Why Ballet Needs To Get With The Times

Ballet is just like any other art form. Like music, fashion, film and art, ballet and dance bring out emotion and create response. For me, this is what art is all about. There is something slightly stagnant about ballet though, because while art and music attempt to push boundaries, we are often left to watch more classical revivals or contemporary choreography that doesn't always have much to say. As much as I love the classics such as 'Swan Lake' or 'The Sleeping Beauty', I think a wave of boundary-breaking choreography is overdue for 2016. There are modern choreographers taking the ballet world by storm, the likes of Christopher Wheeldon and Liam Scarlett giving their all in new three act ballets, or there are more contemporary attempts by those such as Wayne McGregor. All three are creating interesting art; however, what shocks me most is that there isn't much out there that reflects our times. As I've said, I love the classics, but I'm not sure I have too much in common with an ill-fated swan or a sleeping princess (actually the latter I can probably relate to more than I think, especially after a heavy night in London) but I think that the time has come to challenge the convention that still grips ballet and for choreographers to create and push for art that can relate to our current times.

During the Romantic period where the Gothic dominated art (think ghouls, spirits and 'the other') we were handed gothic ballet on a plate. The modern gothic author, Angela Carter, once said that 'we live in gothic times', cleverly assuring us that modern society is as gothic as it has ever been. I agree with Carter because we do still live in gothic times and a sense of otherness has actually never been as relevant as it is today, with fears of extremist behaviour, war, crime and violence unfortunately present in many minds. I think that when the world is facing difficult times, a way to explore it is often through art. What I've yet to see, however, is this come through the medium of ballet. I think it's important for choreographers to find influence from current affairs and the pros and cons that face us today. Why can't ballet and choreography explore themes like same sex relationships, surrogacy, terrorism, celebrity or gang culture? I've been seeing it more with opera in the past few years: ‘Jerry Springer the Opera’ opted for a satirical take on the show, while ‘Anna Nicole’, explored the demise of the starlet and a nation obsessed with celebrity. Is ‘Kim Kardashian the Ballet’ something we could see in the Royal Ballet's repertoire any time soon? I doubt it, but I do think more needs to be done to reflect modern culture. These operas proved that the blend between a classical art form and a modern topic is a great one and creates a way to speak freely about modern life, so now I'm just waiting for the moment when I'm holding a cast list that reads 'Romeo and Julian' and I'm about to see a ballet that depicts strong and real love between two men (or perhaps 'Romy and Juliet' for the ladies).

Such themes have been explored through just about every other artistic medium; however, ballet seems to be lagging behind. Liam Scarlett showed glimpses of a same sex relationship in his piece 'The Age of Anxiety'; however, there wasn't enough here for anyone to walk away and feel it had made a dent. The beauty of ballet and dance is that much can be said through choreography. Kenneth MacMillan was a choreographer who could say so much through just a gesture or an action, my favourite being a pointed finger to both Romeo and Tybalt from Mercutio in MacMillan's ‘Romeo and Juliet’ to reflect Shakespeare's famous phrase 'a plague on both your houses'. He says it all with just one dramatic point of a finger. Like so many of the great artists, he has a knack for saying a lot in a concise way. I wish I had the same gift, and while reading this, I bet you wish I did too. Being able to express harrowing themes or difficult issues is extremely difficult which is why art is the perfect way to say what is needed to be said. Choreography can explore such issues in a different light or reach out to a public who don't necessarily want to face day to day problems.

So much beauty and important work could be released if our modern day choreographers gave themselves a different type of subject matter. Recently I've noticed that many choreographers, at the Royal Ballet at least, are shying away from brand new subject matter, instead choosing to use literature as their source of inspiration. Liam Scarlett is doing his take on 'Frankenstein', and I'll be interested to see what comes of it. Again we are faced with the gothic and, if we all agree that these are gothic times, then why can't the monster (who is actually just a metaphor for what frightens society) take the form of a modern type of monster? A celebrity, an immigrant, technology – anything which some believe seems to threaten or disturb our world today. I fear, however, that Scarlett's monster won't be too dissimilar from the green and bolted guy we all dress up as on Halloween. It's not just Scarlett though who has found his subject matter on a page. Wheeldon did it with Shakespeare's 'A Winter's Tale' McGregor did it with works by Virginia Woolf and even Carlos Acosta tried his hand at 'Don Quixote' and 'Carmen'. All are pre-existing stories that, although classics, could have stayed in the library. Yes, each of these stories has a metaphor that we can bleed dry so that it represents our life today but why can't we also have something raw and without sugared gloss, something that will make an audience sit up in their seats, stop rattling the Werther's Originals, and contemplate walking out on? The most recent choreographer to do this was Hofesh Schechter, whose 'Untouchable' piece (although more contemporary dance than ballet) brought its audience to the edge of their seats, either out of excitement or anger. It wasn't the best piece of choreography that I've seen but an ongoing chant of the words 'Nigel Farage' included in the music had me thinking that things were moving in a certain direction. It's important for art to challenge and develop, and to move with the times; if this art form, which I love so passionately, intends to stay current or indeed reach out to a new generation then it needs to start opening its arms to a different type of subject matter.