Bringing the Acting Stage To the Ballet Stage
Though each performance of the night was exciting, “Loin” was the most engaging for me, both aesthetically and intellectually. Its integration of various languages, acting, and a large variety of dancers, truly embodied the meaning of “Loin.”
My experience at the Joyce Theatre, for the performances by the Ballet du Grand Théâtre de Genève, was an extremely enlightening one. Though it was discussed in class that the classical form of ballet has taken on a modern form, the pieces performed that night were still somewhat surprising. They shared common differences from the classical form: modern outfits that often showed large portions of the body, a large presence of male dancers, and, of course, a complete evolution of the dance itself, in both technique and aesthetics. Each performance brought out a side of ballet that I had never personally experienced. Once piece, however, particularly stood out. Though each performance of the night was exciting, “Loin” was the most engaging for me, both aesthetically and intellectually. Its integration of various languages, acting, and a large variety of dancers, truly embodied the meaning of “Loin.” Though “Para-dice” and “Selon Désir” both brought the previously mentioned modern elements to the stage in an amazing way, “Loin” took the art a step further, and brought the acting stage to the ballet stage. The skit segments provided a nice break within the dancing, while still integrating choreography and synchronous movement. The words of the English-spoken skits seemed to cover a strange story, which I did not understand. Yet, just the presence of speech made me feel so much more connected to what was going on, on the stage. Even the skit and song segments performed in languages foreign to me made me feel closer to the stage than dancing alone. The speech had a way of bringing a human element to a performance that seemed surreal, and to performers that seemed supernatural, characteristics that, though exciting and interesting in terms of “Para-dice” and “Selon Désir,” left these performances distant from the audience. Still, all three pieces brought an exciting presence to the stage, and were definitely a great learning experience and exposure to the ballet of today.
-Curtis Laraque