Ballet had one of its first origins in the courts of the French King Louis XIV in the 17th century. (Kant & Guest, 2018) It has since then massively evolved into a completely more challenging artform in the 21st century. The first instance of body segregation was due to Marie Camargo, a Paris Opera ballerina who was the first to perform an entrechat quatre, in the 18th century. She became a prominent dancer in theatres for her light-footed technique to perform leaps such as cabrioles and entrechats, but she was also notably shorter than everyone else. (The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2012) Her short height became an inspiration for other ballet companies and thus evolved into a mandatory height requirement of 5’5” or shorter to succeed for some companies. (Nolan, 2015) Her rage was forgotten by her death at the end of the 18th century and in came a new wave of dancers. In the romantic era, enter Marie Taglioni and Pierina Legnani, Italian ballerinas who began an age of En Pointe dancing and fouetté turns, having very similar body types.