So it is here! The book that I contributed a chapter/essay in, Joan Denise Moriarty: Ireland's First Lady of Dance was launched last Wednesday.
http://www.corkcitylibraries.ie/eventsnews/latestlibrarynews/mainbody,51894,en.html
and the review:
http://www.irishexaminer.com/opinion/books/rich-tribute-to-moriarty-188174.html
Get your copy NOW! :-) x
Sunday, 25 March 2012
Friday, 10 February 2012
Starvation - The Price For Being A Swan Queen?
Since the La Scala 'scandal' many opinions and hypotheses have emerged as to what could drive a dancer to reach such an extreme point in their lives that they would starve themselves to the point of anorexia. This is an extreme and volatile social taboo. Anorexia still brings with it a stigma of shame and is shrouded in secrecy as it's victims hide themselves away from prying eyes in order to be able to fulfil their goal of beauty, yes, beauty. This is the goal of anorexia. The reason people starve themselves to this point is to attain beauty - the perfect body.
Dance and in particular ballet, has long had to battle the associations with eating disorders from binge eating to bulimia and anorexia. Many dancers (not every one) have suffered and do suffer from a less-than-ordinary relationship with food. The expectation on the dancers of today, and in particular the female dancers of today, is to have the perfect line, the perfect weight and a jaw line you could cut cheese with! What is not explained to these dancers when they are young, is the price that one needs to pay in order to attain this unreasonable body-shape goal. Even with the high cardiovascular and muscle workout that dance provides the expectation of female ballet dancers is a bust-less, fragile waif with razor sharp attack and strength that defies the visual. Some dancers are lucky enough too have a metabolism that allows them to eat all around them and still not gain a pound but most people have to be strict with what they eat while trying to get the most energy out of the least food as possible.
Anorexia is not a problem exclusively reserved for the dance world of course. It affects thousands of young women and men across the globe and is becoming increasingly common among young teens. The body-image projected by current society expects a thin, yet toned and beautifully lean body with a big bust and small waist. This is, of course, totally unreasonable to expect, but no matter how hard the magazines that advocate this image run articles countering this advocation, in the same issue they will have high fashion models in an editorial or on a catwalk with their collar bones sticking out. The problem of anorexia is one that all of society is responsible for and highlighting it and dragging it out of the metaphorical closet will force society to deal with this in a more open way. So people, and specifically the dancer at La Scala who 'outed' her situation, did the right thing. If we hide anorexia away it will get worse, if we force it into the cold light of day then we can deal with it and, hopefully, prevent young girls in ballet companies across the globe from going down the slippery slope of extreme attitudes towards food. Institutions that I have had the pleasure of working or studying in all have comprehensive structures in place for dealing with young dancers and professionals who show signs of struggling with food. Unfortunately this is not the norm across the globe, we should advocate and expect this kind of watchdog approach in all dance-orientated environments.
Dance and in particular ballet, has long had to battle the associations with eating disorders from binge eating to bulimia and anorexia. Many dancers (not every one) have suffered and do suffer from a less-than-ordinary relationship with food. The expectation on the dancers of today, and in particular the female dancers of today, is to have the perfect line, the perfect weight and a jaw line you could cut cheese with! What is not explained to these dancers when they are young, is the price that one needs to pay in order to attain this unreasonable body-shape goal. Even with the high cardiovascular and muscle workout that dance provides the expectation of female ballet dancers is a bust-less, fragile waif with razor sharp attack and strength that defies the visual. Some dancers are lucky enough too have a metabolism that allows them to eat all around them and still not gain a pound but most people have to be strict with what they eat while trying to get the most energy out of the least food as possible.
Anorexia is not a problem exclusively reserved for the dance world of course. It affects thousands of young women and men across the globe and is becoming increasingly common among young teens. The body-image projected by current society expects a thin, yet toned and beautifully lean body with a big bust and small waist. This is, of course, totally unreasonable to expect, but no matter how hard the magazines that advocate this image run articles countering this advocation, in the same issue they will have high fashion models in an editorial or on a catwalk with their collar bones sticking out. The problem of anorexia is one that all of society is responsible for and highlighting it and dragging it out of the metaphorical closet will force society to deal with this in a more open way. So people, and specifically the dancer at La Scala who 'outed' her situation, did the right thing. If we hide anorexia away it will get worse, if we force it into the cold light of day then we can deal with it and, hopefully, prevent young girls in ballet companies across the globe from going down the slippery slope of extreme attitudes towards food. Institutions that I have had the pleasure of working or studying in all have comprehensive structures in place for dealing with young dancers and professionals who show signs of struggling with food. Unfortunately this is not the norm across the globe, we should advocate and expect this kind of watchdog approach in all dance-orientated environments.
Sunday, 5 February 2012
A Question of Age?
With the unexpected retirement of Sergei Polunin from the Royal Ballet a week ago the ballet world has been turned upside down with questions about the real commitment we expect from our young dancers in the 21st century. Polunin is one of the most naturally gifted and technically accomplished dancers I have had the pleasure to see since frequenting the RB performances since 2005 and I was really looking forward to his debut as Romeo in the upcoming production but alas that is not to be.
What causes a dancer to suddenly change his mind about his career? I am guessing that a number of factors affected his decision, both personal and professional, but for me I think the main question would be 'I am devoting my life to this art form and I only have until 40( if I'm lucky-less if I'm a woman) so what will I do for the rest of my life?' Teaching is a vocation, many dancers would not want to go into teaching or many go in and don't last. What do they do then? The clever ones have done degrees as they keep their career afloat on the RB stage - some are photographers, some become dance writers but as a foreign national in a country where perhaps your language skills are not what they should be what do you do? The practicalities of a career in dance become, suddenly, very daunting.
A panic sets in, a panic that you will be dropped (with respect of course but still dropped) at the first sign of injury; that you will always be looking over your shoulder for the next 'young thing' to take the coveted principal roles away from you. A life of constantly questioning your ability and artistic relevance is a very very tough life indeed. Dance is not the only art form that this happens in of course, but it seems that in the dance world this is felt more acutely than say music or the visual arts. At least in music theoretically you can play music until your last breath, you can't do this with dance in the same way. Perhaps it is because dance is so connected to the body, to the corporeal, that it does not allow you to age. Dance demands youthful exuberance and agility on every level - even mime roles require a certain bodily awareness.
Ballet (onstage) does not value the wisdom that comes with age the same way music does, instead it pushes its young apprentices to be mature beyond their years in order to portray a complex role in a complex work. (A contentious statement perhaps and one that has been hotly debated over the years)
Few rise to this challenge - they are the superstars of their generation, many manage with mediocre acting skills and brilliant technical ability but is it fair to expect our young dancers to commit so much of themselves when they have not even lived into their twenties? A nineteen year old can't possibly give the same depth of performance for a role like Manon (Macmillan) as someone in their early thirties. Yet the ballet world will push a young girl to explore these dark themes when she herself may not have experienced anything close to the extreme range of emotions expected by the audience in a work like Manon. Similarly in roles such as Mayerling (Macmillan) for men or Romeo, what we expect from our young male dancers in these roles is nothing short of a miracle. Yet some manage to portray these characters with a maturity beyond their years, but, as I said, many fail.
Some might say Polunin has had a lucky escape. I know from my, relatively minute, dancing experience I think he has - from his twitter updates he needs to get out and live a little and perhaps put things in perspective. Some say he is a fool - to throw away such an illustrious career at such a young age but I would say to those people: perhaps he is showing a maturity beyond his years, perhaps he is thinking about his future, perhaps he is planning ahead and realising that dance is not what he wants his life to be about. Reprimanding him for showing this maturity is an interesting twist. If he showed this kind of maturity onstage he would get 5 stars in the reviews - now he gets called a fool.............I rest my case!
What causes a dancer to suddenly change his mind about his career? I am guessing that a number of factors affected his decision, both personal and professional, but for me I think the main question would be 'I am devoting my life to this art form and I only have until 40( if I'm lucky-less if I'm a woman) so what will I do for the rest of my life?' Teaching is a vocation, many dancers would not want to go into teaching or many go in and don't last. What do they do then? The clever ones have done degrees as they keep their career afloat on the RB stage - some are photographers, some become dance writers but as a foreign national in a country where perhaps your language skills are not what they should be what do you do? The practicalities of a career in dance become, suddenly, very daunting.
A panic sets in, a panic that you will be dropped (with respect of course but still dropped) at the first sign of injury; that you will always be looking over your shoulder for the next 'young thing' to take the coveted principal roles away from you. A life of constantly questioning your ability and artistic relevance is a very very tough life indeed. Dance is not the only art form that this happens in of course, but it seems that in the dance world this is felt more acutely than say music or the visual arts. At least in music theoretically you can play music until your last breath, you can't do this with dance in the same way. Perhaps it is because dance is so connected to the body, to the corporeal, that it does not allow you to age. Dance demands youthful exuberance and agility on every level - even mime roles require a certain bodily awareness.
Ballet (onstage) does not value the wisdom that comes with age the same way music does, instead it pushes its young apprentices to be mature beyond their years in order to portray a complex role in a complex work. (A contentious statement perhaps and one that has been hotly debated over the years)
Few rise to this challenge - they are the superstars of their generation, many manage with mediocre acting skills and brilliant technical ability but is it fair to expect our young dancers to commit so much of themselves when they have not even lived into their twenties? A nineteen year old can't possibly give the same depth of performance for a role like Manon (Macmillan) as someone in their early thirties. Yet the ballet world will push a young girl to explore these dark themes when she herself may not have experienced anything close to the extreme range of emotions expected by the audience in a work like Manon. Similarly in roles such as Mayerling (Macmillan) for men or Romeo, what we expect from our young male dancers in these roles is nothing short of a miracle. Yet some manage to portray these characters with a maturity beyond their years, but, as I said, many fail.
Some might say Polunin has had a lucky escape. I know from my, relatively minute, dancing experience I think he has - from his twitter updates he needs to get out and live a little and perhaps put things in perspective. Some say he is a fool - to throw away such an illustrious career at such a young age but I would say to those people: perhaps he is showing a maturity beyond his years, perhaps he is thinking about his future, perhaps he is planning ahead and realising that dance is not what he wants his life to be about. Reprimanding him for showing this maturity is an interesting twist. If he showed this kind of maturity onstage he would get 5 stars in the reviews - now he gets called a fool.............I rest my case!
Tuesday, 31 January 2012
Book Review - Victoria O Brien A History of Irish Ballet 1927-1963
Review of Victoria O’Brien’s A History of Irish Ballet from 1927-1963
Victoria O’Brien's book, A History of Irish Ballet from 1927-1963 presents an account of the foundation of the Abbey School of Ballet and the legacies it created through the students that studied there and the teachers who taught there. This is a long-awaited and well-researched engagement with regard to ballet in Dublin, but the author curiously ignores all other developments in ballet outside Dublin during the mentioned time-period. Overlooked in the section on the roots of ballet in Ireland is Joan Denise Moriarty [JDM]. She was already working in Mallow towards the end of the Abbey Ballet School (1933/4) and she had studied with Marie Rambert. The patrons of the amateur company (Cork Ballet Company) were Rambert and Alicia Markova. The proposed influence of Diaghilev on ballet in Ireland came from two sources, one from de Valois herself and the other through JDM, JDM having studied with Rambert.
It becomes clear early in chapter one: we are not getting an Irish history we are getting a history of the Abbey School and ballet in Dublin. A total elimination of dance outside Dublin as being worthwhile in the study of ballet in Ireland becomes, sadly, an omission that runs through the book. Un-documented in the study is the first professional ballet company in Ireland, Irish Theatre Ballet [ITB], founded and directed by Joan Denise Moriarty in Cork. This company is falsely labeled a semi-professional company (p.138). ITB had 10 dancers; the first ballet master was the distinguished Stanley Judson, the pianist was Charles Lynch, manager Leslie Horne. It was a touring company bringing ballet all round Ireland during two annual seasons. It received a small grant from the Arts Council, and support from the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, but most of its money was raised on an annual basis from businesses and individual supporters. In this uncertainty lay one of its main problems. In 1963, in an attempt to reduce costs, the Arts Council insisted on a merger of ITB and Patricia Ryan’s company National Ballet Company - the new company being called Irish National Ballet [INB]. But the merger did not solve the financial problem. O’Brien quotes a letter to the paper from Ryan (p.140/1) calling JMD’s competency as a dancer into question. This is used as supporting evidence regarding the reasons for the dissolution of INB. The reasons were, in fact, financial and had nothing to do with competency on any level. The roots of the ITB Company can be traced to the amateur Cork Ballet Company. Since 1947 it had been performing ballets to audiences in Cork and across Munster with guest soloists performing principal roles. This company was responsible for many commissions and re-staging of ballets by Irish composers and helped develop a solid basis for the recruitment of dancers for ITB. Also overlooked in the study is the huge education and outreach efforts made by both CBC and ITB – long before Peter Brinson instigated his “Ballet For All” movement in the UK.
Questions about JDM's qualifications (p.69) to choreograph in the traditional style are unfounded because JDM was a champion Irish step dancer. The suggestion that JDM presented an unacknowledged (Sara Payne) form of the ballet, Fair Rosamunde (p.70) in the CBC opening season (1947) is not true: the programme shows that JDM presented her own ballet Rosamunde based on the story for which Schubert had composed the music. Payne’s libretto was quite different. Further attacks on the integrity of JDM occur in the chapter on the Ballet Club: the suggestion that JDM used Cepta Cullen’s choreography of the ballet An Coitin Dearg without acknowledging her is unfounded (p.112/3), the music score is by a different composer and the JDM ballet is based on the MacLiammoir scenario. With regards to Puck Fair, Moriarty does attribute the original choreography and idea to Cullen in the programmes of 1948 and 1953. Correspondence between Cullen and Moriarty illuminates the discussion between the two on the best way to stage the ballet, as Moriarty did not have enough male dancers to re-stage the Cullen version. Cullen suggests she do her own version (letter dated 9 March 1948).
The disturbing subtext of anything outside Dublin being unworthy of documenting is carried into the conclusions of the study. The theory that JDM blurred the past and presents herself as the sole heir to the throne of Irish ballet is presented as one of the main conclusions of this study. The Cork Ballet Company programme of 1972 did state that when JDM began to work for ballet there had been no ballet tradition in Ireland. That is surely true if we compare it to the traditions of Russia or France – or, indeed, the one Britain had built for itself at this stage. All of the work done for ballet in Ireland since 1927 can be said to have been a novel undertaking - 5 years of professional ballet do not constitute a tradition in the normal sense of the word. It is, therefore, surely entirely unjustified to maintain that JDM ‘consciously or not’ eclipsed any past achievements in ballet in Ireland.
While this is a very useful history of ballet in Dublin it is not, as the title states, a history of ballet in Ireland.
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