{"id":610,"date":"2009-02-06T17:20:30","date_gmt":"2009-02-07T01:20:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/foot\/wp\/2009\/02\/heads_and_eyes\/"},"modified":"2009-02-06T17:20:30","modified_gmt":"2009-02-07T01:20:30","slug":"heads_and_eyes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/foot\/2009\/02\/heads_and_eyes.html","title":{"rendered":"Heads and Eyes"},"content":{"rendered":"<\/p>\n<p><font size=\"4\" face=\"Georgia\">I was just going to write about the lost heads and clich\u00e9d eyes of our women ballet dancers when <i>The New Yorker<\/i>&#8216;s Joan Acocella came out <a href=\"http:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/arts\/critics\/notebook\/2009\/02\/09\/090209gonb_GOAT_notebook_acocella\">with a Critic&#8217;s Notebook, &#8220;All Smiles,&#8221;<\/a> that begins, <\/font><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><font size=\"4\" face=\"Georgia\">An epidemic of flirtiness has attacked our ballet companies. The dancers woo us, grin at us, give us saucy looks. &#8220;I&#8217;m going to do something special,&#8221; they say. Then they do it. Then they cock an eye at us as if to say, &#8220;Wasn&#8217;t that marvelous?&#8221;<\/font><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><font size=\"4\" face=\"Georgia\">As I see it, flirtation is only part of the problem. Whether she&#8217;s <\/font><link rel=\"File-List\" href=\"file:\/\/\/C:%5CUsers%5CUser%5CAppData%5CLocal%5CTemp%5Cmsohtml1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml\"><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>\n<w:WordDocument>\n<w:View>Normal<\/w:View>\n<w:Zoom>0<\/w:Zoom>\n<w:PunctuationKerning\/>\n<w:ValidateAgainstSchemas\/>\n<w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false<\/w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>\n<w:IgnoreMixedContent>false<\/w:IgnoreMixedContent>\n<w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false<\/w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>\n<w:Compatibility>\n<w:BreakWrappedTables\/>\n<w:SnapToGridInCell\/>\n<w:WrapTextWithPunct\/>\n<w:UseAsianBreakRules\/>\n<w:DontGrowAutofit\/>\n<\/w:Compatibility>\n<w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4<\/w:BrowserLevel>\n<\/w:WordDocument>\n<\/xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>\n<w:LatentStyles DefLockedState=\"false\" LatentStyleCount=\"156\">\n<\/w:LatentStyles>\n<\/xml><![endif]--><\/p>\n<style>\n<!--\n\/* Font Definitions *\/\n@font-face\n{font-family:Georgia;\npanose-1:2 4 5 2 5 4 5 2 3 3;\nmso-font-charset:0;\nmso-generic-font-family:roman;\nmso-font-pitch:variable;\nmso-font-signature:647 0 0 0 159 0;}\n\/* Style Definitions *\/\np.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal\n{mso-style-parent:\"\";\nmargin:0in;\nmargin-bottom:.0001pt;\nmso-pagination:widow-orphan;\nfont-size:12.0pt;\nfont-family:\"Times New Roman\";\nmso-fareast-font-family:\"Times New Roman\";}\n@page Section1\n{size:8.5in 11.0in;\nmargin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in;\nmso-header-margin:.5in;\nmso-footer-margin:.5in;\nmso-paper-source:0;}\ndiv.Section1\n{page:Section1;}\n-->\n<\/style>\n<p><!--[if gte mso 10]>\n\n\n<style>\n\/* Style Definitions *\/\ntable.MsoNormalTable\n{mso-style-name:\"Table Normal\";\nmso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;\nmso-tstyle-colband-size:0;\nmso-style-noshow:yes;\nmso-style-parent:\"\";\nmso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;\nmso-para-margin:0in;\nmso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;\nmso-pagination:widow-orphan;\nfont-size:10.0pt;\nfont-family:\"Times New Roman\";\nmso-ansi-language:#0400;\nmso-fareast-language:#0400;\nmso-bidi-language:#0400;}\n<\/style>\n\n\n<![endif]--><span style=\"font-size: 12pt; font-family: Georgia;\"><font style=\"font-size: 0.8em;\">lowering<br \/>\nher eyes and tilting her head coquettishly before subjecting us to a full-frontal<br \/>\nstare or, alternately, distending her neck like a meek yet searching swan maiden&#8211;shoulders pulled<br \/>\nback, face lifted to the light<\/font><\/span><span style=\"font-size: 12pt; font-family: Georgia;\"><font style=\"font-size: 0.8em;\"><font size=\"4\"><font face=\"Georgia\">&#8212;<\/font><\/font><\/font><\/span><span style=\"font-size: 12pt; font-family: Georgia;\"><font style=\"font-size: 0.8em;\"><font size=\"4\"><font face=\"Georgia\">she (and this is mainly a female problem<\/font><\/font><\/font><\/span><font size=\"4\" face=\"Georgia\">) is signaling that she isn&#8217;t simply executing steps but interpreting a role, she isn&#8217;t merely inside the choreography but presiding over it. New York City Ballet has a complicated relationship to interpretation, so its women in particular seem to need to offer this statement. <\/font><\/p>\n<p><font size=\"4\" face=\"Georgia\">But their gesture toward freedom has the unintended consequence of making them seem unequal to the choreography, not the masters of it. Balanchine makes the vixen staredown redundant, because his choreography is already direct&#8211;while deep and mysterious too. Likewise, the dainty-maiden affectations are ridiculous when the choreography is so much more interesting in its own elegance and refinement. <\/font><\/p>\n<p><font size=\"4\" face=\"Georgia\">Maybe this epidemic has struck because the head and gaze are the only areas where dancers feel free to experiment. But how odd that in their freedom they chain themselves to clich\u00e9s: the eye-batting coquette, the shameless vixen, the virgin maiden. <\/font><\/p>\n<p><font size=\"4\" face=\"Georgia\">The solution, though, isn&#8217;t for them to give up on the head and gaze, but to remember that the head bone is connected to the neck bone, the neck bone connected to the back bone, the back bone&#8230;. (<i>Oh, hear the word of the Lord!<\/i>) They need to think about the choreography more, not less. If it&#8217;s any good, it will help them. <\/font><\/p>\n<p><font size=\"4\" face=\"Georgia\">Acocella points out that the problem isn&#8217;t particular to inexperienced dancers. I&#8217;d add that individual dancers don&#8217;t apply their mannerisms across the board. New York City Ballet&#8217;s Maria Kowroski loves the blunt vixen effect (even for <i>Chaconne<\/i>!). Her body often divides top to bottom, so a bold gaze serves to unify her. But<\/font><font size=\"4\" face=\"Georgia\"> in the two roles she does best, with the least herky-jerkiness and the most immanence&#8211;<\/font><font size=\"4\" face=\"Georgia\">the Firebird and the ballerina in the <i>Swan-Lake<\/i>-inspired &#8220;Diamonds&#8221;&#8211;she becomes consumed by the tragedy and majesty of the part and forgets to stare us down.<\/font><\/p>\n<p><font size=\"4\" face=\"Georgia\">Tiler Peck only adopts the dainty-maiden posture for floaty classical roles, such as Robbins&#8217;s <i>Four Bagatelles,<\/i> perhaps to convince herself that she&#8217;s right for the role (I&#8217;m already convinced: Peck is proving protean). <\/font><\/p>\n<p><font size=\"4\" face=\"Georgia\">Rebecca Krohn generally incorporates her head intelligently into her dancing, but she had problems with the lilac part in <i>Dances at a Gathering,<\/i> I think because she understood the girl as impetuous and impassioned, and then couldn&#8217;t decide how such a person would do something as simple as walk, so she lowered and raised her gaze shyly. (Maybe walking tames the passion in the lilac girl and she can simply walk like everyone else&#8211;looking ahead.) In the same ballet on the same night, Kathryn Morgan kept her beautiful, round head level with her gaze; she seemed open and honest, and meant for the choreography.<\/font><\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"mt-enclosure mt-enclosure-image\" style=\"display: inline;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/foot\/InVento_all---A-1853.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"InVento_all---A-1853.jpg\" src=\"http:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/foot\/assets_c\/2009\/02\/InVento_all---A-1853-thumb-420x260-3447.jpg\" class=\"mt-image-center\" style=\"margin: 0pt auto 20px; text-align: center; display: block;\" width=\"420\" height=\"260\" \/><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p align=\"center\"><font style=\"font-size: 0.8em;\" size=\"4\">Poses that come too naturally&#8211;from Mauro Bigonzetti&#8217;s &#8220;In Vento&#8221; (photo by Paul Kolnik for NYCB)<\/font><font style=\"font-size: 0.8em;\" size=\"4\"><br \/> <\/font><\/p>\n<p><font style=\"font-size: 0.8em;\" size=\"4\"><font size=\"2\"><\/font><\/font><\/p>\n<div style=\"text-align: center;\"><font size=\"4\" face=\"Georgia\"><br \/><font size=\"2\" face=\"Wingdings 2\">\uf063\uf064\uf063\uf064\uf063\uf064<br \/>\n<\/font><\/font><\/p>\n<p><font size=\"4\" face=\"Georgia\"><font size=\"2\" face=\"Wingdings 2\"><\/p>\n<p><\/font><\/font><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><font size=\"4\" face=\"Georgia\">The internet forum BalletTalk has an engaging and insightful discussion of the Acocella piece <a href=\"http:\/\/ballettalk.invisionzone.com\/index.php?showtopic=28861\">here.<\/a><\/p>\n<p><\/font><\/p>\n<p><font size=\"4\" face=\"Georgia\"><\/font><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<div style=\"text-align: center;\"><\/div>\n<div align=\"center\"><font size=\"2\" face=\"Wingdings 2\"><font size=\"2\" face=\"Wingdings 2\">\uf063\uf064\uf063\uf064\uf063\uf064\uf063\uf064<br \/>\n<\/font><\/font><\/div>\n<p><font size=\"2\" face=\"Wingdings 2\"><font size=\"2\" face=\"Wingdings 2\"><\/font><\/font><\/p>\n<p><font size=\"4\" face=\"Georgia\">To be fair, I should say the New York City Ballet men have their affectations and overcompensations, too. They puff up their chests (yoohoo, Adrian Danchig-Waring, Joaquin De Luz, and Tyler Angle) and thicken their quads with so much cross-training that their legs hardly seem to straighten anymore (ahem, Sebastien Marcovici, Antonio Carmena, and Robert Fairchild). If they&#8217;re doing the crosstraining to protect themselves from common knee injuries, okay; but to avoid looking&#8211;and moving&#8211;like lunks, they shouldn&#8217;t overdo it. <\/font><\/p>\n<p><font size=\"4\" face=\"Georgia\"><br \/>\n<\/font><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I was just going to write about the lost heads and clich\u00e9d eyes of our women ballet dancers when The New Yorker&#8216;s Joan Acocella came out with a Critic&#8217;s Notebook, &#8220;All Smiles,&#8221; that begins, An epidemic of flirtiness has attacked our ballet companies. The dancers woo us, grin at us, give us saucy looks. &#8220;I&#8217;m [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-610","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-main","7":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/foot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/610","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/foot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/foot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/foot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/foot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=610"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/foot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/610\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/foot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=610"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/foot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=610"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/foot\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=610"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}