- Joined
- Sep 10, 2005
At risk of a ballet diversion, I'd say that figure skating should most closely look at ABT's philosophy, which could be simplified as "There's a place for Petipa's ethnic dances and variations in a story-structure ballet, and there's a place for Ballanchine and his plotless ballets that are about pure movement in space. Just because you dance one does not mean you can NEVER EVER dance the other." In figure skating, there's a place for technical demands and a place for artistry. The problem is not so much it's more limited in what's possible but that in ballet the only limits are what the public or sponsors will pay to see. In eligible skating, the limits are what the judges reward. If they insist on rewarding skaters who are apparently tone-deaf, or in my opinion worse, skaters who take a piece of music and "interpret" it in a way that makes absolutely no sense, then artistry and musicality will become increasingly less important until it really is just a trick contest.
And note that, according to Farrell (who, despite the well-known rift over her marriage, has always been very devoted to Mr. B's dance philosophy) even Ballanchine said that there was some music that wasn't dancible, because it wasn't composed with any sort of movement in mind. So new/unusued isn't necessarily better.
As you can probably tell, I am a bit of a fan of Mr. B myself, though really I don't always ENJOY his ballets. (Honestly, even the one most non-balletomanes are probably familiar with, his 'Nutcracker', is not a favorite of mine. I prefer the Royal Ballet's staging.) I think a certain degree of what he did could actually translate to the ice, not literally but philosophically--it's about making shapes in space with the human body. I wonder what he might have done, as while you can't do pointe work in skates, you can do other things that are impossible in dance shoes--like a smooth glide backwards in arabesque (ie a spiral.) The speed and smoothness in skating creates a new dimension you don't have in ballet.
And note that, according to Farrell (who, despite the well-known rift over her marriage, has always been very devoted to Mr. B's dance philosophy) even Ballanchine said that there was some music that wasn't dancible, because it wasn't composed with any sort of movement in mind. So new/unusued isn't necessarily better.
As you can probably tell, I am a bit of a fan of Mr. B myself, though really I don't always ENJOY his ballets. (Honestly, even the one most non-balletomanes are probably familiar with, his 'Nutcracker', is not a favorite of mine. I prefer the Royal Ballet's staging.) I think a certain degree of what he did could actually translate to the ice, not literally but philosophically--it's about making shapes in space with the human body. I wonder what he might have done, as while you can't do pointe work in skates, you can do other things that are impossible in dance shoes--like a smooth glide backwards in arabesque (ie a spiral.) The speed and smoothness in skating creates a new dimension you don't have in ballet.