Today studying ballet is very structured. Every dancer must
follow the ballet school’s dress code and wear her hair slicked back in a bun.
I always wondered what a typical a ballet class looked like during the mid
1900s. So, I decided to look for photos of ballet classes back then.
The photo below definitely stood out to me. In this 1935
photo, Balanchine is teaching a ballet class at the School of American Ballet.
After analyzing the photo, one would notice that none of the ballet students
have their hair in buns. Each student is wearing a different colored leotard.
Some students are wearing tights while others are wearing bare legs with socks.
Some girls have skirts on while others do not. The girl at the front of the
barre is even wearing a polka dot leotard.
Ballet Class 1935
https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/35/86/fc/3586fcb542e0b96ea0fe9203dfa128a3.jpg
This photo was very interesting to me because I was shocked
at how unstructured the dress code seemed to be during this time period. Today,
each dancer in the same level class usually has to wear the same exact leotard
or at minimum the same colored leotard. Dancers also usually have to wear pink
tights. The instructor decides if skirts are allowed to be worn for class. You
can’t take class if your hair is not in a neat bun.
Ballet Class Today
https://aballeteducation.files.wordpress.com/2015/01/jko-pre-professional-division-studentse28094rosalie-oconnor2.jpg
The next question that came to my mind was, “Why has ballet
class attire become so structured?” Maybe ballet teachers enforce a specific
class attire to build discipline in the dancers. All dancers in the corps de
ballet usually wear the same tutus and dance as a group. Therefore, ballet
teachers might be creating this sense of uniformity early on to prepare dancers
for corps de ballet roles. These are just a few of my ideas as to why ballet
class attire has changed so much.
No comments:
Post a Comment