The author, who’s name is way to complicated spell and long, so she will be referred to as “the author” hereafter, discusses the concept of ballet being categorized as a form of ethnic dance for western culture, an assertion with which I agree. She describes the relevant literature of the study of dance being ethnocentric and inadequate for the analysis of other dance forms beside that of western culture. In describing the literature she has gone through, a theme of marginalization occurs when scholars are not analyzing the value and impact of western art. The belief is embodied by the usage of specific terminology like primitive, ethnic, and folk dance, all of which carry a stigma of inferiority to the precise beauty of western dance. They are written off as spontaneous, inexact, no technique or artistry, and being on the verge of orgy (the author highlights other assumptions of characteristics involved in traditional dance). These characteristics are often misleading; the author shows this in the examples she uses, specifically Hopi dance and its traditions. She discusses how the definitions western society has for dance further convolutes the picture of traditional dance. This discussion moves into the characteristics of ballet that exemplify the attributes of western society that are virtues. Considering that western society is comprised of multiple countries and backgrounds she considers ballet a form of international dance. The nature of ballet explicitly portrays many characteristics that are constantly present in western society, some are: religion, sex, perfection, fear, beauty, love, misunderstanding, self-sacrifice, emotional and physical suffering, as well as tragedy (40). All of these aspects contribute to ballet being viewed as a form of ethnic dance, as well as being an example of ethno-aesthetics.
In the section above, which I summarized the aesthetic aspects of western culture that make ballet an ethnic dance, it is clear that this an ethno-aesthetic analysis of ballet. The author describes specific aspects of ballet that reflect the culture of western society. All of the present characteristics mentioned above are aspects of western culture that are seen everyday, by every person within it. Specifically sex and beauty, which are highly present in ballet, are perfect examples of this truth. An individual in western society cannot go through daily routine without seeing imagery of sex or beauty. Advertising is ripe with these two characteristics and considering the commercialization within western culture; a person cannot go more than a day without being reminded of sex and beauty within any kind of advertisement. The high prevalence of the rest of the characters, which I will not get into in the interest of time, also exemplify this belief, and make the ethno-aesthetic analysis of ballet very fruitful.
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| Good example of the characteristics discussed by the author (plus I've liked Aronofsky since his Pi days) |
Here's something interesting: In the early days of ballet, people used to want to see the "stony" or "icy" ballerina. She was to keep a cold straight face. No smiling or facial expression. Now, when you go to an audition, they tell you half the audition is your acting ability. You're supposed to smile and be animated. Maybe because the audience wants to be drawn in, they want to see sexuality, or excitement, sadness, etc like they do on their advertisements. Otherwise, it would be boring.
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