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BIOGRAPHY
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Balanchine's values, whether displayed in opera productions, musical comedy theater, Hollywood movies, or his original ballet creations, consistently reflected the hallmarks of classicism: legibility, clarity, harmony, and nobility of stature. Especially when he concentrated almost exclusively on ballets for his own dancers in his own specially designed headquarters -- Lincoln Center's New York State Theater, designed by Philip Johnson -- Balanchine promoted ballet as the art of big, gracious, articulate individuals.
Balanchine is on record as admiring large-scale elements of theatrical dance, particularly after he was situated with his company in the large-scale New York State Theater: "I like tall people ... because you can see more," he said. Similarly, he appreciated, and preferred, large hands and long feet. Overall his credo was "more" -- more breadth, more speed, more control, more sharpness, more softness, more reach, more pirouettes, more finely closed and more expansively open positions. The one extra-dance element that Balanchine consistently concentrated on was music. His tastes ranged from the Offenbachian marches of John Philip Souza ([for] "Stars and Stripes") to the austere tonalities of Anton Webern ([for] "Episodes," a collaborative project with Martha Graham). The common thread in all his personal but wide-ranging musical tastes was music's ability to support dancing, to be what the French call "dansant."
Costuming and scenery came next, respectively, in Balanchine's order of dance theater priorities. Though popular opinion frequently has it that he neglected these two areas, in fact it was often budgetary considerations that prevented him from "dressing" his ballets with more than minimal accessories. Balanchine was not against costumes or settings; he was opposed to heaviness of any kind, and aimed to have his dance and his dancers seen to their maximum degree.
The female dancer, at her most expert -- i.e., on pointe -- predominantly motivated and inspired Balanchine throughout his career. "I like woman" was the familiar phrase with which Balanchine expressed his vision of ballet (consider especially the repertory created for Tanaquil LeClercq, Diana Adams, and Suzanne Farrell). However, the male dancer also played a distinct part, albeit in lesser numbers, in the Balanchine canon. "Man is to serve," the ballet master would say, noting the place of the male dancer, the escort, in his world of ballet. So, while Balanchine's oeuvre has substantial examples of male dancer virtuosity and technical advancement, it also provides a textbook of cavalier deportment that sustains ballet's lineage to courtly, chivalrous, aristocratic behavior (as in the roles originated by André Eglevsky, Jacques d'Amboise, and Edward Villella).
Throughout his catalogue of works -- an official volume, published before his death, numbers 425 separate creations -- Balanchine also concentrated on ensemble work, or the art of "groupings," so prominent in 19th-century ballet spectacle. Though the choreographer could decorate/orchestrate his dances with some of the most intricate and elaborate groupings of dancers --oftentimes these were infinitely more lush than any scenery could ever be -- his corps de ballet was no simple background element. His supposed company of "no stars" was more accurately a company of all stars, where even corps de ballet dancers showed virtuoso ability.
Source: Excerpted from INTERNATIONAL DICTIONARY OF BALLET. 2 vols. St. James Press, 1993. Reprinted by permission of The Gale Group.
Top banner photos: Aurélie Dupont and Alessio Carbone in "Rubies," the Paris Opera Ballet corps in "Emeralds," and Agnès Letestu and Jean-Guillaume Bart in "Diamonds" (all photos by Francette Levieux). |
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Aurélie Dupont and Alessio Carbone (photo by Francette Levieux). |
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Ballerina Eleonora Abbagnato (photo by Francette Levieux). |
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This program is available on DVD. |
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