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George Balanchine Essay

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Neo-classical ballet choreographer George Balanchine blended classical ballet with the modern concept through developing a distinct technical style for the ballet steps and shifting gender roles. His movements go out of the typical classical ballet vocabulary. Balanchine “rid Russian Classical Ballet of the scenery, plot, gentility, fairies, kings, queens, and evil witches, replacing…with “characterless ballets whose themes centered around the steps themselves and the kinetic relationship between a man and a woman” (Bennahum Lecture 14). Through his use of the legs and his focus on pointe work, Balanchine believed that “the body’s weight should move forward and up, never allowed fall back on the heels as in Petipa’s work (Bennahum Lecture 14). Apollo (1928) is an example of what of classical ballet Balanchine keeps and has let fall away. In this dance, it spices the academic technique with movement such as vigorous arm-swings …show more content…

He added speed in the legs, used the elements of music to spark his choreographic ideas, choreographed the break in the shoulders, hips, knees, and ankles, added fast steps requiring rhythmic syncopation, and added percussive footwork, claps, finger snaps (Bennahum Lecture 14). According to Sally Banes, “…in Agon (1957), Balanchine borrows from an African-rooted aesthetic, introducing into classical ballet vocabulary the angular arms, curved torso, percussive footwork, syncopated rhythms of jazz dancing…” (Bennahum Lecture 14). In addition, Serenade (1935), the first ballet he choreographed on American soil, demonstrates how formal values coexist with emotional qualities in his work (Au 145). In sum, Balanchine was a great neo-classical ballet choreographer who stressed steps, tempos, and musicality, emphasized phrasing, syncopation, geometrical shapes, and technical feats, and focused on women’s

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