Saturday Matinee

Tiit Helimets in Tomasson’s Giselle. © Erik Tomasson

Watching San Francisco Ballet’s Program 5 showcasing great modern choreography (reviewed here) and especially its avant-garde piece, Eden/Eden, got me thinking about the future of ballet. As I’ve mentioned before, it’s exciting that great modern ballet pieces are still being created, as the ones showcased in Program 5. But how does this figure in with the great classical works, such as Giselle and Swan Lake? Is there room in one company, to satisfy both ends of the spectrum? Is one going to be phased out, in place of the other?

As sfmike mentioned in the comment below, the classical and the modern tend to “nurture” each other, in a symbiotic sort of relationship. Classical ballet is a foundation for the technique that’s tweaked by modern choreography. However, I can’t help but to think of a metaphor (I’m going to pull a metaphor from my other life in medicine) – it reminds me of the medical students who enrolled in Latin classes in order to help them with learning the Latin-based terminology for medicine. Latin can help, but precious little, and you could do without it as I have. Is this true for modern ballet as well? We can all appreciate modern ballet without liking or even having watched Giselle. Could we all survive and be happy without classical works? Is it just a ruse that classical works are necessary to round out a company’s repertoire, or are they keeping them in to satisfy the purists and dance elitists? Are classical works merely going to be stepping stones to modern choreography?

It’s no secret that some classical works, such as La Sylphide and Coppelia, are rarely being danced today. And even the classical works that are being performed, such as San Francisco Ballet’s Giselle, are being made over to make it more palatable to modern audiences. So in a way, classical works are already being modified. Perhaps this is inevitable. It’s hard to say that this isn’t necessarily a bad thing. On the other hand, I’m the first to admit I probably wouldn’t enjoy sitting through a 3-4 hour traditional Sleeping Beauty either.

I’m also thinking of modern audiences, especially to those who are new to ballet. I’ve recommended Program 5 to my scientist non-ballet friends, who ended up loving it, especially Eden/Eden. How are these newer audiences, ever going to appreciate the technicalities of Swan Lake? Is it really just a matter of taste if they haven’t been exposed to these pieces and just refuse to see them? And if this is the audience of the future, will that mean that classical works will be phased out because there is less of a demand for them?

I’m an audience member with high and particular standards, who loves classical works as well as good modern choreography. My fear is that classical works will become more and more obscure. It’s great to view great modern works, such as Morris’ Mozart Dances or Wheeldon’s After the Rain. Classics are timeless for a reason, and hopefully they’ll persist in modern repertoire even though I can see the progression towards placing less importance on them.