Prior to taking a dance history course at Stanford University I could not say the word “ballerina” with out simultaneously cringing or miming air quotations. In my mind, referring to someone as a ballerina instead of a ballet dancer was equally offensive and unintelligent as calling pointe shoes “toe shoes”. I did not interpret the word as an honorable title, but rather a synonym for the stereotypical image of a fragile, pink, pointe shoe-clad bunhead that is strewn throughout popular culture. Representing only an empty shell of the essence of what a ballet dancer truly is, this caricature fuels ballet’s myth of tangible perfection which celebrates the female as an ethereal body.
The dance history course gave me valuable insight as to how this stereotype has come to be and why it persists – ideas that must be fully understood before any significant change can be made. Not only did the course examine how ballet’s myth appears throughout Disney films, Barbie dolls, and satirical television shows, but it also discussed the ballet works that either complicate or simplify the public conception of the ballerina. Most notably, the annual tradition of The Nutcracker reinforces the stereotype by leading the public to an oversimplified conception of the ballerina. On the other hand, Jerome Bel’s Veronique Doisneau complicates this conception by demystifying the ballerina and revealing what goes on behind the scenes of the ballet. Through examining these two works and comparing their opposite effects on the general population, one can begin to understand how the ballet myth has formed and how it can be deconstructed.
The Nutcracker is a staple for almost every ballet company’s repertoire season. Produced each year in all areas of the country, this holiday phenomenon has become an undeniable tradition. What has made this particular ballet so popular can be explained by the themes that its narrative contains as well as the effort that goes into manufacturing the show. Weaving a coming of age tale about a young girl’s fantastical dreams, The Nutcracker takes place on Christmas Eve in the Victorian era. As the story unfolds during the first scene, old fashioned values of domestic bliss and seasonal togetherness are presented by the polite party guests who unite to celebrate the holiday with a tasteful evening of social dancing. In its decency and peacefulness, this scene supports a positive view of tightly knit communities. However, what is unique about The Nutcracker is that this idea of community is not just visible on the stage, but it is actually translated into the modern community that produces these seasonal performances. Since the ballet is an annual spectacle, each year it requires the participation of many different types of people from dancers to parent to volunteers. Thus, in addition to highlighting old fashioned values, the way in which The Nutcracker strengthens the actual community establishes the ballet as an arguably patriotic holiday tradition.
While The Nutcracker can be praised for making a place for ballet in national culture, the strength of its tradition works against the art form by fueling a stereotyped image of the ballerina and misguiding the public’s expectations. Reigning over the Kingdom of Sweets in the second act, the Sugar Plum Fairy is the defining figure of this ballet. While young girls want to be Clara, they aspire to one day become the Sugar Plum Fairy because she represents the ideal that the adolescent Clara is maturing into. In her tiara, classical tutu, and pointe shoes, she dances with a calm, composed demeanor that exudes effortless grace and humility. The music that Tchaikovsky composed for her solo variation reflects this essence of the Sugar Plum Fairy. The simplicity of the score and the light sounds of the instruments used emphasize the delicacy of the ballerina and her prim aura. Heard everywhere from television commercials to grocery store aisles during the winter season, this music is used nationally to symbolize both The Nutcracker and the December holidays in general. In spite of the publicity that this music provides ballet, it also triggers the image of the Sugar Plum Fairy which is then interpreted by the public and feeds its conception of the ballerina. This consequently creates the oversimplified image of the ballerina and disregards both her strength as well as her suffering.
In contrast, Jerome Bel’s Veronique Doisneau is a ballet that defies traditional conventions by telling the personal story of the title woman, a dancer with the Paris Opera Ballet. Presenting a behind the scenes view into the mind of an actual female ballet dancer, the work demystifies the ballerina by providing a view of her life without the smoke and mirrors. Equipped with a microphone headset and dressed in rehearsal clothes, Ms. Doisneau takes the audience through a summary of her long career. Unlike the Sugar Plum Fairy, Ms. Doisneau is not a flawless star dancer whose individual beauty was celebrated. Instead, the ballet exhibits her as an example of mediocre success, imperfection, and unfulfilled dreams. Through the dialogue, Ms. Doisneau exposes her own flaws; she details her injuries, hierarchical immobility, choreographic dislikes, and even her salary. Furthermore, her heavy breathing between dances and onstage wardrobe changes shed light on the events that occur during a typical performance but are hidden from the audience.
By revealing her own failures Ms. Doisneau also exposes the flaws of the ballet system in general. In this way she asks the public audience to consider a new aspect of the ballet body they admire: the mental state of the professional ballerina. Although Ms. Doisneau is successful in the fact that she is a member of the world-renowned Paris Opera Ballet, she is plagued by broken dreams. Yes, she does have favorite roles that she has danced, but she lists a number of intangible leading roles that she has been deemed too weak to dance. Ms. Doisneau even admits that she would have like to dance some of the men’s roles. Instead, she remains a frustrated, undistinguished dancer who dutifully supports the stars. The most powerful demonstration of this in the ballet is when she “dances” the role of one of the thirty-two swan maidens during the Act II pas de deux of Swan Lake. Just minutes before doing this, she speaks about how Rudolf Nureyev inspired her by explaining that the language of dance has the power to create emotion. Yet during the excerpt from Swan Lake she is forced to stand motionless, and therefore emotionless, and act as human décor which frames the leading dancers. The precision of her movements reflect her participation in ballet’s militaristic training regime, but all of the physically-demanding work, her dedication, and the sacrifices she has made for the art form have all amounted to very little. In combination with the details Ms. Doisneau reveals about her life, this striking example of how the presentation of this ballet dancer’s faults cracks open ballet’s myth which forces the public to move its conception of the ballerina out of the Land of the Sweets and into reality.
While modern works such as Veronique Doisneau provide hope that the public’s conception of the ballerina is becoming more realistic, each December the nation is reminded of image of the Sugar Plum Fairy which fuels ballet’s myth. Due to the strength of this annual tradition, completely changing the stereotype of the female ballet dancer is a difficult task that still has yet to be accomplished. Nonetheless, analyzing the effects of ballets such as The Nutcracker can help both the general population and ballet dancers understand how the image of a graceful, delicate, demure woman in a classical tutu and pointe shoes has come to symbolize the world of ballet. By comprehending the foundation of this conception, it then becomes possible for individuals to provide the public with a more complex perspective of the ballerina and therefore redesign her place in popular culture.
