Ballet & Technique: The Building Blocks of Dance
As a college senior just months away from receiving my B.F.A. in Dance, I feel qualified to discuss certain dance-related issues in great detail. Lately, I have been thinking a lot about the training process. I can remember my own training as if it were yesterday. Although I attended a tap and jazz studio, I took ballet technique a few times per week. In fact, students auditioning for the school's youth company were required to have mastered ballet at an intermediate level at least. The school's director knew the importance of a proper foundation and worked hard to provide her students with high quality ballet instruction. Many of the company students dreaded technique class, but their persistence paid off. From tap to lyrical, they became stronger dancers in all disciplines and ballet is the reason.
Astrid, my first ballet teacher, was a blessing. Not only was she patient and gentle, but she was also the embodiment of technical perfection. She believed in teaching the basics properly from the very beginning. We began with first position and slowly worked our way up to long adagio and allegro combinations. It was almost like learning how to read and write; you have to learn the letters of the alphabet before you can decipher a complete sentence. The same goes for dance. You cannot execute fouette turns without having mastered the many elements that compose a fouette turn. Astrid never rushed through this learning process. She knew that all of her students, even the girls looking to pursue a career in tap and jazz, needed a foundation of proper ballet technique.
After a few years with Astrid, I enrolled in a strict classical ballet school where my technique was refined even further. Although my dancing grew more mature during these subsequent years, I credit Astrid for turning me into a dancer. She gave me the perfect found-ation from which to jump into the future. A million thank-you's could never suffice to show my gratitude for her dedication to her students and her unwavering commitment to upholding the art of ballet. She was never given the respect and appreciation she deserved.
Now, a member of Orchesis, Columbia University's student-run dance group, I am even more acutely aware of the importance of proper training. This semester, my friend Natalie and I are choreographing the showcase's only ballet number. During the casting process, we looked for dancers with strong technical ability as well as good stage presence. Unfortunately, I have discovered that technical ability hard to come by these days. After watching and teaching a few classes at studios throughout the country, I realized that dance instruction has become a really prominent money making venture. Many studio directors seem more interested in increasing their bank accounts than protecting and preserving the art of dance. When ballet technique is sacrificed, students are not only being gypped of proper training, but they also become more susceptible to developing a number of bad habits.
I suspect that many collegiate dancers received their training at studios where technique was overlooked. I see so much potential and natural talent that should have been cultivated before college. When I present this somewhat traditionalist point of view to my fellow dancers, I am almost always faced with a devil's advocate challenge. They retort, "But why should technique be so important to dancers who aren't going to pursue a professional career?" My response is always the same.
Firstly, proper technique is a good way to prevent injury. The body is a fragile instrument that should be treated with care. Too often I see dancers fail to put their heals down upon landing a jump, a precursor to developing tendonitis. Secondly, proper technical instruction helps to preserve the high art of dance. I approach this idea with an analogy to the telephone game I played a child. When a message is transmitted from one person to the next, it loses its structure and meaning somewhere in transit. When the message has finally reached the last person, it bears no semblance of the original. Something similar has been happened with dance throughout the years. When instructors pass along their knowledge carelessly, the result is a skewed interpretation and a misrepresentation of the art. Evolving with the times is important, however, understanding, preserving, and honoring the past is imperative to moving forward.
With the recent growth of Hollywood's music video style dancing, it is evident that technique is steadily declining. Popular entertainers from the 1980s and early 1990s such as Michael Jackson and Paula Abdul exhibited immaculate technical prowess. Today, it seems that shaking your bottom and thrashing your arms are the only phys-ical prerequisites for becoming an entertainer. With this kind of dance permeating homes throughout the country via MTV, I am fearful for the future of the art, especially ballet. It seems as though ballet is respected only among balletomanes and aspiring ballet dancers. The truth remains, however, that ballet is the foundation for almost ever form of American performance dance. So, with the "Nutcracker" spirit abound, I name December Ballet Appreciation Month! Let's celebrate classics, the neoclassical, and the contemporary. Ballet has been around for a long time... it deserves the attention.