The Dream Makers’ Ballet
Long before there was a ‘Dr. McDreamy’ on TV’s “Grey’s Anatomy”, there were two McDreamy entertainers who lit up the performance stage. Brought together through collaboration with modern choreographer Twyla Tharp were a McDreamy ballet dancer named Mikhail Baryshnikov and a McDreamy crooner named Frank Sinatra. This team created a dream performance with Tharp’s contemporary choreography and Baryshnikov’s elegant ballet interpretation of her creativity set to the recorded sounds of sensational Sinatra.
Although ballet took on a new look with the abstract terpsichoreans of Balanchine, this 1984 piece for me was the onset of contemporary ballet. While certainly not the first time the discipline was showcased, I believe it was the performance that brought the art form to center stage and into the awestruck eyes of the welcoming public. It took the genius of these three dream makers to catch the attention of the skeptics of the dance genre.
Dreams became reality. Audiences welcomed the change with thunderous applause. This new dream maker’s balletic style was a success on stage and went on to become a huge hit with teachers and students alike in studios across the country.
Photo by Gene Schiavone
Studio teachers took the necessary steps to create new pieces for their well-trained ballet students. In return, their dancers welcomed the new innovation and freedom of style to feel more in touch with the daily world around them. Hoards of students grasped the art form and made it their own.
Let’s revisit the influential helm that Balanchine birthed into US dance. The fusion of modern concepts with classical ballet became his signature style. His choice of non-classical modern musical accompaniment and his plotless productions were his major contributions to dance. He was a true rebel in the dance world with one of his early pieces set in 1923 performed in bare feet.
I learned a lot from Balanchine’s experimental style…well, not personally of course, but by attending performances of the Miami City Ballet Company for the past 15 years. Under the direction of Edward Villella, a protégé of Balanchine, the company presents marvelous contemporary works from the New York City Ballet repertoire, plus works from new resident choreographer Jimmy Gamonet De Los Heros. Four times a year, I engulfed myself into these enjoyable Sunday afternoon performances.
Although brilliant in their performance, I hardly ever watched the principal dancers. I concentrated on the corps de ballet and their seamless staging so skillfully set by both choreographers. I learned so much from being a balletomane, and I had a good time too.
Did I then go back to the studio and set a ballet piece? No, I didn’t, but my tap and jazz production pieces sure did benefit from my afternoon at the ballet! I drew inspiration for new routines from my memories of the Balanchine and Gamonet De Los Heros staging, but replaced the ballet technique with tap and jazz. It was challenging at times, but always most rewarding when I viewed the end result.
For many reasons, I value contemporary ballet. In addition to those mentioned above, contemporary ballet has encouraged students to go forward with their classical ballet training, knowing that it is definitely based on the technique of classical ballet. It has opened up a new dance art form and thus expanded dance horizons for many a dance studio and dance student. Contemporary ballet has provided a much-needed variety for setting new works on all dancers here and abroad. And last but by no means least, it is enjoyable and pleasurable for ticket-buying, dance-supporting audience members throughout the world…including me. Let’s chat! You can contact me at daniebeck@danceruniverse.com.