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November 04, 2004
Editorial - November 2004
Hello and apologies for the long, long silence. Many have constantly written prompting me to write more on these pages. Yet life is often problematic, and I got literally stuck in one of those periods in which time seems to never be enough… But I am back, as you can see, with new stuff and new ideas, as I originally promised our beloved Editor, Bruce Marriott.
Interestingly, my new bit of writing stems from my …anger! As an ex practitioner turned researcher, I have reached that point in life when I find irritatingly unbearable to discover how those who are responsible for what we call “ballet culture” are not delivering the goods as they should. Only one year ago I had to sit through a conference in which Italian 19th-century ballet was being analysed though a comparison with… French Romantic ballet! Pity that the two choreographic cultures, the French and the Italian, had little in common in the 19th century and that European national forms of choreography differed quite considerably at that time.
But what irritates me more than anything else is the way my own students are often let down by scholars and authors who provide them with glaringly inaccurate facts or readings of what they believe to be “the facts”. Their puzzled eyes and even more puzzled responses are painfully heart-sinking, for it is always difficult to make one understand that what s/he might have found in eminent books is not necessarily “true” or reliable…. As you will read below, the problem is mostly ballet specific. Music and Drama studies have long freed themselves from the morass of superficial equations mentioned on this page. Why can’t so-called dance studies do the same?
Following a number of requests, I have also started discussing some of the commercially available DVDs. I am only sorry that, given my living in the United Kingdom, I will be able to address only sources available in this country and refer to them by the codes with which they are sold in this part of the world. Please note that my suggestions on how to build a DVD ballet library are purely subjective, even though they encompass an analytical evaluation of technical aspects (camera angles, quality of sound, extra features, editing) as well as critical evaluation of the filmed production and the dancing itself.
Enjoy,
Giannandrea
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