By: Joanne Craig

Joanne Craig — Mon, 22 Apr 2019 19:12:06 +0000

The comment above is much more generous than I am prepared to be as I am so heartily sick of the Hollywood Black Swan trope – this article struck a nerve.
Firstly, I think it goes without saying that if you look to any work of art created in 1841 through the lens of contemporary gender equity issues, you are going to find it is rooted firmly in its time and it should be viewed with that understanding. You don’t mention a single contemporary story ballet so your sample seems a bit narrow. Can I suggest you try the Akram Khan Giselle, Annabelle Ochoa’s Broken Wings (Friday Kahlo) or Alexei Ratmansky Romeo and Juliet for a better take on how classical ballet is being revisited in 21st century? Classical ballet may be slow to adapt but it is adapting.
I also need to point out that your wildly sexist and dismissive view that men in ballet are solely defined by their “bulging codpiece and delineated buttocks” is just as troublesome the stereotype to which ballerinas have been subjected – and which you decry.
Lastly, any high-level athletic endeavour exacts a physical toll-not just ballet. Today’s ballerina reflects the strength, intelligence and fierce determination that we prize as characteristics of the “modern woman” and more and more women are in positions of power-look at Karen Kain at the helm at The National Ballet of Canada and 50 years in to her career in ballet.
It is easy to write yet another cliché ridden article about how ballet is soooo backward and regurgitate sensational news stories instead of doing ones homework and writing an intelligent article about where the art form it is actually going and what is exciting about it.
On that note, maybe check out the show mentioned above (sounds interesting)-you definitely need to expand your viewpoint.

By: Julia Gleich

Julia Gleich — Mon, 22 Apr 2019 14:05:58 +0000

Dear Paula,
I am glad your article came up in my aggregator this morning. The issues you address are relevant, though I think ballet is certainly not limited to the classics, nor are men en pointe an anomaly. My ballets have included men dancing en pointe just as the women and we have women of different shapes and sizes. I think you are advocating for more breadth of vision for ballet, while grappling with its ironic appeal as a classical/traditional/sexist art form. How can we keep the baby and throw out the bathwater? Come see our work producing female collaborations arts/choreography collaborations using pointe, called CounterPointe, to get a look at some new approaches that might get us away from pink satin fantasies. http://nortemaar.org/projects/counterpointe7/

Comments on: The Paradox of Pointe

By: Joanne Craig

By: Julia Gleich