Neoclassical Ballet Guide: 5 Elements of Neoclassical Ballet

Neoclassical ballet is a style of ballet that emphasizes fast-paced movements, minimalistic set and costume design, and abstract storylines, and de-emphasizes pointe work (the dance technique in which ballet dancers balance on their toes).

In a neoclassical ballet, costumes, which are often simple leotards, and stage scenery, are minimal. This is in contrast to the grand tutus and elaborate sets favored in romantic ballet and some classical ballet performances. In addition, the neoclassical ballet technique emphasizes a ballerina’s movements as the main focal point of the production.

In the early twentieth century, a number of established ballet dancers began to drift away from the classical style of ballet and introduced the new art form to the public. At the same time, they established new ballet schools and dance companies that drew from neoclassicism in other forms of art.

• Ballets Russes: From 1909 to 1929, Ballet Russes was a traveling ballet company based in Paris that performed across Europe and the Americas. It was founded by Sergei Diaghilev, a Russian artistic director who introduced audiences to Russian artistic themes while also setting into motion new collaborations in ballet between dancers and other artists, such as composers, designers, and artists. Diaghilev commissioned work from a number of well-known figures, including composers Igor Stravinsky and Maurice Ravel, designer Coco Chanel, and artists Pablo Picasso and Henri Matisse, and introduced elements from these artists into the ballet performances.
• George Balanchine: Balanchine, the Russian-born ballet dancer, began his career with the Imperial Ballet School in Russia, and then fled to Paris in the early 1920s, where he joined the Ballets Russes as a choreographer. While in Paris, Balanchine and the rest of the ballet company began to stage ballet performances that veered from strict classical technique and morphed into what we know today as neoclassical ballet.
• Lincoln Kirstein: In 1933, Balanchine moved to New York City and teamed with artist, writer, and philanthropist Lincoln Kirstein. The two co-founded the School of American Ballet in 1934 for children and teens in order to teach the fundamentals of ballet. His goal was to create a training academy to support fine dance academies on the same level as those in Europe and Russia at the time.
• New York City Ballet: In 1948, Balanchine went on to co-found the New York City Ballet, where he fine-tuned neoclassical ballet and choreographed dozens of neoclassical ballets until his death in 1983. Balanchine and the neoclassical ballet style gave way to modern dance and contemporary ballet.

Here are the five most significant characteristics of neoclassical-style ballet, which emphasizes dancers’ movements instead of overly dramatic scripts and elaborate costumes.

1. 1. Abstract storylines: Neoclassical ballet features abstract storylines that lack traditional plots. This is in contrast to the linear storylines of classical style ballets such as Swan Lake or The Nutcracker.
2. 2. Ballet positions: Choreographer George Balanchine and his neoclassical successors added to the standard ballet positions, incorporating new poses and choreography to the traditional ballet vocabulary. The dancer’s movements are more liberated, with more freedom of body expression, including larger arm and leg movements.
3. 3. Minimalism: Given that the attention is on the ballet dancers in neoclassical ballet, costumes and sets are minimal so as to not distract from the dancers’ movements. It’s rare to find tutus or other tulle ballet outfits in a neoclassical-style ballet production.
4. 4. Pointe work: While dancers in most neoclassical ballets wear pointe shoes, there is less emphasis on pointe work—the act of ballet dancers balancing their bodies on the tips of their feet. In some productions, dancers are barefoot and the focus is on the swift body movements.
5. 5. Speed of movement: In neoclassical ballet, the pace of switching between positions is much faster than in classical or romantic ballet. Ballet dancers also exhibit more athleticism than the demure grace that the previous styles of ballet featured.

Here are four neoclassical ballets the dance community deems to be significant in the genre.

• Apollo: Originally titled Apollon musagète, this is considered to be the first neoclassical ballet and one of the many works of George Balanchine. The 1929 ballet was the first of many collaborations between Balanchine and composer Igor Stravinsky and portrays the story of Apollo, the Greek god of music, art, and dance, who is visited by three muses.
• Concerto Barocco: Another Balanchine ballet, Concerto Barocco was his first after establishing the School of American Ballet in New York.
• Romeo and Juliet: The pared-down version of the Shakespearean masterpiece premiered in 1965 with The Royal Ballet at London’s Royal Opera House at Covent Garden. Its chief choreographer, Kenneth MacMillan, also produced Anastasia in 1967, which is also a notable neoclassical ballet.
• L'histoire de Manon: The Royal Ballet in London first performed this MacMillan ballet, commonly referred to as Manon, in 1974. It’s notable for its charged and sensual pas de deux (the dance between two lead partners) and the large corps de ballet ensemble of dancers.

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