Globalization, Habitus, and the Balletic Body (original) (raw)
Related papers
Ethereal Expression: Paradoxes of Ballet as a Global Physical Culture
Ethnography, 2008
Set in 19th-century Romanticism, classical ballets are still playing to full opera houses across the globe. This article explores paradoxes of time, cultural capital and gender in ballet as a global physical culture on- and off-stage. Drawing on ethnography of three national ballet companies in Stockholm, London and New York and a contemporary company in Frankfurt-am-Main, I suggest that classical
Context: The ballet institution is known for its aesthetic and performative standards. In professional dancers' everyday lives, self-improvement and body awareness entwine with striving for artistic excellence. In this context, 'health' has primarily been explored in relation to eating disorders, pain, and injuries. Aim: This paper explores dancers' health practices, namely how they are shaped by the ballet institution and how they relate to broader health discourses. Methodology: A reflexive thematic analysis was conducted upon interviews with nine dancers (each interviewed twice) using a theoretical framework based on the concepts of greedy institutions and biopedagogies. Analyses: Two themes were developed: What it takes to be an 'insider' of the ballet institution and Learning to develop an acute embodied self-awareness. Dancers described ballet as a 'lifestyle' rather than a 'job'; practices of self-care defined by continuous self and body work were framed as necessary to meet the demands of this lifestyle. Participants 'played with' institutional and societal norms, often resisting docile bodies promoted within the ballet institution. Conclusion: Dancers' constructions of health and the art of ballet as not fitting neatly into 'good' nor 'bad' make room to consider the tensions between adopting and resisting dominant health discourses in this institution.
2014
This article is a result of a small-scale interview-based study that explored the social conditions of ballet and contemporary dance production in the city of Glasgow, Scotland. This study draws on interviews given by twelve professional dancers and choreographers both freelancers and company based, who for the purposes of this research offered to share their experiences of studying and making dance. More specifically, this article aspires to map the social conditions of possibility of dancing and making dance, drawing on the class condition and career trajectories of those individuals who became dancers. With the aid of Bourdieu’s (1984; 1990; 1993a) concepts of ‘capitals’ (economic, social, cultural and physical), ‘habitus’ and ‘trajectories’, this piece of work will discuss how class conditions give or limit access to vocational training as a career pathway to dance. It is argued that, although the social origin of this sample presents relative variety, dance is an activity that demands different types of support, which are eventually more accessible to those social groups with more assets.
Dancing Beyond the Patriarchy: Ballet’s Capacity to Be Reimagined for a New Generation of Women
2020
Ballet, an artform conceived in the French courts of royalty, is rooted in elitist European and patriarchal ideals. In the United States today, and particularly in the field's highest echelons, these ideals are often perpetuated through the practice, production and performance of ballet. In this thesis, the author claims that ballet has the capacity to be reimagined for feminist and egalitarian ideals through pedagogical reform, enforcement of body positivity, and choreographic restructuring of the movement vocabulary. The work of pedagogues, dancers, choreographers and artistic directors are reviewed to show instances in which artists have challenged ballet's norms, and even pushed culture towards a more egalitarian future. The restructuring of ballet's movement vocabulary is focused on in particular. Such instances of choreographic restructuring include women and men sharing more equal amounts of their weight with each other, thereby signifying egalitarian ideals and dismantling sexist notions of women being physically weaker than men. Additionally, women lifting other women with the use of ballet vocabulary and partnering techniques, and the presentation of queer romantic relationships through the classical narrative format also dismantle heteronormative ideals. Ultimately, the author asserts that ballet is capable of being reimagined for feminist and egalitarian ideals.
Between Resistance and Restraint: The Corporeal Practice of Ballet in a University Classroom
Congress on Research in Dance Conference Proceedings, 2008
This essay uses ballet as an example of how dance can be rooted in a discourse of difference that women must learn to overcome. Contributing to the growing research on ballet produced by Jennifer Fisher (and others), this article explores the practice of ballet from the perspective of three female students enrolled in a university-level intermediate ballet class. Based on ethnographic material that was brought together by observing the body practices in the ballet classroom and interviewing the students about their experience with ballet, I explore the intersection between ballet and the lives of the female participants. In describing how the students understand their bodies in relation to the rigid structures of ballet, I show that it is precisely those structures that imbue the students with a sense of agency and self-expression. I also reveal that by conforming to the structures of ballet, the students are achieving higher levels of thinking that allow them to negotiate their eve...