Lyrical

Modern Ballet Cosutme and Classical Ballet Costume

CONTEMPORARY BALLET

What is Contemporary Ballet?

Contemporary Ballet is a more modern form of ballet that allows a dancer to use a larger range of movements and use the floor more often. In Contemporary Ballet the feet can be parallel or even turned in, this is never seen in Classical Ballet. Contemporary Ballet was formed by George Balanchine, he used flexed hands and feet, off center positions and different costumes such as leotards and tunics, not tutus. In Contemporary Ballet and Modern dance, dancers sometimes dance in “dance paws” which are small pads that go over the toes and only cover the balls of the foot, or bare foot while in Classical Ballet dancers wear ballet slippers or pointe shoes. Mikhail Baryshnikov also trained with George Balanchine and used his new modern forms of dancing.

From the website:

There are some similarities between contemporary and classical ballet:
• Both styles have a vocabulary that uses the French language.
• Both styles utilize dancers who are trained in technique as well as performance.
• Both styles emphasize a strong relationship to music.
There are also distinctions between contemporary and classical ballet:
• Classical ballet always has a storyline, while most contemporary ballet focuses on the movement.
• Classical ballet appears symmetrical, with both sides of the stage equally balanced. Contemporary ballet does not focus on symmetry, and having a stage that is unbalanced is characteristic of the style.
• Classical ballet choreography may incorporate pantomime and literal gestures; contemporary ballet does not, rather it focuses on a physical interpretation of the theme.
• Dancers in a classical ballet will mostly keep their backs straight and posture upright, while dancers in a contemporary ballet curve, twist and bend their upper bodies.

http://balletjazztapdance.suite101.com/article.cfm/the_history_and_style_of_contemporary_ballet

Joffrey Ballet

Gerald Arpino

BALLET IN AMERICA

Ballet made its way into America through immigrant dancers and ballet masters. The first ballet preformed in America that was documented was The Adventures of Harlequin and Scaramouch, with the Burgo'master Trick'd February 4, 1735, given in Charleston by Henry Holt, a British dancing master. The next major figure in American ballet was Alexander Placide. Alexander trained in the Paris Opéra as a dancer and a tightrope walker. He brought companies of dancers and tightrope walkers with him to Santo Domingo, New York and Charleston in the late 1700’s. Augusta Maywood and Mary Ann Lee are considered America’s first native born ballerinas. They were born into theater families and studied with the Paris Opéra and preformed in their home state in Philadelphia and along the Mississippi River. They later went to Paris for further study and work in their dance careers.
Ballet spread across America because a large number of Russian and European dancers chose to stay in America, becoming teachers, choreographers, and ballet masters for theaters. Companies and choreographers decided that ballet in America should be American. From this idea became the New York City Ballet, American Ballet Theater, and the Joffrey Ballet.

Cohen-Stratyner, Barbara. "Ballet." Dictionary of American History. Ed. Stanley I. Kutler. 3rd ed. Vol. 1. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 2003. 389-391. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 25 Apr. 2010.