Ballet Modern Dance

Author Jack Anderson, declares in his book, Ballet and Modern Dance: A Concise History that “as long as men and woman have lived upon this earth, they have danced.” Anderson explains further that “moving through a world that is itself in motion, people have always danced out their feelings about that world.” The most influential of ancient Western civilizations was that of Greece. Believing that art dance was divinely dispersed, the Greeks allowed the art to play an important part in religion, education and theatre.

Susan Au expresses in her book, Ballet and Modern Dance, that “the dancers in the earliest ballets were not the highly skilled professionals of today. Instead, they were usually notable amateurs, often led by the king or queen.

The age of Romanticism thus emphasized the role of the female dancer and over the course of the century the male dancer suffered a loss of prestige (Au). Woman such as Fanny Elssler and Marie Taglioni, dominated the Romantic ballet era, proving that men had taken a subsidiary place in ballet. Susan Au explains that Romantic Ballet did not appear overnight, but instead, took time to grow and develop. Many of its characteristics were anticipated by developments in the late 18th century and early 19th century ballet (Au). An example of this would be the adoption of the soft, close-fitting slipper that allowed the ballerina to rise to the tips of her toes (giving rise to point technique). Another example, which is considered the most important technological invention of the era, was gas lighting. This allowed for a more subtle and varied range of effects than the oil lamps. The illusion of moonlight became so important to the Romantic Ballet (Au). However, by the close of the century, according to Susan Au, “ballet in Western Europe had reached a very low point. The great choreographers of the Romantic era were dead, and no new talents had

It has become extraordinarily diverse, often rivalling ballet in glamour and fantasy, onstage and off.” She also states that “modern dance companies have proliferated worldwide and have proved themselves flexible enough to accommodate infusions of many different traditional and folk dance forms, as well as other movement disciplines.” Clark and Crisp argue that “In the rest of Europe, as in the rest of the world, ballet and various forms of modern dance reflect national expectations and national needs. In France, determined financial support from governmental sources stimulated a buoyant creativity in modern dance during the 1970’s and 1980’s. In Germany, an earlier tradition of free dance has surfaced again in the work of such creators as Pina Bausch in Wuppertal, where her angry, anguished dance theatre concentrates on the psychological tensions and isolations of modern life.” Clark and Crisp close their book by claiming that “theatre dance continues, adapts and expands around the globe. Ballet, as has so often been said, speaks an international language, but it speaks with very different accents in different countries. To enjoy ballet to the full we must remember this and accept the dancing of other nations on their own terms, avoiding that prejudice which can lead us to reject work that does not conform to preconceived