Ballet has entertained and enchanted audiences for over 400 years. Within these centuries of grace and elegance, ballet has branched out into several techniques and styles. Along the way, George Balanchine, accredited for “developing the neo-classical style distinct to the 20th century,” has placed a significant mark on the face of ballet (George). Even after his death in the late 20th century, his disciples, such as Suki Schorer, have preserved and continued disseminating his work. Schorer’s ongoing instruction of his technique at the School of American Ballet, and her book, Suki Schorer on Balanchine Technique, have kept the works and teaching methods of Balanchine alive.
Being a great performer does not necessarily equate to being a great …show more content…
Many times Balanchine would place dollar bills in-between a dancers thighs to demonstrate the proper crossing the legs should maintain and how firm those muscles need to be to maintain the money in the inner thighs. Further along in barre exercises, lies rond de jambe per terre or the circling of the leg on the floor. Balanchine believed that there is no beginnings and no endings to a circle, likewise, rond de jambe should not be traced with the toe as such (Schorer 110). End when it ends, start when its starts, but overall, keeping the circular motion of the rotation from deep within the hip, which is the intent of doing rond de jambe exercises. In-between barre exercises, Balanchine barre’s tend to have lots of forward port de bras and cambres. Many times the imagery of picking up a flower is used when explaining a proper Balanchine port de bras forward; it should offer the delicacy and grace as if the flower was actually there. Port de bras forward and backward were not used to offer a stretch or warm the spine up, but to “explore the classical technique and to help refine and perfect the execution of it” (Schorer 133). Speaking of port de bras, Balanchine also offered an artistic path from low fifth to high fifth in his technique. He really liked the aesthetic of the over crossing of the forearms and elbows, as if revealing oneself to the audience the same way the concept of presenting the turned out foot is used in classical ballet. He used the imagery of taking of a sweater to employ his vision of how crossed the port de bra from fifth to fifth should be (Schorer 156). Along with the port de bras, Balanchine incorporated a specific epaulement to his technique. This epaulement added a feminine quality to the line that was being made by the dancer. Achieved by slightly curving the neck toward the audience, the dancer