Shulgold: Love it or hate it, ballet moves you

Published September 30, 2006 at midnight

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Last month two high-profile critics locked horns over an intriguing topic: Does ballet matter?

Devil's advocate Lewis Segal, longtime Los Angeles Times dance writer, wrote that a hatred of ballet is "reasonable, even necessary." A couple of days later, The New York Times critic John Rockwell came to ballet's defense.

Neither was totally persuasive: Segal, one would hope, actually likes ballet, since he's been covering dance for decades in Los Angeles. Yet, he complained that dancers have become "obedient classical athletes," and scolded ballerinas for wishing to look pretty rather than project a clear dramatic intent.

Rockwell, in response, seemed to take more pleasure in attacking Segal than praising classical dance.

Rather than get into some loud argument, let's discuss this like grown-ups, using Colorado Ballet's Giselle, opening this weekend at the Ellie, as evidence.

Fact is, ballet should be adored. And hated. Here's why:

Reasons to hate ballet

• Silly plots: So, poor Giselle finds out her beau Albrecht has lied to her. Like that's never happened. Rather than hook up with the boy next door, Hilarion (who's loved her all along), she goes insane with grief and dies. For all his good intentions, Hilarion ends up in the lake, while that scam artist Albrecht gets a reprieve. A similar goofiness infects every other full-length ballet.

• The weight of tradition: Everything seems to be based on the way it's always been done: the ungainly costumes, miming, formulaic mix of ensemble dances, pas de deux, divertissements, etc. While Giselle does skip the requirement of a grand finale, its paper-thin story line requires that it spend too much time on mindless dancing. And those tired mime clichés! Point to left ring finger ("Let's get married"), hold two fingers aloft ("I speak the truth"), place hands over heart with pained expression ("But I love you/her"). Ridiculous.

• The air of superiority: Those who love ballet often deem those who don't as beneath contempt. Anyone who finds the art form to be boring (which it can be) are dismissed as boors. Which, of course, adds another reason to stay away. Beginners who are willing to try a lovely work such as Giselle should not feel intimidated, but often do when surrounded by loud balletomanes. Thank goodness for those hilarious guys in Les Ballets Trockadero, who don tutus and lampoon every cliché, starting with the self-love of prima ballerinas: "Madame Tchikaboumskaya wishes to announce that she is in a wonnnnnderful mood tonight."

Reasons to love ballet

• The beauty of dance: A ballerina perched on point, or taking flight in a jeté, or sharing an intimate moment with her male partner during an exquisite love duet. Nothing can match it - anywhere.

• The power of movement: Sometimes, we get sick of talk. "Say one more word and I'll scream," cries Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady. There's no need for Albrecht to give voice to his despair and guilt over sending his beloved Giselle to an early grave. Watch as his shock and disbelief at reuniting with her ghostly visage turns to elation and rekindled love. The two then engage in a deeply moving pas de deux, for which words would only destroy the profundity.

• The glory of music: We know and adore Tchaikovsky's tunes for Nutcracker, Swan Lake and Sleeping Beauty. And Adolphe Adam's score for Giselle is also ripe with lovely melodies. Nothing can touch the music that accompanies the title character's devastating mad scene: It is the same tune that supported her early feelings of love, but now it drips with unconcealed sadness.

• The magic of spectacle: We love watching star dancers in the spotlight, but it's a major thrill as the stage fills with 20 ghostly Wilis appearing out of the darkness in Act Two of Giselle. Quite a contrast to Act One, with its picturesque scenes of colorfully garbed peasants merrily folk- dancing.

• The magnificence of the human body: Don't even think about emulating the poses, lifts, turns and leaps, performed effortlessly by ballet dancers. Decades of unrelenting work (along with some serious muscle and tendon stretching) are required to become a lighter-than-air artist. We only dream of flying, but dancers seem to defy gravity with casual ease.

So much for the pros and cons. Where does all this leave us? Perhaps, ballet has outlived its relevance - that its unswerving devotion to tradition and its corny onstage antics have nothing to say to today's audiences.

True, ballet has become too elitist for its own good (we'll leave The Nutcracker out of the discussion). It's evolved, sadly, into an entertainment catering to a limited audience that's growing older by the day. Ballet's youthful admirers consist mostly of young girls who take dance lessons, and who view the ballerina as the ultimate feminine role model. Many will one day marry men who'd prefer a dental appointment to attending Giselle or Swan Lake.

Which is a shame. Love it or hate it, ballet seeks to celebrate human perfection. I never tire of its loveliness. No matter how many productions I've attended (even all those Nutcrackers), I am still moved by the sheer beauty of a dancer in motion.

Great art represents the highest form of human expression. Too many of us seem embarrassed by that. Has our age become so cynical that it feels more comfortable with crude ugliness, blasted at full volume?

Giselle on DVD

Teatro alla Scala Orchestra and Ballet, conducted by David Coleman. (TDK)

Ballerinas who have triumphed in the title role: Carla Fracci, Margot Fonteyn, Merle Park, Alicia Markova, Natalia Makarova.

Who's starring now? The challenging mix of technical and theatrical demands in Giselle brings out the best in a dramatic dancer. In this production, the brilliant Bolshoi star Svetlana Zakharova captivates, bringing a gentle sweetness (rather than a cloying naveté) to her characterization.

Also worth watching: Albrecht is performed by the La Scala stalwart, Roberto Bolle - he and Zakharova make a lovely couple. Marta Romagna, as Myrtha, and a gorgeous corps of 24 Wilis add just the right tension to the Second Act.

Worth noting: This DVD doesn't surpass the fabled Nureyev-Fracci film (available on Hardy Classics DVD), but its sharply captured digital look and sound make it an ideal introduction to a classic.

Marc Shulgold is the music and dance writer. Shulgoldm@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5296

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