History of Ballet

The precursors to modern ballet can be traced as far back as the fifteenth century. Even though ballet expanded and developed all throughout Europe from the fifteenth century on, it was not until the early twentieth century that ballet became prominent in the United States. According to Amberg (1946) the United States had no real tradition of ballet or dance incorporated into its historical development. As such, when Serge de Diaghilev brought his Ballets Russes to the United States in 1916, the American public had never seen anything like it before. Amberg goes on to note that Diaghilev struggled to bring his ballet to Russia and Europe for a number of years. With no real success, Diaghilev decided to try his luck in the United States. Although Diaghilev's Ballets Russes was somewhat different from traditional European ballet in terms of technique and tempo, the American public responded well to the new art form.

After America's first introduction to ballet in 1916, various modern dancers and artists began to consider how ballet could be incorporated into their current acts. Foulkes (2002) notes that between 1916 and the early 1930s, many modern dancers incorporated ballet into existing vaudeville acts. Even though small ballet studios began developing in the US, modern dancers were more interested in how ballet could be used to advance the modern forms of dance and entertainment that had already been established in American culture. "Isadora Duncan and Loïe Fuller began dancing in ways distinct from ballet and the dance done in vaudeville shows, freeing movement from the constraining technique of ballet and the flashiness of vaudeville and using it to convey philosophical, religious, or artistic ideas and beliefs" (p. 9). While these new forms of dance did not replace ballet, they did introduce new forms of movement, some of which were eventually incorporated into ballet.

Despite the fact that ballet was first introduced to the United States in 1916, it was not until the early 1930s, the steps were taken to formalize the development of a ballet company in the US. Adshead-Lansdale and Layson (1994) note that in 1933, Lincoln Kirstein an American visiting Paris invited one of Diaghilev protégés, George Balanchine, to come to the United States a develop a ballet school for American dancers. Balanchine accepted the offer and in 1934 the School of American Ballet was opened in New York. After almost two decades of being performed in the United States, ballet had finally found a home for aspiring young women seeking to learn this art.

As ballet began to mark its development in the United States, researchers examining the history of this art have noted that a specific structure in the ballet dance company began to develop. According to Hering (1994), "When Americanballet companies were first founded during the early years of this century, their artistic directors were responsible for everything. They trained their dancers, created much of the repertoire, staged the performances, attended to the fund raising, and motivated their boards" (p. 23). Thus, when George Balanchine assumed responsibility for the School of American Ballet, he also assumed responsibility for a host of other production issues. Although Hering notes that this structure subsequently changed over the course of time, it is clear that in the early years of ballet in the United States, the artistic directors assumed considerable responsibility for the development of this art form.

In the early days of modern ballet, much of what was taught and learned in this context was predicated upon the development of ballet and modern dance in Europe. Thus, it is not surprising to find that ballet in the United States did not begin to expand and evolve until after the First World War. Foulkes (2002) in her examination of this time period notes that the changes that were occurring in American culture and society created an environment of change in the arts. As such, ballet was given the opportunity to grow and assume a uniquely American flavor in its development. "The trickling effects of World War I, rapid changes prompted by the technology of the machine age, and the boom and then swoop of the economy created a ferment that could not be ignored, and artists seized the opportunity to define a new role for the arts in the United States" (p. 2). Foulkes goes on to note that the development of ballet in the United States was precipitated by both interest in the art form and the desire for artists to escape the oppression that had been created in the post-War era.

Foulkes goes on to argue that the oppression that had been placed on society as a result of the further mechanization in the wake of World War I promoted dancers to seek a wide audience. "In the 1930s modern dancers shaped their art form within the democratic, pluralist Popular Front thrust of the times and attempted to appeal to a large audience, from workers in labor unions to townspeople in rural areas of the Midwest" (p. 5). Not surprisingly, this attitude changed in the wake of the onset of the Second World War. According to Foulkes:

The changing political climate of the 1940s was one reason that in the wake of World War II modern dancers shed their efforts to appeal to a mainstream audience and gravitated to a less constraining setting in colleges and universities and among the avant-garde. Because of their commitment to flouting both aesthetic and social conventions, modern dancers shifted their goals in the postwar years; most modern dancers chose iconoclasm, conforming their art to intellectual ideals (p. 5).

Ballet dancers and artists lead this trend by pushing for the development of an art form that captured the spirit and ideology of the American culture.

When it was introduced to America, ballet presented a host of problems for professionals that had been trained in modern dance. As noted by Foulkes, modern dancers in the United States had been trained by "allowing the movement to flow out from the chest through the arms and legs...to start each movement from the center-the seat of the heart and lungs-and soul" (p. 14). Ballet was notably different because it required "concentrating on legs and feet, stiffly holding [the] neck, and keeping the spine immovable" (p. 14). As such, the specific context of ballet was notably different than any art form that had previously been introduced to the American public. Foulkes speculates that the notable differences of this art form are what spurred so much interest in expanding the technique and applying it to existing forms of dance. It is as if modern dancers wanted to see what would happen when the two or more dance forms were combined together.

By the 1940s, modern dance and ballet began to form a harmonious union as America began to develop its own unique from of ballet. Foulkes argues that, "In technique the new ballets rarely focused on delicate pointe work or traditional pas-dedeux partnering. Instead, they featured stylized folk dances and everyday motions to convey character and narrative. Modern dance loosened ballet technique, and both forms shared nationalist themes" (p. 154). By the mid-1940s, American ballet was garnering critical acclaim as production companies began to develop modern ballets focused on an expanded synthesis of modern dance and ballet. As modernism moved into the war years, ballet took over the concert dance scene by using the freedom of movement opened up by modern dance and drawing on popular stories and themes of the American past" (p. 158).

Through the process of development, American ballet garnered considerable support from public and private financers. As World War II drew on, modern dancers were faced with the realization that funding and support for ballet in the United States had reached an all time high. This made it even more difficult for modern dancers to find the funding and support that they needed to remain a viable force in American culture. Foulkes argues that it was during this time period that ballet became a prominent social and cultural form. In addition to the fact that ballet had become the predominant cultural choice, Foulkes also notes that, "modern dance itself suffered from a "preoccupation with the intellectual and the abstract" and was losing its audience because of this concern" (p. 169). Thus, as a result of the expanding popularity of ballet and the collapse of modern dance, ballet was able to become the cultural choice among most American art patrons.

After World War II dance in the US began to further diffuse into mainstream society as Broadway become a popular venue for plays and other forms of entertainment. In the post-World War II era, ballet began to be incorporated into a host of other theatrical and dance forms. Foulkes notes that it is at this point that American ballet began to decline. Much like other art forms that had been developed in the United States, ballet was unable to remain a stand alone art form. Rather, as ballet became incorporated into other art forms, it began to lose its overall support. "That diffusion, however, also contributed to its inability to gain institutional support or financial stability, or to retain and market its beginnings as an original American art form" (p. 178). In the late 1950s, during the Cold War era, American ballet was able to make a brief comeback as a means for the United States to express its cultural dominance over Russia-from which George Balanchine had immigrated. Despite this, the overall prominence of ballet in American society continued to decline in the post-World War II era.

Even though American ballet has not regained the prominence that it enjoyed in the 1930s and 40s, Adshead-Lansdale and Layson (1994) note that in the early 1970s, concern over the status of both American ballet and modern dance prompted philanthropists to establish a number of ballet and modern dance companies. The proliferation of ballet organizations during this time period appears to have had a positive impact on retaining ballet as a notable cultural art form. Adshead-Lansdale and Layson report that while some of the ballet schools and organizations that were developed in the 1970s have subsequently folded, this period of investment in the arts solidified the establishment of ballet in American culture. Although some ballet companies continue to struggle to find funding for their projects, there are currently a number of well established and well funded ballet schools and companies all across the United States. Hence, even though it has been difficult for ballet supporters to garner the financial resources necessary to carry on the tradition of ballet, there are a plethora of thriving organizations to carry on this art form.

Conclusion

The history and development of ballet in the United States clearly demonstrates how differences in the specific techniques of American dancers differ from those of European dancers. When ballet first made its debut in early twentieth century America, the modern dance movement was beginning to take hold. Although modern dance was quite population, its nature and context was antithetical to the rigidity that was supported in the context of ballet. While modern dancers struggled to integrate the two forms, the end result was a change in ballet techniques rather than the evolution of modern dance to a higher art form. Even though this outcome has been viewed as bane for the development of modern dance, the end result has been the creation of American ballet: a unique dance form that captures the true nature and spirit of both ballet and American culture.

Although American ballet appears to have been quite popular in the 1930s and 40s, it is evident that the evolution of modern dance and theater in the US promoted its overall decline in the post-World War II era. During this time, ballet was expanded and incorporated into a host of other physical art forms. Even though this appears to indicate the popularity of ballet overall, this process served as the impetus for the decline of ballet as a stand alone art form in the 1950s and 60s. While American ballet was never in any real danger of becoming an extinct art form, it is evident that notable revitalization of interest that took place in American ballet in the early 1970s will ensure the longevity and survivability of ballet well into the future. Despite the fact that interest in ballet is not as high as it was in the early 1970s, there are a host of organizations and companies across the US that keep American ballet alive. Because of the continued growth and evolution of American ballet future generations will be able to enjoy this art form and better understand how art effectively translates society and culture.

References

Amberg, G. (1946). Art in Modern Ballet. New York: Parthenon Books.

Adshead-Lansdale, J., & Layson, J. (1994). Dance History: An Introduction. London: Routledge.

Foulkes, J.L. (2002). Modern Bodies: Dance and American Modernism from Martha Graham to Alvin Ailey. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press.

Hering, D. (1994). The Marks magic. World & I, 9(1), 118-123.

Wiley, H.C. (2006). History of ballet. University of Washington. Accessed April 12, 2006 at: http://depts.washington.edu/danceco/mod_X_bal_hist.doc.