Comparison Of Balanchine's Philosophy Of The Black And White Dance

The muse behind these choreographers came from philosophers and the time period in which they lived. Balanchine followed the ideologies of greek philosophers and often quoted them to the best he could remember. Similarly, Forsythe followed philosophers like Foucault's “space of otherness” to create the mentality of analysing how dancers shapes are formed. The rejection of the ballet hierarchy was formed under Balanchine’s philosophy of the Black and White Heaven. Black and White Heaven reinvented the idea of a lead dancer. There was a focus on all the dancers, rather the principal dancers. Even though Forsythe did not call it the black and white heaven, he structured his pieces in a similar way. These four works capture the stylistic similarities in their choreography and favor the neoclassical style.

Balanchine called ballet, “..a woman.” Balanchine and Forsythe had a specific dancer body type which they prefered. While both Balanchine and Forsythe had a preference of tall, long-legged dancers, Balanchine characterized female dancers with “greyhounds.” This preference became a dominant stereotype of ballerinas at the New York City Ballet. While the archetypal dancers looked physically uniformed, they each brought their own individuality to their movements. Balanchine and Forsythe dancers share musicality, definition of lines created from fingers to legs, momentum and a clean sharp attack to details. Their female dancers looked long and lean but the male dancers had natural athleticism. Balanchine trained his male dancers to be as quick and flexible as his female