The Harmony Between Ballet Dance
and Music
Since it was created, ballet dance
always has an intimate connection with the music. When one presents
a performance on stage, a certain beat goes with it to give an added
enthusiasm. We, human beings, actually carry a natural melodic pulse
wherever we go. Our speaking, walking and breathing are all
rhythmical. The ballet dance is also with movements that have a
specific technique. So its relationship is seemingly inevitable.
One of the leading personalities in
the 17th century, Jean Baptiste Lully, was not just
choreographer but also a composer. Thus any major productions are
never with an accompanying piece. With the advent of theaters in the
18th century, serious lyricists and instrumentalists
turned away from creating music for ballet dance. They were
attracted instead in making for ballroom dance such as waltz, polka,
polonaise, march, czardas and mazurka. Such left only little room
for innovation and mediocrity was more of the aftermath rather than
avoiding it. It continued until the 19th century except
for a few exceptions such as Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky who was
responsible for the Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty, Onegin and Nutcraker.
Not until 20th century,
there was already a huge acceptance of the ballet dance as an
intelligent art form. It was the dawning of a great revival of
music. It was also at that time where the compositions of Frederic
Chopin, Johannes Brahms, Franz Liszt, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart,
Johann Sebastian Bach, George Frideric Handel, Franz Joseph Haydn,
Antonio Vivaldi, Arcangelo Corelli and Hector Berlioz, were now used
by choreographers of the ballet dance. There was a strict
enforcement by theatres where composers had to adhere with the
deadlines and cater to their bureaucratic demands. Such working
conditions deterred a lot of geniuses.
The musical conception of Igor
Stravinsky and George Balanchine supported much of the human
movements in the ballet dance. The sophistication and rhythmic
irregularities combined makes one look at the ballet dance and
listen to the music in a whole new way. Neither dictates the other,
but instead they both challenged and enhanced. Another collaboration
more experimental though equally important has been that of two
contemporary Americans, choreographer Merce Cunningham and composer
John Cage.
A lot believe that the most of the
choreographers, who are also composers, are those who make the
ballet dance movements follow the rhythm exactly. Any neophyte can
do that but it would be so dull. Skilled choreographers want their
performances to express more than the piece itself. Instead of being
legalistic, they arrange steps for the ballet dance that goes with
the longer phrases of melody. Choreographers even ask their dancers
to go against the flow of music to generate special touches and
dramatic effects. The formation of music for the ballet dance pushed
composers to be very innovative and ingenious.
Today, its not such a wonder why
music for ballet dance have been considered timeless classics
because of its superb and unique complexity.
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