Referring back to my previous post, I meant extinct in a purely sarcastic way. I find Ballet and Opera, like some say, stuck in time. I do however feel that there can be a push to interpret old classics in the same way that post modernists looked at painting by re-defining and deconstructing the classics in order to question their relevance or to engage the viewer and by default make them more accessible. I do think there was an attempt by Opera singers in the past to be more available to the public. It felt more like a publicity to promote themselves and less about their art. There were numerous events but they seemed lacking a key aspect, the education of the public needed in order to be part of that popular culture. The structure of those form, the “high” art are long forgotten by the mainstream or push aside as plague material. Theatre, Ballet, and Opera were the voice of the people when at their prime state. They were the mainstream. It was common practice to go to the theatre. It’s interesting to see the common denominator in todays world for these art forms is structure. It is set in a particular aesthetics which cannot live outside of those boundaries. Ballet is a form of classical dance demanding highly developed technique, grace and precision, executed according to specific gestures and flowing patterns.(1) In other words, it is set in an particular aesthetic within the repertoire of movement. Can those be re used to create new forms?
According to Conner, the passive, respectful, and quiet audience was not a historical ideal, but a construction of late nineteenth-century social and technology trends. Electric lighting shifted the audience into the dark for the first time in theater spaces, and emphasized the action on-stage. And America’s social elite were seeking to define themselves against the lower classes by emphasizing the pure and perfect aspects of “high” art. Sophisticated audiences don’t interrupt the artist’s work with talk or movement or expressed opinion. They receive it as instruction, as gospel even.(2)
Andrey Taylor ask So, how is this recent trend in behavior shifting back again to a historical norm? Stay tuned this week for more… referring to his blog.
I for one am interested in this series of post on his blog regarding this trend. I am eager to read and share my two cents.
..artsalive.ca (1)
..arts journal (2)
..dk lights dance