Farewell (Tuesday, May 28, 2013)

Sorry readers, but this is the final post for my blog, Diving into Ballet. I hope I have inspired some of you to take beginning classes and learn more about the ballet world through film. If not that, I hope I have entertained you!

The last documentary I watched is called, The Dancer. Unfortunately, it was my least favorite of all the ballet documentaries I have watched thus far during my senior project. I think it was meant to be one of those artsy types of films because there were many disparate elements. First of all, they never introduced the ballerina the documentary was based upon, Katja Bjorner. They didn’t give any background information on her; the audience was unable to make any connection with her. They didn’t show her living situation, her family, etc. I would think that a documentary that is about one person would show that person in their daily life, all aspects of it. They also didn’t introduce any of the people who were working with her. We sort of had to infer people’s positions. By the end of the documentary, 

I had an idea of who Katja’s teacher was, but there were many adults working with her so it was somewhat hard to tell. Also, it was mentioned briefly that the narrator/filmer of the documentary was an aging actor. Occasionally, there were brief interviews/conversations between Katja and him. (However, we never actually saw his face). It was never clear if the documentary was this actor’s idea or someone else hired him for the job. It wasn’t even clear why they chose him. He added no significance to the documentary other than his short discussions with Katja about actually ‘acting’ when playing a role in a ballet. I also thought it was boring that the documentary was filled with silent scenes of Katja dancing. I loved watching her dance, but it is much more interesting to get a variety of scenes!

Spring performance of the Smuin Ballet (Saturday, May 25, 2013)

Today I went to the spring performance of the Smuin Ballet Company. I liked it a lot more than the Cinderella Ballet because we actually had seats where we could see the performer's faces! Instead of sitting three stories up in the very back row, we sat in the fifth row, right smack in the middle. I preferred the second act to the first act. It was really cool. All of the girls were wearing yellow leotards and the guys were wearing blue pants. The set looked like a yellow box with no top or bottom and one of the sides cut off (the one towards the audience, so that we could see of course). The shades of yellow on the walls would change as the lights projected differently onto them. It created a transient mood/theme for the dances. I also liked seeing that the ballerinas did not all look exactly the same. They were different heights with different body-types, and it was refreshing as compared to the ballets I have watched where all of the dancers have the same exact body.

Joffrey: Mavericks of American Dance (Wednesday, May 22, 2013)

           

            Today I had the pleasure of watching the documentary, Joffrey: Mavericks of American Dance, a film detailing the start and run of the Joffrey Ballet. I found the documentary to be very interesting; it was set up similarly to Ballet Russes. Like Ballet Russes, it combines footage of the performances with interviews of the company’s original members and is spun cleverly into a cohesive and touching mix.

            The film starts off with a bit of historical background on the Joffrey Ballet and its founders, Robert Joffrey and Gerald Arpino, a dynamic duo and gay couple. While Robert Joffrey was a classically trained dancer, Gerald Arpino was an eccentric visionary. Together, they created and reformed ballets that shocked the American audiences with a company known as the first American-formed troupe. Their unique approach combined training young dancers in classical ballet, something that they believed was the basis of all dance, and making them into knowledgeable and versatile dancers, such that when a new choreographer came in, they were able to constantly adapt their style and take on a variety of modern techniques.

            Joffrey even stated that his inspiration was Balanchine’s original company, Ballet Russes, and

later went on to collaborate within the Joffrey Company with Leonide Massine. One thing that was very unique and cool about the Joffrey Company is that they created new ballets that spoke directly towards current events, political and social issues. They showed an antiwar message during the Vietnam War when young American boys were being drafted into the USA’s army and sent oversees. The company had some of their own dancers drafted and even a couple killed in the war.

            The Joffrey Company, like many during this time period, had its fair share of struggles. Dancers had to leave due to their lack of income. The company changed

constantly in order to please backers. But these changes didn’t always please their American audiences. After some turmoil, the Joffrey Company saw a turnaround when Robert Joffrey met renowned singer, Prince, and invited him to a performance. Prince was so inspired by the company’s performance that he allowed them to use all of his songs without royalties. This created a new era for the company in which their ballets took on more of a disco vibe. A lot of the dance moves used were ones the dancers incorporated from their experiences on the dance floors at clubs and parties.

            These types of phases continued as the company fought to survive up until it suffered a tragedy. Robert Joffrey died of AIDS, a disease slaughtering America. Most of the company’s dancers knew of Joffrey’s private battle with AIDS. Even his audiences knew. But it wasn’t spoken of, even by the ruthless journalists of the New York Times. When he died, a part of the company died with him. Several years later, Gerald Arpino died after being artistic director of the Joffrey Company for many years.

            The Joffrey Company continues to flourish today, which I think is incredible due to the many struggles it has faced.

A busy week ahead (Monday, May 20, 2013)

Today has been super busy. I met with Jan this morning to go over what I have done in the past week-ish. Unfortunately this week has been and will be very busy with the Benefit, and as such, there are conflicts with MOST of my ballet classes! Between model rehearsals and vignette practice, I can’t make it to Dance Arts Center in time for the afternoon classes. It sucks that everything is scheduled at the exact same time. I can’t even go to my lunchtime ballet class at the Academy of American Ballet on Friday because Friday is The Benefit! The other day I watched the documentary, Joffrey: Mavericks of American Dance, and wrote a brief review of it so stay tuned for my next post.

Slowly but surely (Friday, May 17, 2013)

Today I took my lunchtime adult ballet class at the Academy of American Ballet in Redwood City. It was fine, as usual. There were more dancers this time, which was definitely a bit overwhelming, and the majority were actually rather advanced, which was intimidating, but the atmosphere at the Academy of American Ballet is very relaxed and welcoming. I took my second class at Dance Arts Center yesterday, the one that was a bit more advanced. It was so scary! I hated it! It was way too advanced for me, and the teacher expected kind of a lot from a beginner. I am so scared to go back, but we will see what happens.

Overall, this week I have enjoyed delving further into the ballet world, but as far as my own technical progress, there isn’t much to say. I imagine it will take a really long time for me to start to see real progress. I am slowly getting more flexible, and I now know the names of basic movements and positions, such that when my teacher says them, I know what to do. The successes of my project so far are: the subject matter truly interests me, I now understand better what my grandma and uncle went through as professional dancers, and my beginning classes will serve as a great jumping-off point for me to continue ballet after the project is over. 

A Review of: Étoiles, Dancers of the Paris Opera Ballet (Thursday, may 16, 2013)

           

            Today I watched the documentary, Étoiles: Dancers of the Paris Opera Ballet. I didn’t realize beforehand that the entire documentary was in French (thankfully with English subtitles), but I guess it was good practice for me since I have taken French as my foreign language of study in high school.

            I didn’t take as detailed notes while watching this documentary because it wasn’t very information-driven. It didn’t really offer any history of the Paris Opera Ballet. It briefly discussed the ranks of the dancers, four categories by competition: Quadrille, Coryphé, Sujet, and Premier Danseur. The status of “Étoile” (which means “star” in French) is not really an actual level; it is more like an honor given to some of the best dancers (only a couple) by the head of the opera, by the artistic director’s suggestion. It also briefly detailed the company’s school, Nanterre, which instructs 150 students from ages eight to eighteen, divided into six levels. Only the best dancers continue to advance through every level.

             Other than those two areas of discussion, the documentary basically showed what was happening with the company during the span of a week. It was nice because none of the other documentaries I have watched have been that honest in the portrayal of the difficulties of being a dancer. This documentary didn’t ‘tell’ the audience like the others did; instead, it ‘showed’ the difficulties and physical demands of the job.

            I enjoyed this documentary and appreciated its honesty. It was not as captivating as Ballerina, the Russian documentary that followed the careers of five ballerinas, because it didn’t have as much of a personal touch; it didn’t make a connection with specific individuals. It was definitely not as captivating as my personal favorite, Ballet Russes, for the same reasons; Ballet Russes was especially touching because of the apparent love and effort that went into its creation.

            I enjoyed Étoiles: Dancers of the Paris Opera Ballet, but it is not a documentary I would be interested in watching twice. I recommend this film if you are interested in the Paris Opera Ballet and want to see some of the grueling difficulties of being a professional dancer.

First class at Dance Arts Center (Wednesday, May 15, 2013)

Today, I was able to start taking classes at Dance Arts Center in San Carlos (not a very flattering portrayal of the outside but the inside studios are very nice). I absolutely loved the class I took today. It was definitely my favorite. Interestingly enough, the teacher was a senior like me and is off next year to the University of California, Irvine, to study dance and participate on the dance team. I was the oldest student in the class by about seven years, which was amusing. But the best part was that these students were just starting out, like me. Some of them were flexible and some were inflexible. Some had taken more than one year and some were very unexperienced. It was the first class I have been to where I felt appropriately placed. From my other experiences (at the Academy of American Ballet), I have been taking class with students who have taken ballet for seven to fifteen years! It definitely gets awkward (to say the least) when we are doing across the floors, and I am just supposed to turn with my hands on my hips while the rest do leaps. I will be doing my second class at Dance Arts Center tomorrow so we will see how that goes. Kevin, who has coordinated my schedule and has been super helpful to me, told me it was a little advanced for me and that I should just do it for the purpose of my project but not continue it after its conclusion.

           

I also went to the Cinderella ballet last week, which was really cool. It was kind of annoying to sit in the way back (legitimately the last row). Everyone else around me had binoculars. It was so difficult to see anything. We were super high up. But the dancing was very beautiful! I had never been to a professional ballet performance before (besides the Nutcracker), so it was a first for me.

Tomorrow I will be watching Étoiles: Dancers of the Paris Opera Ballet so stay tuned for a review!