Choreographic Strategies to Achieve Visual Communication Within an Original Film Narrative Through Academic Ballet Choreography

Home , Anna Kisselgoff, Dance in film, Dream ballet, Leslie Browne, Moira Shearer, Tamara Toumanova

CHOREOGRAPHIC STRATEGIES TO ACHIEVE VISUAL COMMUNICATION WITHIN AN ORIGINAL FILM NARRATIVE THROUGH ACADEMIC BALLET CHOREOGRAPHY

Paul William Hourigan

Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of

Master of Fine Arts (Research)

Creative Industries Faculty

Queensland University of Technology

2019

Keywords

Characterization, choreographic strategy, academic ballet, cinematic tropes, film, narrative, plotline, stereotype.

Abstract

This study focuses on the choreographic strategies I used when employing ballet choreography as the medium for visual communication within a self-devised featurette film, without relying on stereotypical characterizations, plotlines and cinematic tropes to tell the film’s narrative. In designing the methodology to support this practice-led research, and, as a choreographer working within both the dance studio and on location, the most appropriate framework for the study utilized a mixed methodology employing qualitative research strategies and methods. The research incorporated studio-based action research, aspects of grounded theory, and an audience survey for the collection of qualitative data. A literature review was conducted in which it was determined that choreographic strategies for academic ballet in film is a topic that has not previously been addressed in academic writing. A contextual review was also conducted, revealing that there is a significant use and perpetuation of, stereotypes, cinematic tropes and standardized filming techniques in films portraying characters of ballet dancers and the ballet industry. In order to address this, the study culminated in an original film, titled Nearly Not Me, containing dance sequences created by using academic ballet choreography. The choreography assisted in telling the story of a modern-day narrative in lieu of dialogue, avoiding stereotypes, cinematic tropes and standardized filming techniques. Findings of this research identified eight successful choreographic strategies that may be implemented to achieve this. This study acts as a stimulus for further development in the use of academic ballet choreography in film as a means of visual communication, inspiring other choreographers to challenge existing traditions to evolve.

Table of Contents Abstract ...... 3 Statement of Original Authorship ...... 10 Acknowledgements ...... 11 Chapter 1: Introduction ...... 12 Section 1.1 Background ...... 12 Section 1.2 Definitions ...... 13 Section 1.3 Research problem and purpose of the study ...... 15 Section 1.4 Aim and research question ...... 15 Section 1.5 Significance and scope ...... 16 Section 1.6 Thesis Outline ...... 16 Chapter 2: Literature Review ...... 18 Introduction ...... 18 Section 2.1 Stereotypes, cinematic tropes and the ballet film genre ...... 20 Section 2.1.1 Stereotypes and cinematic tropes ...... 20 Section 2.1.2 The ballet film genre ...... 21 Section 2.2 Academic ballet/Fused ballet: Choreography in film narrative ...... 21 Section 2.2.1 Cinedance and the dream ballet ...... 24 Section 2.2.2 Cinedance ...... 25 Section 2.2.3 The dream ballet ...... 26 Section 2.3 Choreographic strategy: Insight into the work of Robert Helpmann, Frederick Ashton and Roland Petit ...... 28 Section 2.3.1 Robert Helpmann, Frederick Ashton, Roland Petit ...... 29 Section 2.4 Conclusion ...... 32 Chapter 3: Contextual Review ...... 34 Introduction ...... 34 Section 3.1 Films that created the character of the ballerina ...... 35 Section 3.2 Academic ballet and fused ballet in film: Defining the difference ...... 45 Chapter 4: Research Design ...... 54 4.1 Action Research ...... 54 4.2 Grounded Theory ...... 56 4.3 Data Collection ...... 56 4.3.1 Data Collection Method Used in Relation to Grounded Theory ...... 56 4.3.2 Creative Practice ...... 60 4.3.3 Qualitative Data Collected from an Audience Survey ...... 60 4.4 Ethical Considerations ...... 61 4.4.1 Safe dance procedures ...... 61 4.4.2 Participant wellbeing ...... 62

4 4.4.3 Participant consent ...... 63 4.5 Bias of the Study ...... 63 Chapter 5: Process ...... 65 5.1 Planning and Preparation ...... 65 5.1.1 Developing the Screen Play ...... 66 5.2 Choreographic Sequences ...... 68 5.2.1 Choreographic Sequence 1 ...... 68 5.2.2 Choreographic Sequence 2 ...... 68 5.2.3 Choreographic Sequence 3 ...... 69 5.3.1 Dance Sequence 1 ...... 71 5.3.2 Dance Sequence 2 ...... 76 5.3.3 Dance Sequence 3 ...... 84 Chapter 6: Discussion ...... 88 6.1 Findings from the film analysis ...... 88 6.2 Findings from the practice ...... 89 6.3 Findings from the audience survey ...... 92 6.4 Choreographic strategies ...... 96 Chapter 7: Conclusion ...... 97 References ...... 99 Appendix 1: Glossary of academic ballet terms ...... 105 Appendix 2: Academic ballet steps deconstruction table (with analysis) ...... 109

List of Tables

Table 1: Academic ballet steps deconstruction table………………………….105

List of Figures

Figure 1: The action research cycle ...... 55 Figure 2: “A streamlined codes-to-theory model for qualitative inquiry” ...... 59 Figure 3: Form ...... 72 Figure 4: Form and function ...... 73 Figure 5: Form and function...... 73 Figure 6: Directionality and function ...... 74 Figure 7: Form, function and meaning ...... 74 Figure 8: Diagonal direction of the leg-line ...... 75 Figure 9: Forward direction of the leg-line ...... 75 Figure 10: Jumping steps ...... 76 Figure 11: Jumping steps ...... 77 Figure 12: Jumping steps ...... 77 Figure 13: Directional and functional steps ...... 77 Figure 14: Directional and functional steps ...... 78 Figure 15: Anna performing steps that are deliberate and measured, gauging her husband’s mood who is sitting at the table in front of her ...... 79 Figure 16: Anna performing steps that are deliberate and measured, gauging her husband’s mood who is sitting at the table in front of her...... 79 Figure 17: Grabbing of the wrist, which instigates the next phase of Anna’s change in character leading to nervousness...... 79 Figure 18: Pas de boureé en arrière used for the dual purpose of getting away from the husband and keeping an eye on him...... 80 Figure 19: Flattening the bed quilt using academic ballet arms from 1st to 2nd position...... 80 Figure 20: Anna performs fast moving sequences of steps to show nervousness...... 81 Figure 21: Leaving the house scene repeated with different mood added by lower lighting and sombre costume colours...... 82 Figure 22: Anna stands back from the table with a look of apprehension on her face...... 82 Figure 23: Anna performing fast petit battement steps showing her agitation and nervousness at the possible reaction from her husband...... 83 Figure 24: Anna deliberately places each foot carefully in front of the other as she tentatively descends the stairs behind her husband...... 84 Figure 25: Anna checks for injuries incorporating port de bras movements...... 84 Figure 26: Anna performs deep pliés and fondues. The recurring theme of desolation and despair...... 85

7 Figure 27: The frantic action to Anna’s choreography intimates the desperate situation of contemplating escape. Big wide positions and movements...... 85 Figure 28: Anna displays complete despair at her situation with choreography travelling further to the floor...... 86 Figure 29: Anna revisits her past as a ballet dancer through the technical movements of academic port de bras...... 86 Figure 30: Anna finishes the dream-like sequence in a long arabesque en fondu line of the leg. She then snaps back to reality and stands up to face returning to the bedroom...... 87

List of Abbreviations

MEAA: Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance

NHMRC: National Health and Medical Research Council

QUT: Queensland University of Technology

Statement of Original Authorship

The work contained in this thesis has not been previously submitted to meet requirements for an award at this or any other higher education institution. To the best of my knowledge and belief, the thesis contains no material previously published or written by another person except where due reference is made.

Signature: _QUT Verified Signature______

Date: _____November 18th 2019______

Acknowledgements

Sincere thanks to the Queensland University of Technology and the School of

Creative Practice for giving me the opportunity to pursue this research project.

Thanks to my supervisors, Mr Csaba Buday and Ms Rachel Mathews, for their patience and expertise in guiding me through what at times seemed an unachievable goal. And lastly thanks to my father and mother for letting me pursue my love of ballet.

Chapter 1: Introduction

Section 1.1 Background

The international success of the 2010 film Black Swan momentarily created a perception of ballet that influenced the collective consciousness of a movie-going public. The film created a significant trend, albeit short, for all things ‘ballet’, from college campus fashions (College Fashion, 2011), to fitness workout crazes and diets to attain the look of the ballerina body (Carlin, 2011). This momentary franchising of ballet that stemmed from the film’s popularity, rested on the familiar characterisations and plotlines most commonly identified with ballet films.

Collectively, these are a standardized playlist of stereotypes, cinematic tropes and filming techniques that have been perpetuated within films featuring the ballerina or male dancer character and ballet themed storylines. Further to this, the use of choreography in ballet films has resorted to inclusion as a visual spectacle or dance sequences with minimal relevance to the narrative. Two dance styles emerged in narrative cinema under the banner of ballet; one relegated to maintaining tradition, the other, to innovating beyond tradition, as the following explanation illustrates.

In the history of ballet in film, originally academic ballet technique was used.

In using the term ‘academic ballet technique’, I am referring to the vocabulary codified in techniques such as the Vaganova, Bournonville, Cecchetti and Royal

Academy of Dance, and the associated methods of forming these steps into phrases, sequences, and so on. When choreographer George Balanchine began choreographing for film, he heralded a change in the film industry such that academic ballet technique was fused with steps from other genres of dance such as

12 jazz. Coupled with this, the sequences of movement were now integral to the unveiling of the plot, with the dancing capable of forwarding the story without the use of spoken text. Despite this change, the movement sequences continued to be referred to in the film industry as ‘ballet’. Given this shift, throughout this thesis the term ‘academic ballet technique’ is used to refer to choreography that is based solely within the codified vocabulary of academic ballet and its traditional movement pathways, which does not include influence from other dance styles. The term ‘fused ballet’ is used to refer to Balanchine’s film choreography and beyond, including choreographers such as Agnes de Mille and Gene Kelly. This study focusses on academic ballet choreography as distinct from fused ballet choreography, and investigates the choreographic strategies I employed when using academic ballet choreography in the creation of a featurette film titled Nearly Not Me. This understanding of the evolution of ballet in film, as described above, was gleaned through viewing films when preparing the contextual review for this study.

Section 1.2 Definitions

In this introduction, so far, various keywords have been used which are pertinent to define at this point: cinematic trope, stereotype, narrative cinema and filming techniques. While discussed briefly here, they will be further contextualized in the literature review and contextual review.

Michael Rizzo in the second edition of his 2014 book, The Art Direction

Handbook defines a cinematic trope as “a universally identified image imbued with several layers of contextual meaning creating a new visual metaphor” (Rizzo, 2014, p. 513). For example, a popular cinematic trope used in the more recent dance films of the 21st century is the ‘ballet versus hip-hop’ trope, designed to re-create a tension between the main characters that is perceived to exist in the dance styles themselves

13 (McLean, 2008, pp. 215-257). Another is the ‘wish fulfilment’ cinematic trope as used in the well-received film and musical, Billy Elliot (McLean, 2008, pp. 215-257).

In this story, against all socio-economic and cultural odds, a young boy’s wish to be a famous ballet dancer is fulfilled by the end of the film, not, though, without first experiencing the trials and tribulations that he must ultimately overcome to eventually achieve his goal.

Lawrence Blum succinctly defines a stereotype in his 2004 contribution to

Philosophical Papers Journal, titled Stereotypes and stereotyping: A moral analysis.

In his paper, he writes:

Stereotypes are false or misleading generalizations about groups held in a manner that renders them largely, though not entirely, immune to counterevidence. In doing so, stereotypes powerfully shape the stereotyper’s perception of stereotyped groups, seeing the stereotypic characteristics when they are not present, failing to see the contrary of those characteristics when they are, and generally homogenizing the group. (Blum, 2004, p.251)

To define narrative cinema, I went to the seminal work for this study, Professor

Adrienne McLean’s 2008 book Dying swans and madmen: Ballet, the body and narrative cinema. She defines it by stating; “Narrative cinema of course, refers to films that tell stories, often but not always (or less ambiguously) fictional, in which actors play roles and speak lines” (McLean, 2008, p. 6).

In this thesis, the term filming techniques refers to the use of camera angles, shot size and types of lenses. The particular equipment used for filming dance sequences, beyond the standard filming camera and lighting collection of a major studio, is not focused upon in this thesis.

Section 1.3 Research problem and purpose of the study

This study proposes that the continual use of stereotypes, cinematic tropes and standardized filming techniques in ballet films act as hindrances to experimentation with academic ballet choreography’s integration into cinema narrative. To address this problem, the purpose of this study was therefore to create a film containing academic ballet choreography through strategies that would challenge these stereotypes, cinematic tropes, and filming techniques. These strategies included firstly the use of a contemporary plot dealing with the issue of domestic violence, and secondly juxtaposition of the choreography with the spoken dialogue while also using the choreography in lieu of dialogue to propel the story forward, without it being relegated to the traditional cinematic trope of stand-alone performance, classroom or rehearsal scenes. The practical application of these strategies in the production of Nearly Not Me, provided a way to test my hypothesis that academic ballet choreography does indeed have communicative capabilities when removed from the stereotypes, cinematic tropes, and filming techniques that are typically adhered to when using it in narrative cinema. Reflective practice and post-film screening audience questionnaires were the means to test the hypothesis.

Section 1.4 Aim and research question

Given this research problem and purposes of the study, the aim of the study was therefore to integrate academic ballet choreography as a means of visual communication into a cinematic narrative that is devoid of cinematic tropes and stereotypes as commonly found in the ballet film genre. More specifically, this study aimed to investigate choreographic strategies to achieve this through a strict adherence to an academic ballet vocabulary – the vocabulary typically used in

15 academic ballet choreography as distinct from the innovations of the fused ballet style. The aim was also to achieve this through adhering to the vocabulary detailed in the Royal Academy of Dance’s Dictionary of Classical Ballet Terminology (Ryman,

2007). See Appendix 1 for a glossary of academic ballet terms.

The research question is: What strategies might a choreographer use when employing academic ballet choreography as the medium for visual communication within a film, without relying on stereotypical characterizations / plotlines to tell the film’s narrative?

Section 1.5 Significance and scope

Through conducting an assiduous contextual review of films of the past 87 years containing ballet, in conjunction with the insight gained from my literature review, I can confidently state that this study contributes new knowledge in two ways; it provides both a physical and written example of previously unexplored aspects of the communicative abilities of academic ballet choreography in film. In terms of the scope of the thesis, in addressing the field of ballet in narrative cinema in my literature and contextual reviews, I researched the emergence of both academic ballet and fused ballet in film (and their associated stereotypes, cinematic tropes, and filming techniques), even though academic ballet was my focus, in order to contextualize the discussion of academic ballet. In addition to this, although music, costuming, and lighting assisted in the conveying the narrative, these are not discussed because these are beyond the scope of the research.

Section 1.6 Thesis Outline

The remaining chapters in the thesis cover the following topics. Chapter 2:

Literature review describes and evaluates the literature that informed my approach to

16 the overall study. This is followed by Chapter 3: Contextual Review where an extensive evaluation of films, and the ballet film genre in particular, have been reviewed to illustrate the developments and current status of ballet character portrayals and academic ballet choreography in narrative cinema. The chapter further discusses how they have influenced this research study – particularly how they have informed the practice component.

Chapter 4: Research design, outlines the methodology of action research and how it was utilised to structure the practice component of the study. This is followed by Chapter 5: Practice, which details the choreographic process and elaborates on the theory that informed the choreographic strategies employed. Chapter 6:

Discussion, involves analysis of the findings from the choreographic process in relation to the findings from the questionnaires filled out by research participants after the screening of the featurette ballet film Nearly Not Me.

Chapter 2: Literature Review

Introduction

The following review explores the literature pertaining to the subject of ‘dance on film’ that is relevant to my research topic. As the review demonstrates, few sources are available that are pertinent to my specific topic. Nevertheless, these were very valuable in enabling the clarity and understanding needed.

Section 2.1 Stereotypes, cinematic tropes and the ballet film genre, introduces two seminal works that provide a wide perspective on the areas of stereotypes, cinematic tropes and the dance on film historical timeline. Section 2.2 Academic ballet/Fused ballet choreography in film narrative, looks at the literature about the difference between the two styles of ballet choreography used in narrative cinema, and the influence this had on the practice component of this study. In doing so, the section highlights choreographers of note that were originators of the new style of fused ballet, utilising filming techniques created specifically to capture it in cinematic format. Section 2.3 Choreographic strategy, looks at the literature about the choreographic strategies of various choreographers who influenced the representation of academic ballet choreography on screen; contributions that factored into my own choreographic process. Section 2.4 Conclusion, draws conclusions from the literature featured in the review and explains the influence it had on the newly acquired focus I would maintain in the practice component of my research and the resulting film.

Aside from the literature that will be discussed in Sections 2.1 to 2.4, there were numerous sources, that, while more tangential to the subject matter of the

18 thesis, provided helpful concepts and links to more pertinent literature. Tom (2014), for example, discusses the use of semiotics in film, and their usefulness to directors and the narrative (Tom, 2014, p. 2). Unfortunately, character portrayal, which she elaborates upon, doesn’t venture into the creation of stereotypes as I had hoped. Eliot

(2008), while offering an in depth look at the British ballet identity during the

Second World War, predominantly concentrates on its evolution via the creation of companies and stage performances and their influence on public morale during the wartime years. Khitrovna (2014) mainly concentrates her critical inquiry on a particular dance piece called The Steel Step. Early on in the journal article she relegates classical ballet to “fantasy narrative and eye-pleasing sets” (Khitrovna,

2014, p. 134) - a distinct marker that my whole research aimed to demystify. Hardy

(2006) looks at Balanchine’s early ventures into Broadway commercial theatre, primarily summarising the works he created for the stage, while only briefly mentioning the work he choreographed for film. Smith (2008) makes interesting comparisons between the translation of narrative using classical ballet, Indian dance styles and contemporary dance. She is somewhat narrow in her viewpoint though, when she states that “ballet transforms narrative into a visual and aesthetic experience rather than a representation of a story or text” (Smith, 2008, p. 34).

Nevertheless, her article did provide a modicum of validation to the originality of my own research study aimed at disproving this opinion. Neher (2017) looks at the film

La La Land, making inevitable comparisons to the MGM era of the classic

Hollywood musicals and other film genres of the past. While interesting, this source did not warrant further scrutiny.

19 Section 2.1 Stereotypes, cinematic tropes and the ballet film genre

The first literary work that was seminal to my research, and possibly one of the few actual works that deals in detail with the existence of stereotypes and cinematic tropes within the film genre of ballet, is Professor Adrienne McLean’s 2008, Dying swans and madmen: Ballet, the body and narrative cinema. Additionally, Larry

Billman’s 1997 Film, choreographers and dance directors, provides an encyclopaedic historical analysis of the commercial dance on film time-line, from the choreographer’s perspective. Unfortunately, both pieces of literature conclude their analysis at the year of publication, 2008 and 1997 respectively, with the authors having not written further on the subjects. Nevertheless, I was able to garner extraordinary insight into my own research due to these two particular literary examples.

Section 2.1.1 Stereotypes and cinematic tropes As discussed in the introduction chapter, what initiated this study was my personal perception of the ongoing misrepresentation of academic ballet in narrative cinema and my interest in its development. In this regard, McLean’s (2008) book was not only useful for expanding my knowledge of the ballet film genre, but also offered extensive analysis of stereotypes and cinematic tropes within historical and contemporary films containing ballet subject matter. The existence of stereotypes and cinematic tropes in these films is of central importance to this study; I claim that they are perpetuated in ballet films to the current day, and act as hindrances to the further development for the use of academic ballet choreography in narrative cinema.

Most interesting for this study was the author’s perspective about how the creation of stereotypes and cinematic tropes in the ballet film genre are modelled on correlating societal mores and international political stances of the times; pertinent facts that

20 were taken into consideration when developing the storyline that my own choreographic practice was based upon (McLean, 2008, p. 176).

Section 2.1.2 The ballet film genre McLean’s (2008) multiple examples of films broadened the scope of the contextual review for this thesis considerably, as she highlights films of significance that are milestones in the evolution of ballet’s identity in narrative cinema, which in turn has influenced my decision to use academic ballet choreography. Offering a broader scope, Billman’s (1997) book provides an encyclopaedic historical timeline of dance in films from the burgeoning beginnings of the new entertainment format, highlighting the connection that dance and film have had since the invention of the film camera itself. What is unique about Billman’s work, and relevant to my own research, is that it is one of the few literary works that inform the reader from the creative’s perspective; that of the film directors and the choreographers themselves.

While the work predominantly covers commercial cinema in the USA, namely film musicals, ballet in film and ballet films are not neglected.

Section 2.2 Academic ballet/Fused ballet: Choreography in film narrative

Academic ballet choreography in film narrative and fused ballet choreography in film narrative, are two distinctly different styles of dance, when used in the cinematic format. I looked to literature that would explain these differences. In due course, the knowledge gained proved to have an unexpected impact on multiple levels of approach that had been predetermined for my research study.

One impact was an enhanced desire to enlighten the reader about the differences between these two styles of dancing. Another impact was that the knowledge gained dramatically improved my understanding of how to approach the practice aspect of the study. Lastly, the literature provided evidence to construct my

21 own theory, upon which the framework for the practice component of my research was constructed; a theory that focused on the narrative capabilities of academic ballet choreography being hindered due to the perpetuated stereotypical use of the ballet style in film as an accompanying spectacle, rather than an integrated device to tell the story. My personal knowledge as a learned practitioner of academic ballet technique and choreography gave me an advantageous perspective when creating my own film of the ballet genre. It contributes to understanding why a perception may be held by some movie audience members that academic ballet choreography can only look like what one may see on movie screens. It also brings to the forefront a profound statement that McLean (2008) makes in her introductory chapter Ballet in

Tin Cans (McLean, 2008, p. 1). She quotes renowned New Yorker magazine dance critic Joan Acocella when she said, “[I]n general, people don’t know about ballet from seeing it…People know about ballet from the movies” (Acocella, as cited in

McLean, 2008, p. 1).

Two dominant names that stand out in defining this difference between the old and the new style of ballet are those of George Balanchine and Agnes DeMille – choreographers who were hailed as innovators in the use of ballet within the narrative story of two landmark Broadway musicals, On Your Toes (1936) and

Oklahoma (1943) (Billman, 1997, p. 54; Palfy, 2012, p.1). These are both Broadway productions that were later translated into film versions, using the original choreography and choreographers.

Eminent biographer of Balanchine, Robert Gottlieb, in his 2006 book

Balanchine: The ballet maker refers to On Your Toes when he writes; “This was the first show to integrate dance into its story line, paving the way for Agnes de Mille’s

Oklahoma, and (at Balanchine’s insistence) the first to credit the dance maker as the

22 ‘choreographer’” (Gottlieb, 2006, pp. 89-90). Barbara Palfy in her 2012 essay, Agnes de Mille (1905-1993) for the Dance Heritage Coalition, writes that de Mille’s “fresh, vigorous, use of classical ballet” (Palfy, 2012, p. 1) in the 1942 dance piece Rodeo, choreographed for the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, was what first brought her to the attention of the producers for the new Broadway show Oklahoma. She goes on to add:

Her work became a landmark for Broadway because the choreography was not just routines but, in the dream ballet “Laurey Makes Up Her Mind” an encapsulation and forwarding of the plot. After Oklahoma, the standard Broadway kick-line largely disappeared (Palfy, 2012, p. 1).

Upon viewing the film versions, which are still available in their entirety, any professional or even student practitioner of ballet can clearly see how changes have been made to the idiom of the academic ballet style of choreography. Fried-Gintis

(2010) succinctly points out this difference when she describes the later practices in ballet choreography for film as “dance forms in which ballet is the prominent dance tradition, but heavily intertwined with new steps”, referring to these practices as

“ballet” (Fried-Gintis, 2010, p. 16). Gottlieb’s (2006) aforementioned quote is important in that it refers to the style of ‘dance’ that Balanchine used as simply

“ballet”, rather than classical ballet. Palfy (2012) is more to the point when she writes of de Mille’s “fresh, vigorous, use of classical ballet” (Palfy, 2012, p. 1).

Brought together, Balanchine and de Mille’s breakaway strategies were to experiment with academic ballet technique as the basis from which they would end up creating a whole new style of dancing, alternatively known as the fused ballet style – a term I created for this thesis. Set apart from these styles was ‘modern ballet’, primarily a broader reference to Balanchine’s neo-classical contribution to

23 ballet, more specifically, his new body of work for the burgeoning New York City

Ballet Company. His landmark choreography for the Slaughter on Tenth Avenue sequence, or ‘ballet’ as it is commonly referred to, in the On Your Toes Broadway musical and film version, was no longer academic ballet as a stand-alone style. It was now a fusion of styles to bring it more in line with the era of jazz music, a style highly featured in the musical score. This was similar to de Mille’s choreography for

Oklahoma that was not comprised of just academic ballet technique, but fused with other styles, even though it, too, was referred to as ‘ballet’ (Billman, 1997, p. 54).

This clarity about the difference between fused ballet and academic ballet, greatly influenced my choice of choreographic style for my film Nearly Not Me. The aforementioned quotes from Gottlieb (2006) and Palfy (2012) in reference to

Balanchine being the first to “integrate dance into the storyline” (Gottlieb, 2006, pp.

89-90), and de Mille’s “Laurey Makes Up Her Mind” being “an encapsulation and forwarding of the plot” (Palfy, 2012, p. 1), recognise ‘ballet’ being used in the narrative of the film story, rather than “just as routines” (Palfy, 2012, p. 1). These examples assisted me in finding the focus for my own choreographic style, one that would employ academic ballet technique without dilution or fusion. I used this academic ballet style for the choreography in the quest to see if it, too, had the same narrative abilities as the ‘fused’ style of ballet.

Section 2.2.1 Cinedance and the dream ballet Now that academic ballet was sharing cinematic narratives with a fused ballet style, the issue for the use of academic ballet choreography in film became how it was to maintain relevance and innovate. With the advancing technological techniques that developed as fast as the film industry itself, came new styles of

24 filming dance. This was how academic ballet would innovate, and, in turn, influence my own choreographic strategy.

Section 2.2.2 Cinedance In her 1946 Doctoral dissertation (later published), Dancing in Commercial

Motion Pictures, Mary Jane Hungerford coined the term cinedance:

A cinedance cannot be produced by photographing a dance conceived in a stage like space, no matter how extensive or irregularly shaped. It is constructed of a series of shots of expressive movement, usually somewhat stylised to achieve rhythmic and spacial coherence. The content of each shot must be planned with the camera placement and lens type quite as carefully considered as the rhythm and movement. The choreographer uses a new kind of mental imagery (Hungerford, 2013, p. 45).

This is important for the present study because it defines the style of filming that propelled academic ballet choreography to its zenith of innovation and public demand, in the most iconic ballet film of all time, the British film, The Red Shoes

(1948) (Billman, 1997, p. 83). From extensive observation of the films in the contextual review it becomes apparent that, unfortunately, academic ballet choreography eventually fell victim to an overuse of cinedance filming techniques, ones that would become synonymous with filming academic ballet choreography sequences in narrative cinema – becoming stereotypical in and of themselves. Some typical examples of this can be found in such films as Waterloo Bridge (1940), starring Vivien Leigh and The Red Shoes (1948), starring Moira Shearer and Robert

Helpmann – two films that are discussed in further detail in Chapter 3, the contextual review. Despite their eventual over use, the 1940s and 1950s proved to be a period of trial and error as to how academic ballet choreography could be presented in films,

25 using multiple cinedance techniques that had never before been applied to academic ballet choreography (Billman, 1997, pp. 61-93).

Unfortunately, budget restraints didn’t allow me to consider using the cinedance filming techniques that I have identified as contributing to the stereotypical style in the previous paragraph. Such restraints simply did not permit the luxury of access to the tools to create cinedance, as conceived for dance films of international commercial release. Once defined, my recognition of these filming methods – that were made possible by commercial-use filming cameras, multiple varieties of camera lens’ and access to large open sound studio spaces – would directly relate to my approach to the filming of my own choreography and the resultant interaction I would have with my own cinematographer for Nearly Not Me.

Section 2.2.3 The dream ballet The new technologies for colour film, and lenses for the cameras, as used in the cinedance filming style, brought the depiction of dance as fantasy to unreal heights on screen during the heyday of the ‘dream ballet’. To define the ‘dream ballet’ and how it guided the artistic vision for my own film, I was drawn to Jane

Feuer’s analytic breakdown of the term in The Hollywood Musical (1993). Analysis of the films and how they justified the inclusion of dream sequences, using the new

‘ballet’ choreography, were found to fall under two categories. Feuer states that,

“Dream ballets in MGM musicals emphasise either the wish of the dreamer…or they represent a tentative working out of the problems of the primary narrative” (Feuer,

1993, p. 74).

Academic ballet choreography would still be used in dream sequences in multiple films. It is my supposition, though, that this is the crucial point where the

26 academic ballet choreographic style was earmarked for ever more unrealistic fantasy scenarios. This was possibly due to the rigidity of the tradition that was part of its aesthetic, or, it could also be argued, that academic ballet choreography was seen as too rigid as well. Perhaps it was seen as lacking the emotional and nuanced necessities now required for use in dream ballets meant to portray either “the wish of the dreamer” (Feuer, 1993, p. 74), or “a tentative working out of the problems of the primary narrative” (Feuer, 1993, p. 74).

Phoebe Ellen Newsted in her 2000 Masters thesis, Dance in the contemporary

American musical theater: What has become of the dream ballet? discusses the ideological theory of the ‘dream ballet’, describing it as stylised dance able to connect on a more personal level for the audience member. This is a concept that I used to my advantage when needing to give clarity to my own choreographic approach.

This dramatic application of dance conveys the emotional journeys of the characters and explores the themes of the play in a manner beyond what is possible through dialogue. Dance communicates the emotions, the intimacies and anxieties of relationships and situations in a way that is not often assessed by words alone. Dance propels itself off the nuances of body language and non-verbal communication. The physicality of dance validates or criticizes or evokes human behaviour in a recognisably symbolic fashion that helps to enrich audience comprehension of the verbal elements (Newsted, 2000, p. 53).

Changing the word ‘dance’ to ‘academic ballet’ every time it is referred to in this quote, gave me direction as to how I would portray character intent and identity within my own choreographed movement. The film I produced acted as a new environment in which to integrate academic ballet choreography into the ‘real time’

27 narrative on screen, employing it as an accompanying communicative dialect, much the same as dialogue is used, with the objective of telling the story.

Following the release of The Red Shoes, the academic ballet choreographic style was not used with any particular innovative development again. Unfortunately, any innovation that held sway for this style of choreography, was indelibly hindered due to the myriad of clichés that had been created around it. The academic style of ballet was destined for use only in fantasy based ‘dream ballets’ and stand-alone stage spectacle with little if any, relation to the narrative in the cinematic storyline.

As Wallace (1967) states regarding dance in films in general, “Too often it has been merely an ornament rather than an integral part of the film” (Wallace, 1967, p. 2).

Academic ballet choreography was trapped within cinematic tropes used in the ballet film genre – ones I would specifically set out to avoid in my own film production.

Section 2.3 Choreographic strategy: Insight into the work of Robert Helpmann, Frederick Ashton and Roland Petit

Academic ballet choreography was seemingly trapped by the context in which it was included in cinema narrative, while also relegated to a formulaic filming style when it was included. From this status quo, it could be inferred that the choreographers who were creating the choreography had the opportunity, and perhaps the responsibility for the development of its use. Insight into the work of

Helpmann, Ashton and Petit was relevant to this study because I looked to it for inspiration and guidance with my own choreographic strategy.

The literature discussed here is pertinent because it highlights these choreographers’ lack of desire to propose or initiate innovation with the academic ballet style of choreography, where, as Newsted (2000) puts it, it “validates or

28 criticizes or evokes human behaviour” and “communicates the emotions, the intimacies and anxieties of relationships” (Newsted, 2000, p. 53). This is why the new style of fused ballet choreography had found favour with audiences and other choreographers. For me as a researcher, I found this to be my point of difference in choreographic approach and eventual ultimate challenge: Investigating what meaning, if any, academic ballet technique had, and how I could use it to give the character an identity, concurrent with the film’s story. This, in turn, moulded my own choreographic strategy as one that would place a distinct focus on the deconstruction of the choreography I was creating to give its performance meaning and context.

Section 2.3.1 Robert Helpmann, Frederick Ashton, Roland Petit Katherine Sorely Walker in her 1998 three-part series for the Dance Chronicle

Journal, Robert Helpmann dancer and choreographer: Part two, quotes Helpmann, speaking with author Monk Gibbon, on his pragmatic approach to “choreographing a screen ballet” (Walker, 1998, p. 255) for The Red Shoes film. She writes:

He termed it, partly a matter of significant omission. There is no possibility of orchestrating choreographically on the screen. On the stage, you can give your soloist one movement and orchestrate it with the corps de ballet because they are all in the audience’s eye…On the screen that is impossible; the camera has already done the work of selection…I realised this before I ever began. I realised that it would be useless and a waste of time to choreograph parts that were not visible (Walker, 1998, p. 255).

What is interesting here, is Helpmann’s main concern being what not to choreograph and why. He does not discuss the actual choreography in any detail.

There is perhaps a slight inference to strategy when she adds:

Gibbon asked if doing it piecemeal might not lose the sense of continuity. Helpmann replied “that he always bore in mind what would be happening elsewhere, even if it wasn’t

29 happening…Throughout the whole ballet I had three things in mind – choreographic pattern, a balletic version of the story, and a symbolic vision of the theme of ambition” (Walker, 1998, p. 256).

Ashton is even more bereft of disclosure, with it being left up to his biographer to provide insight into his work on the follow up film to The Red Shoes, titled The

Tales of Hoffman (1951) (Kavanagh, 1996). Author Julie Kavanagh, wrote of

Ashton’s choreography for The Tales of Hoffmann in her extensive 1996 biography,

Secret muses: The life of Frederick Ashton. Mainly responsible for choreography for

Moira Shearer, one of the female leads,

Ashton was responsible for her dance, a solo in which Moira Shearer performs ballet’s equivalent of coloratura: scintillating footwork and virtuosic fouetté turns. A more unusual contribution is the Dragonfly Ballet which opens the film: a flitting, fluttery dance, made in homage to Pavlova’s famous solo (Kavanagh, 1996, p. 395).

Providing reference to the new techniques for cinedance filming, she adds somewhat less lyrically, how the innovations held no interest for Ashton.

As choreography for the camera, neither piece is particularly impressive. Movements are not adapted for high angles, and the dance is mostly shot full length, tracked by a camera that is frequently taken by surprise. Powell claimed that Ashton showed a keen, but limited, sense of cinema. He did not sit in on the editing and had little enthusiasm for trying new resources available to him (Kavanagh, 1996, pp. 395-396).

In his 2011 contribution to the Modern Horizons Journal, A fetish for fugitive aesthetics: Cinematic kitsch and visual pleasure in The Tales of Hoffman, David

Scott Diffrient provides an interestingly alternative perspective on the choreography for the opening ballet sequence of the Dragonfly.

As choreographed by the Anna Pavlova-inspired Frederick Ashton (who appears later in the film), this angular yet fluttery

30 dance…betrays a post-Martha Graham modernism anachronistically at odds with what we are to believe is a mid- nineteenth century milieu (Diffrient, 2011, p. 8).

These are good examples of the approach that both choreographers took to their work in the respective films they were choreographing for. While Helpmann’s work in The Red Shoes will always be seen as a new and innovative move for the presentation of academic ballet in film, Ashton’s reprisal work in The Tales of

Hoffman did not necessarily reach the same peak of innovation. The lack of application does not seem to have gone unnoticed, as is evident in the following reference. Arlene Croce, the renowned dance critic for The New Yorker magazine, in her 1977 extensive collection of writings, After Images, provides an opinion that offers no opportunity to be misunderstood. She wrote, quite matter-of-fact on her impression of the film; “The next film by Powell and Pressburger, Tales of Hoffmann

(1952), was an overstuffed culture sandwich with one indigestible ruse: it tried substituting dancers for singers, and there was a lot of frantic lip-syncing on the hoof” (Croce, 1977, p. 441).

For the lavish production of Hans Christian Anderson (1952), MGM’s cinematic retaliation for the success of The Red Shoes, French choreographer Roland

Petit was brought in to choreograph, with the film’s star being his own ballerina wife

ZiZi Jeanmaire. Petit’s style was predominantly academic ballet and was seen as such, with the majority of dancing for the females performed in pointe shoes.

Billman (1997) offers an opinion which is close to the mark when he writes; “Petit’s ballets for Hans Christian Anderson… added large doses of sensuality to the form, taking film ballet in a new direction” (Billman, 1997, p. 112). With the original casting meant for Moira Shearer and choreography by Balanchine, perhaps the possibilities for something new would have been viable (McLean, 2008, p. 192).

31 With Jeanmaire, came Petit, with choreography merely used as a showcase for the

French ballerina creating nothing new beyond, “fast-paced and explosively performed production numbers” (McLean, 2008, p. 192), nevertheless impressing an audience of the 1950s with “the spectacular speed and difficulty of the dancing”

(McLean, 2008, p. 192). Additionally, and straight to the point, Arlene Croce (1977) writes, “Goldwyn spent a fortune capitalizing on The Red Shoes with Hans Christian

Anderson (1952), featuring Jeanmaire in uninteresting choreography by Roland

Petit” (Croce, 1977, p. 441). In addition to these references, my own lengthy analysis of the films themselves brought me to agree with these authors conclusions.

I have great respect for these choreographers and the beautiful choreography they have all created on multiple dance companies worldwide, however one can infer from these references that scant awareness or attention was paid to the need for any deconstruction of the technique used in their choreography. Consequently, their work led to no insights for me in terms of the choreographic strategy for the steps they devised, and no positive point of reference for my own practice-led work.

Section 2.4 Conclusion

From the review of the literature, and further validated in the contextual review to follow, a conclusion can be drawn that academic ballet choreography in narrative cinema has been used as a largely irrelevant addendum to stories on the subject matter of the world of ballet, or as a depiction of a visual realm in fantasy scenarios.

Despite choreographers of note contributing their choreography to the ballet film genre, it seems that the theme for innovation leaned toward how the choreography was being filmed rather than the actual content or meaning of the choreography itself. This revelatory insight provided me with a framework to create the distinctively different approach of my own practice for Nearly Not Me.

Chapter 3: Contextual Review

Introduction

This contextual review discusses the films of the ballet genre inclusive of ones mentioned in the literature review. Some of the films included in the contextual review act as examples of the creation and perpetuation of the stereotypes and cinematic tropes discussed in the previous chapter. Others act as examples of the way academic ballet and fused ballet choreography has been incorporated into cinematic narratives, both acting as points of reference for my own study. It should be noted that the character of the ‘ballet dancer’, as it is referred to in this review, is a reference to a dancer of the academic ballet style, with the distinction between academic ballet and fused ballet that was described in the literature review still applying here.

Section 3.1, Films that created the character of the ballerina, looks at films that contributed significantly to the general movie going public’s perception of the personality traits of a female ballet dancer, and the realm in which she exists. A ballerina, being the protagonist of my own featurette production, and her character’s identity, were greatly influenced by this preconceived notion depicted in narrative cinema. It acted as a basis for the character study that I used in aiming to dispel the perpetuated myth that the stereotypes have created.

Section 3.2, Academic ballet and fused ballet in film – defining the difference, discusses films that were prominent for their use of academic ballet choreography and others that were iconic for their inclusion of a fused ballet section. The

34 contextual review presents examples of the two distinctive ways that academic ballet and fused ballet are used in narrative cinema and how this affected the integration of choreography into my own production.

Section 3.1 Films that created the character of the ballerina

In 1932 the MGM film Grand Hotel was commercially released with a cavalcade of renowned film identities featured in a star-studded cast (McLean, 2008, p. 71). One of the biggest stars to grace the silver screen was the actress Greta Garbo playing the role of the Russian ballerina Grusinskaya in all her tragedienne glory

(Scandola, 2015). Her rendition of the ‘ballerina’ went on to set a template for multiple themes and variations upon which the character of a ballerina in future films were based for the next four decades. In this way, her character created the enduring myth upon which the ballerina image and stereotype has been perpetuated (McLean,

2008, Chapter 2).

The basis for this claim is McLean’s (2008) statement that, “in the novel the character of the Russian prima ballerina Grusinskaya is modelled on Pavlova, who was then still performing, still touring, but nearing the age of fifty and whose zenith as a dancer was clearly past” (McLean, 2008, p. 73). She adds further;

Between the publication of Baum’s novel and the release of the film version of Grand Hotel Pavlova died suddenly in Europe, in 1931, to a huge amount of publicity, publicity that undoubtedly helped to blur even further the boundaries between the fictional Grusinskaya and the legendary Pavlova (McLean, 2008, p. 74).

From watching the film, a movie-goer could form multiple opinions about what a ballerina is like: First and foremost, glamourous and wealthy, as she is depicted in the film, and secondly, a faint-hearted female that suffers from a severe

35 case of ‘melancholia’ - or in contemporary parlance, possible symptoms toward a diagnosis of clinical depression.

In 1937 and 1938 two films were released that featured different personalities for the ballerina character, ones that were an antithesis to each other (McLean, 2008, p. 95). The first of these is the French film La Morte du Cygne (1937), with

American distribution under the title Ballerina (1937) (McLean, 2008, p. 95). It was one of the first films to base its storyline around the backstage world of ballet. Its lead actresses were the renowned ballet stars of the Paris Opera Ballet Company,

Yvette Chauviré and Mia Slavenska (McLean, 2008, p. 95). What was unique about this film was that it was the first to use actresses who were real-life ballerinas playing the role of ballerinas, not little-known dancers standing in for actresses who could not dance (Hall, 2016). The use of a dance ‘double’, even 73 years later, was still a bone of contention when it occurred in the 2010 film, Black Swan (Katrandjon

& Launier, 2011).

Anna Kisselgoff, writing for the New York Times in 1998 upon a re-release of the film, wrote; “today the film is haunting in its evocation of the Paris Opera Ballet on the eve of World War II” (Kisselgoff, 1998). She went on to describe the opening ballet sequence as “downright silly” however also stated; “elsewhere Lifar’s choreography is firmly based in the classical idiom. Ms. Charrat as a child performer, and the two ballerinas are extraordinary” (Kisselgoff, 1998).

The Frank Capra directed film, You Can’t Take It with You (1938), adapted for film from the successful Broadway play, had the young (15-year-old) Ann Miller playing the ballerina character Essie Carmichael as a madcap who just loves to dance

(McLean, 2008, p. 76). Along with the release of You can’t take it with you, 1938 was also a year for academic ballet dancing in films as well as the characterisations

36 identifying ballet personalities. McLean explains that “ballet set pieces were now functioning as a prestige element, even while ballet dancers as characters remained crazy divas” (McLean, 2008, p. 72).

As the ballerina character developed in the 1940s, it became incorporated into more realistic storylines. It could be argued that the fantasy factor seemed to lose favour with the movie going public who were in the midst of entering a World War.

Variations of the theme started to be seen. Four films that were released in quick succession during the 1940s, all gave the movie going public even more insight into the presumed personality of the ballerina, albeit personifications that aligned with an aesthetic of academic ballet that was manufactured for the cinematic narratives in which they were presented (McLean, 2008, pp. 62-103).

The beginning of the decade saw the production of Dance Girl Dance (1940), starring Lucille Ball as the rambunctious showgirl and Maureen O’Hara as the dedicated ballet student, firmly introducing the image of the traditionalist (ballet) and the contemporary (showgirl) going to battle, in this case for the love of the leading man (McLean, 2008, p. 84). This became a cinematic trope of ballet’s tradition being challenged, in the guise of the characters being portrayed – one that was thoroughly exploited in the dance films from the 1980s onwards, with the concept analysed in detail in Jane Feuer’s 1993, second edition of The Hollywood musical, in the chapter entitled Opera vs jazz: The theme of popular vs elite art. This good girl (ballet) vs bad girl (showgirl) storyline did not go unnoticed by The New York Times critic

Bosley Crowther, who wrote a review of the film upon its release in 1940 saying,

“’Dance, Girl, Dance’ is just a cliché-ridden, garbled repetition of the story of the aches and pains in a dancer’s rise to fame and fortune” (Crowther, 1940).

37 Alternatively, Waterloo Bridge (1940) starring Vivien Leigh in her first film after the monumental world-wide success of Gone with The Wind (1939) plays the ballet dancer Myra Lester (McLean, 2008, p. 78). Here we see a version of the idea of the female dancer being of a profession that will inevitably lead to having loose morals. This is further exaggerated when the character Myra loses her job in the ballet company and is forced to prostitute herself for money on London’s Waterloo

Bridge. Rather than have her love interest, who is from an aristocratic family, sully his reputation with a marriage to a girl with a questionable reputation, she commits suicide jumping from the bridge, alleviating the potentially problematic situation.

Again, this adds a layer to the mentally unstable image that originated with Garbo’s character in Grand Hotel.

While Garbo’s Grusinskaya was more inclined to gaze towards the ceiling of a room and ruminate upon the difficulties of her life as a prima ballerina, Leigh’s character was firmly entrenching an image that the female dancer will do anything she has to in order to survive, yet, when her conscience catches up with her, she will travel to the other end of a spectrum and commit suicide if it means the man she wants to marry may lose his reputation because of her. While visually melodramatic, it added a potentially portent layer to the stereotype of mental instability being a personality trait of the ballerina character (McLean, 2008, pp. 68-69).

The cumulative effect of all these aforementioned films upon the character identity of a woman who pursues a professional career as a ballet dancer, or desire to be one, are paramount to the development of the character for the female protagonist in my own film production. These particular personality traits were ones I held up as examples to ideally avoid when defining the woman who would overcome the obstacles as placed before her in Nearly Not Me. I specifically wanted to portray the

38 character as one who could maintain a rational thought process when confronted with a potentially life threatening situation, as she is in the film, rather than resort to histrionic behavior.

In The Men in Her Life (1941), Loretta Young plays the circus performer Polly

Varley who has a burning desire to become a famous ballerina and eventually realises her dream (American Film Institute, 2017). The film portrays her character in a constant struggle between her desire to manage her life as a ballet dancer and the demands of men looking to either completely exploit her, or demand she give it up all together. This theme of the female protagonist’s enforced battle to choose between career and domesticity was revisited in The Red Shoes (1948), later to become a stalwart cinematic trope for any female character who contemplates juggling a career and desire for an enduring love or, perhaps, family (McLean, 2008, p. 156). While not directly related to the character I created, this stereotype nevertheless implied that a woman choosing a career had made the wrong decision, which in some cases inevitably led to her untimely death.

Tamara Toumanova in Days of Glory (1944) plays the Russian ballerina Nina

Ivanova in a starring role beside the young Gregory Peck (McLean, 2008, p. 94).

Toumanova, already an established name in the real ballet world and making her mark as a Hollywood actress of the 1940’s, contributed her glamourous image juxtaposed with a film storyline set behind the German front amongst a group of

Russian resistance fighters (Holmesfr, 2002). While her character in the film only makes verbal reference to her life as a ballerina, it adds a connotation to the ballerina personality trait – that of bravery and valour – which is important to my choreographic approach. This particular trait is one that I emulated within my own character study, as it was one of the few that integrated strength of character for the

39 female protagonist. While Tourmanova’s character comes to an untimely death at the hands of the Germans in the film, perpetuating the “tradition of morbidity” (McLean,

2008, p. 178), this scenario nevertheless contributes an admirable quality to the ballerina image. McLean (2008) refers to the “tradition of morbidity” (McLean,

2008, p. 178) when describing this penchant for the demise of the ballerina in films, one that would reach its pinnacle with the ultimate death of the ballerina in The Red

Shoes (1948) via suicide (McLean, 2008, pp. 113-167).

The decade of the 1940s came to a close with one more cause of death via this route, having Janet Leigh’s character jumping to her death portraying another

Russian ballerina, Olga Alexandrova, aka Maria Buhlen, in the 1949 film, The Red

Danube (1949) (Roy, 2011). The Story of Three Loves (1953), saw Moira Shearer of

The Red Shoes fame play the ballerina once again in the character of Paula

Woodward. This character died due to the love of her art, not from suicide, but from a weak heart (Roy, 2011). McLean (2008) makes two interesting assertions regarding these particular films. Their depictions of the female ballet dancer as portrayed for the audience, makes these characters, despite being real women who photographed beautifully on film, objects of fantasy for both men and women in that “they are incredibly desirable and romantic figures” (McLean, 2008, p.181). She adds further:

Not surprisingly, the pervasive aura of Pavlova and dying swans, disease and perversity, comes by the end of the decade to be a source of humor in films that otherwise treat ballet quite seriously. Since everybody knows that a ballerina is “not supposed to be normal” she can deploy her identity in ways calculated to achieve her own ends. (McLean, 2008, p. 181)

The Turning Point (1977), starring Shirley MacLaine and Anne Bancroft, was the beginning of the era marking the emergence of the film genre that would pertain specifically to ballet (McLean, 2008, p. 218). Rather than create new identities for

40 women of the profession, the genre involved variations on themes that had been established in the 1930s and 1940s, albeit with slight tweaks to create a semblance of relevance and affinity with a more modern and supposedly educated audience.

The female characters of a ballet background in The Turning Point conveyed an image that most definitely said to women that they cannot have both a career and a family without one of these suffering neglect. This was subliminally intertwined with the infantilizing of the young ballerina ingénue character played by real life

American Ballet Theatre ballerina, Leslie Browne (McLean, 2008, p. 221). While it supposed that the young ballerina had a maturity beyond her years to manage the trials and tribulations, both physically and mentally, for a life as a professional ballerina, aspirations beyond that were deemed fraught with failure. For example, the struggles of managing a family and a professional career are simply unachievable, as portrayed by the example of the Mother character Deedee (played by MacLaine), who gave up ballet to have her daughter Emelia, played by Leslie Brown (McLean,

2008, p. 221).

The new boom for dance films in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s, harked back to the trope of ‘traditionalist ballet versus everyday dance styles’. In FAME (1980),

Antonia Franceschi played the role of Hilary Van Doren, a wealthy, white and talented ballerina whose aim it is to seduce the black male dancer Leroy (McLean,

2008, p. 227). Underneath the harsh exterior, however, she is the frightened, vulnerable young girl who has been neglected by her wealthy parents (FAME, 1980).

Another example of the trope is seen in Flashdance (1983) where the girl from the

‘wrong side of the tracks’ is trying to make it in the ‘white Anglo-Saxon protestant’ world of classical ballet (Billman, 1997, p. 159). In this twist of the female character’s bravery and valour, she is a female car mechanic who wants to enter the

41 pretentious ballet school environment. She ultimately achieves her goal, breaking their traditionalist view in the audition, by performing ‘breakdancing’ steps

(Flashdance, 1983). She dispels their doubt instantaneously and has the audition panel tapping their feet and snapping their fingers in time with the modern-style music by the time the audition is finished.

Save the Last Dance (2001) involved the female protagonist wanting to enter the famous New York Juilliard School of the Arts for ballet training (Save the Last

Dance, 2001). Her constrained personality and traditionalist approach to dancing is tempered, which the audience is led to believe is what ultimately saves her. This is only achieved, though, due to her falling in love with a black, male hip-hop dancer.

He is portrayed as holding all the answers for her to be able to get into one of the most prestigious training schools in the world by simply loosening up her approach to dance, much in the same vein as the hip-hop style.

Center Stage (2000) followed young dancers as they made their claims to positions within a prestigious American ballet company (McLean, 2008, pp. 240-

241). The white female character, destined for success, falls apart before her big break due to her pushy stage mother trying to vicariously live her dream of ballet success through her daughter who has an eating disorder due to the pressures imposed upon her. In 2010 the film Black Swan was released (Roy, 2011). This film has particular relevance, as it inspired the subject matter of this study, primarily because it involved a character beholden to every negative stereotype that had been manufactured from the past eighty years of films featuring the ballet dancer character. By now the character of the ballerina was being intertwined into stories of psychological horror, having travelled so far from the realm of reality that devotion to a life as a ballerina could reasonably send one into a complete mental breakdown.

42 In 2015 the television series Flesh and Bone was premiered on American screens, with a cacophony of the worst stereotypes ever created for the world of ballet (Mackrell, 2015). Ballet was now not only being seen as a pretext for psychological horror plotlines but also for the most salacious of them. The Wikipedia page describing the character list for the television series illustrates the general description provided for the average person uninvolved in the dance industry, while also being a virtual template for the ballet dancer character stereotypes (Wikipedia,

2018). The character descriptions read as follows and encapsulate nearly all the stereotypes as described previously in this review:

Sarah Hay as Claire Robbins, a ballet dancer with a troubled past. Emily Tyra as Mia Bialy, Claire’s reluctant roommate who has an eating disorder. Irina Dvorovenko as Kiira, an ageing prima ballerina struggling with an injury. Raychel Diane Weiner as Daphne Kensington, an ambitious New Yorker from a privileged background. Tine Benko as Jessica, the manager of The American Ballet Company. Sascha Radetsky as Ross, a womanizing principal dancer. Karell Williams as Trey, a struggling ballet dancer (Wikipedia, 2018).

Even though the above reference is in relation to a TV show as stated, it portrayed some of the best exemplars of the most extreme stereotypes within its unfolding narrative. I felt as researcher it would be remiss not acknowledge it as superlative example, even though it cannot be defined as cinema. A film length version of the successful Australian television series Dance Academy was released in 2017

(Buckmaster, 2017). It follows the trials and tribulations of dance academy attendees as they step from their lives as students into the professional world of dance – ballet being the prominent style explored in the film. Understandably, the characters are suitably homogenized for the PG rating and general fan base of the young to teenage audience, thus infantilizing the cast of characters accordingly. What could have been

43 a unique attempt at showing the true difficulties of pursuing a professional life in the performing arts, especially from an Australian point of view, merely turned into a feature length film commandeering the old cinematic trope of wish fulfilment.

All the films mentioned so far in this chapter form a general impression of how the ballerina character has been portrayed in cinema narratives of commercial release for the past 85 years. Ultimately, this provides evidence to support the claim that definitive personality traits of women embarking on a career as a professional ballet dancer fit into the stereotypes as identified. The creation of the female protagonist character, Anna Ferson-Wells, in my own film, aimed to specifically contradict all of these stereotypes, except for the quality of bravery.

The aim of undertaking this study was to integrate academic ballet choreography as a means of visual communication into a cinematic narrative that is devoid of cinematic tropes and stereotypes as commonly found in the ballet film genre. Using this contextual review of these films as the springboard from which the character study developed, proved instrumental in creating a female character for

Nearly Not Me that one could possibly meet in real life; a female that, while having had a career as a professional ballerina, was still vulnerable to the destructive machinations of a narcissistic husband. The choreography in the film is danced exclusively by the female character which, in turn, greatly influenced the subsequent practice aspect of the study, not only in terms of investigating the style of the steps she performs, but, more importantly, in aiming to provide a meaning to the choreography. Much the same as one derives meaning from dialogue, I looked to provide meaning with the choreography – the steps executed being contextual to the scenes in which they were integrated.

44 Section 3.2 Academic ballet and fused ballet in film: Defining the difference

In line with the films that feature the character of the ballerina, academic ballet choreography has more often than not been included within the narrative, but as an aside to the storyline. This is usually employed to reassure the audience that the character of the ballerina being portrayed belongs not just to an everyday existence as they themselves might live within, but to a whole aesthetic. This aesthetic is dominated by a particular dancing style performed to classical music, costumed within a white long tutu of the Romantic style, with delicate feet wrapped in pointe shoes, and a regal head topped with a tiara. This ideal confines the adult female ballet dancer to a fantastical and unrealistic world, while portraying the academic ballet style of choreography as a linchpin to this aesthetic. Separation of these grouped attributes that make up this aesthetic, having not been investigated to any degree, provided impetus for my own research study.

Academic ballet choreography in story-based film narrative has only maintained relevance due it being employed as a device for visual spectacle; an addendum to titillate the audience and reinforce the fantasy aspect of the ballet world and its aesthetic. It made the case for the popularity and alternative use of the emerging fused ballet style of choreography – a style that choreographers were developing which, while technically based using the academic style, added a multiplicity of steps from other dance forms that seemingly captured a character’s feeling, personality and emotions. The irony here is that while choreographers were being lauded for their innovative use of choreography that rejected the idiom of academic ballet (Billman, 1997, p. 66), the very styles they were creating, while filtered through their own personal movement vocabulary, were all centred around the technical basis that academic ballet provided. This rejection of the ‘old ways’, it

45 can be argued, was a strategy to keep ballet interesting and avoid it seeming outdated and irrelevant. This would ultimately see academic ballet choreography spiral into a quagmire of clichés and stereotypes, destined for the realm of fantasy and film versions of beloved fairy tales, while fused ballet, hiding behind the concept of changing tradition and being of the times, flourished.

La Morte Du Cygne (1937) featured academic ballet choreography in the film, created by Serge Lifar (Kisselgoff, 1998). The choreography is a perfect example of aesthetic reinforcement, setting the tone for the ‘behind the scenes’ format of the film’s storyline, with beautiful ethereal qualities on stage, but, back stage, different people altogether. George Balanchine choreographed the ballet sequences in The

Goldwyn Follies (1938) featuring his soon to be wife, Vera Zorina (Billman, 1997, p.

54). The choreography received acclaim more so for how the burgeoning filming techniques of cinedance were utilised rather than the actual dance steps (Billman,

1997, p. 54). The dance sequences in this film are examples of the visual spectacle being added to the narrative with no relevance to the storyline.

Alternatively, in 1939 the film version of On Your Toes premiered, with

Balanchine’s fused ballet choreography for the Slaughter on Tenth Avenue sequence being hailed as new and innovative, a definitive step away from the academic ballet choreography he produced the previous year (Billman, 1997, p. 54). The next year

Dance Girl Dance (1940), would borrow heavily from this fusion of styles to give the impression of innovation as Balanchine had done with Slaughter on Tenth

Avenue. The extended dance sequence in the film, while borrowing from Balanchine, also acts as an interesting prelude to the later works of Gene Kelly’s extended ballet sequences. It is interesting in the sense that it is meant to look modern with the use of costuming that is contemporary, but the actual dance steps maintain a close alliance

46 with academic ballet technique and the use of pointe work. The fusion of other dance styles with academic ballet technique will nevertheless, always be attributed to

Balanchine’s choreography in On Your Toes (1939). The fused ballet would become the preferred style for choreography within contemporary narratives, providing its choreographers with a new-found freedom of movement, away from the seemingly traditionalist rigidity of academic ballet technique.

The review of films to identify the creation of stereotypes of the ballerina character influenced my own character study for the female protagonist in Nearly

Not Me, so too has the review of these films from the late 1930s and early 1940s been a guide to the creation of the choreographic sequences in my own film production. These films point to the exact period when academic ballet choreography and fused ballet choreography became distinct. My own experience and knowledge as an academic ballet dancer, and familiarity with the technical basis of the style, highlighted these differences which in turn greatly influenced the style I would choose to utilize for my own choreography.

Despite the character of the ballerina having ongoing popularity in film, especially if she happened to die or take her own life by the end of it, real dancers playing the roles were a novelty. The continual use of actresses not trained in ballet created a style of filming that accommodated their lack of ability which, in turn, became stereotypical in and of itself, even when eventually real dancers were being used in the lead roles (McLean, 2008, p. 133). For example, Vivien Leigh in

Waterloo Bridge (1940) was shot from the waist up in all the dance sequences with cut away shots of the audience members and then shots back to the stage (Waterloo

Bridge, 1940). Wide shots gave the impression that she was on stage with the rest of the dance company, where her identity could not clearly be seen. Further shots were

47 added for which she was obviously given a modicum of training in order to perform the relatively simple arm movements of ballet positioning that, when joined together, would give the average movie-goer an impression that she was indeed the ballerina she was playing.

The Red Shoes (1948) received accolades for its innovative use of ‘filming’ the choreography (McLean, 2008, pp. 113-167). Cinedance filming techniques, as previously mentioned in the literature review, were used to dramatic effect for the film, admittedly in ways that had never been done before (Billman, 1997, p. 83). The same cinematic filming habits as were used in Waterloo Bridge (1940) were again used in The Red Shoes (The Red Shoes, 1948): the obligatory close-ups of Moira

Shearer’s face when she is performing on stage, cut-away reaction shots from the audience, and close-ups of feet in pointe shoes performing intricate choreography.

These filming habits for academic ballet were ones that I made a concerted effort to avoid when directing the cinematographer for my own featurette film. Having the opportunity to have a professional dancer playing the lead role was used to full advantage in the way the choreography was filmed and in its initial creation.

The Unfinished Dance (1947) was the American remake of the 1937 French film, La Morte Du Cygne, starring the ballet trained Cyd Charisse and the young actress Margaret O’Brien (McLean, 2008, p. 99). There are multiple dance sequences in the film displaying the dance abilities of Cyd Charisse, herself a trained professional ballerina before coming to Hollywood (McLean, 2008, p. 99). It, too, used the now habitual filming techniques to capture the performance of dance. The choreography itself, supposed to emulate what a professional ballet company would perform on stage, is so erratic as to make it difficult to watch as a trained dancer. Its

48 content was meant more for visual spectacle rather than for a particularly trained or learned eye.

These productions premiered to great fanfare and featured popular film stars of the day. They were purposefully created for the average movie goers who were impressed by the academic ballet choreography that could be made to look like spectacular tricks (The Unfinished Dance, 1947). For instance, dancing in pointe shoes had already been well established as part of the academic ballet aesthetic, but now performing turns at a remarkable speed in pointe shoes seemed to become a standout feature, a gimmick that despite being frighteningly devoid of the technique they were supposedly replicating, was proudly emphasised in the original theatrical trailer for the film (Warner Bros, 2014).

The success of The Red Shoes (1948) led the way for Gene Kelly to introduce ballet to the world via his extended dance sequences in films such as An American in

Paris (1951) and Singing in the Rain (1952) (Billman, 1997, p. 96). These are precursors to the film version of Oklahoma (1955) in which Agnes DeMille recreated her choreography for the ‘dream sequence’ (Palfy, 2012, p. 1), choreography with her own fusion of styles that, like Kelly, had its basis in academic ballet technique.

These films of the late 1940s and early 1950s exemplified the use of fused ballet choreography being suited for storylines of a contemporary nature while highlighting the use of academic ballet choreography, as this review shows, in films that started to become more fantastical in storyline and cinematic format. It could be argued that this created the image of academic ballet choreography being unsuitable for use in films outside the realm of fantasy – another cinematic trope that I aimed to avoid.

Juxtaposing the academic style of ballet choreography within a storyline of particular relevance to current day society became an unexpected challenge – one that was

49 successfully overcome due to the choreographic strategy employed to meet such obstacles.

It was the films coming out of Britain that put a stamp on how academic ballet could be experimented with, for example Tales of Hoffman (1952), choreographed by Frederick Ashton and Robert Helpmann (Kavanagh, 1996, p. 394). These are two choreographers who had close ties to the English tradition of the supposed rigidity of academic ballet. Not to be outdone, MGM went on to produce the lavish Hans

Christian Anderson (1953) (Billman, 1997, p. 112). Roland Petit’s use of academic ballet choreography in the film pushed the academic style further into the realm of fantasy and dream scenarios. The late 1940s up until the mid- to late-1950s was the pinnacle for the diverse styles of ‘ballet’ being used in narrative cinema (Billman,

1997, Part 1, pp. 61-93), rather than anything new for the academic style of ballet choreography.

Gene Kelly’s failed attempt to incorporate the more authentic use of academic ballet choreography back-fired terribly with the disastrous reception to his 1956 film

Invitation to the Dance (1956) (McLean, 2008, p. 209). Alvin Yudkoff in his 1999 biography, Gene Kelly: A life of dance and dreams quotes Kelly as follows:

There were some things in it that didn’t come off as well as I had hoped, and in the end, I found myself agreeing with those who found the whole thing a bit much. Each ballet is enjoyable by itself but three in a row was probably more than most people could take at one cinema sitting (Yudkoff, 1999, p. 227).

It could be argued that Kelly’s foray back into the academic ballet style that he’d made such efforts to separate himself from, was too much for audiences that affiliated him with a style that was of his own creation. As director, choreographer and dancer in the film himself, he brought in international ballet dancers who were

50 dance stars in their own right – some who had made a name in Hollywood films already, namely Tamara Toumanova, Igor Youskevitch and Claire Sombert

(McLean, 2008, p. 209). The author Yudkoff (2006, p. 227) cites the dancer

Youskevitch’s impression of Kelly venturing into a style of dance he was seemingly not qualified for, in the following terms:

Youskevitch allowed that Gene “could be” an excellent creative choreographer but was dismayingly blunt in rating him as an authentic ballet performer: “Kelly is not an ideal classical dancer. He does not have the proper training. His technique is not good enough”.

The end of the 1960s saw the demise of the movie musical and the large

Hollywood studio system that produced them (McLean, 2008, pp. 215-257). Billman

(1997) writes that “Hollywood’s new sixties look at reality and the ever-growing youth rebellion finally made the movie musical obsolete, and dance in film was in chaos” (Billman, 1997, p. 124). McLean (2008, p. 206) quotes David Caute’s accurate appraisal of where ballet in film had come to when she notes that ballet in the West in the 1950s and 1960s “increasingly avoided stories, dramas, heroes, heroines, villains, dénouements, dying swans. Dance was developed as an en-soi, a thing apart…The external referent, the story…had been deliberately cauterized.

Abstraction prevailed”.

Arlene Croce (1977, p. 441) writes an equally doomed appraisal from a different perspective:

The ballet binge produced no stars. Stars of the ballet appeared in special spots, but their appearances were only newsworthy: they were rarely given a chance to do the kind of dancing that made them famous. There was a general attempt to make ballet winsome and cute or cold and jazz.

51 Ballet themed movies made a spectacular comeback with the international success of the 1977 film The Turning Point (McLean, 2008, p. 220). While having a cast list of major international real-life ballet stars, it fell back onto the use of stereotypes, as already mentioned (McLean, 2008, p. 222). It does provide though, one of the only examples available where an academic ballet dance sequence is integrated into the real-time narrative to further the story. This claim is uniquely supported by Alan. M. Kreigsman’s 1977 review of the film for The Washington

Post when he wrote;

There is only one passage, though, in which the dancing really participates in the unfolding of the drama itself, and for that very reason it is the most affecting dance scene in the film. It is the moment when Yuri and Emilia first awaken to their mutual attraction, as they are rehearsing - what else? - a pas de deux from “Romeo and Juliet” (MacMillan version) alone in a studio.

Of all the films reviewed, this is the one example of academic ballet choreography being successfully integrated into the narrative of a film. As the reviewer finds, this integration of the choreography was particularly effective and understood as to how it contributed to the story. Though the choreography is of an ethereal quality and almost dreamlike, it is literal in the sense that it portrayed a relationship forming that otherwise could be related via the use of dialogue – a prime example of academic ballet choreography being used to further the storyline.

McLean (2008) writes that “virtually all” films in the 1980s “are related to or attempt to exploit the success of The Turning Point” (McLean, 2008, p. 219). This infers that due to the desire to exploit an already successful template, no new innovation was looked upon as profitable. Dance films in the 1990s went on to use academic ballet as the reason for the supposed rigidity of not just the characters’ dancing style but their personalities as well. Obstacles that, once overcome, would

52 go to seeing the dancer reach their ultimate dream and goal. This was alluded to in subliminal ways, with the use of academic ballet choreography performed by the character in question, presented as being part of the overall problem as well. A cinematic trope used repetitively was when the character, at their most anxious, would incorporate a fusion of other styles into the choreography, which in turn would be a metaphor for the loosening of their rigid exterior, of course for which academic ballet was to blame (Save the Last Dance, 2001).

Academic ballet choreography in the films of the genre took no steps toward innovation with the dawn of the new century. Its use as an adjunct spectacle piece maintained a firm grip in the way it was presented in narrative cinema (McLean,

2008, p. 206). The films of the near two decades since the year 2000 offer no new insights or examples that are relevant to my own research. Biographical films which have not been included in the review due to their rendering of a real person’s life, cannot be effectively judged as contributing to the manufactured images in mention.

It is these manufactured storylines for cinematic release, once analysed, that show a repetition of cinematic tropes and stereotypes that have proved reliable for nearly a century.

The production of my film looked to present a narrative devoid of expected personality traits for the characters and visual aesthetic for the choreography. To realise this was the next step in the research project: designing a methodology to assist in the structure of the practice component of the investigation, influenced by the review of the literature and films included in this thesis thus far.

53 Chapter 4: Research Design

In designing the methodology to support this practice-led research, and, as a choreographer working within both the dance studio and on location, the most appropriate framework for the study utilised a mixed methodology employing qualitative research strategies and methods. The research incorporated studio-based action research, aspects of grounded theory, and an audience survey for the collection of qualitative data. Haseman states:

Within the qualitative tradition, there are well established strategies and methods designed to investigate and understand … these are practice-based research strategies and include: the reflective practitioner (embracing reflection-in action and reflection-on-action); participant research; participatory research; collaborative inquiry and action research. (Haseman 2006, p. 2)

The focus of the research, was to investigate the narrative abilities of academic ballet choreography when utilized in more contemporary, cinematic storylines. I was interested to explore how the use of academic ballet choreography could be used as a visual dialect in narrative cinema as a means to communicate portions of the story in lieu of dialogue. An original story was created from which the screenplay was written for the film. The screenplay needed to provide contexts in which choreographic sequences could be inserted. Three sections of the storyline were drawn from the screenplay that were deemed most suitable to communicate these portions of the story, via the use of academic ballet choreography. The following sections explain the methodology used to support the choreographic process.

4.1 Action Research

It was identified that aspects of action research as a methodology would be the most suitable strategy for the research.

54 Choreographic strategies to achieve visual communication within an original film narrative through academic ballet choreography “Action Research (AR) is a paradigm of inquiry where the researcher’s primary purpose is to improve the capacity and subsequent practices of the researcher rather than to produce theoretical knowledge” (Elliot, 1991 as cited in Bell et al., 2004, pp. 1-2). “The researcher provides direction towards realization and transformation of values through process” (Bell et al., 2004, p. 2). The process being the action research cycle, “the cycle often described as plan  act and observe reflect” (Kemmis & McTaggart, 1998, as cited in

Dick, 2007, p. 401).

Figure 1: The action research cycle (Kemmis & McTaggart, 1988, as cited in Dick, 2007, pp. 400-401).

The 4 main stages of the action research cycle as espoused by Kemmis and McTaggart

(1998), and illustrated in Figure 1, formed the structural basis for the development of movement vocabulary in the dance studio. Employing an action research methodology to support the investigative choreographic process allowed me to systematically “plan  act and observe reflect” (Kemmis & McTaggart, 1988, as cited in Dick, 2007, pp. 400-401). I followed the action research cycle to inform multiple stages of the choreographic process. As choreographic sequences emerged in the studio, the cyclical process of action research was applied. This cyclical approach allowed me to interrogate the movement created, evaluate whether the movement sequence/s developed communicated the ideas relevant to the portions of the film where the movement sequences would be placed, and informed the re-

Choreographic strategies to achieve visual communication within an original film narrative through 55 academic ballet choreography development of the academic ballet sequences. This process resulted in improved academic ballet sequences which were integrated in the narrative of the film.

4.2 Grounded Theory

While not adhering to the strict academic application of grounded theory methodology, aspects of the theory were implemented to formulate a theory from which I was able to write the original screenplay. Charmaz (2006) writes, “Grounded theorists start with data. We construct these data through our observations, interactions, and materials that we gather about the topic or setting” (Charmaz, 2006, p. 3). Data collection via the application of grounded theory is usually applied to research where participants in a study are interviewed, or are within a focus group situation. Alternatively, “it can be extended to any data set” (Dick,

2007, p. 410). The theory derived from the analysis of the data collected for this research will be discussed later in this chapter.

4.3 Data Collection

For my study, data was collected in three ways. Firstly, a grounded theory methodology was applied, resulting in data collected from viewing an extensive range of films. Secondly, through creative practice, movement data was captured within the dance studio setting.

Thirdly, data was collected from an audience survey given to research participants after viewing of the film.

4.3.1 Data Collection Method Used in Relation to Grounded Theory Initial data was sought via an application of grounded theory methodology, to an extensive data set of films ranging from the 1900’s through to 2017. The founders of grounded theory state that discovery must be approached without any preconceived ideas, and that the theory should “emerge” from the data itself (Egan, 2002, p. 278). Additionally,

Egan (2002, p. 278) states that “A general understanding of the phenomenon under

56 Choreographic strategies to achieve visual communication within an original film narrative through academic ballet choreography investigation is considered sufficient for the initiation of this type of research”. The pre- requisites for the data I collected through a grounded theory approach were:

 The films were to have had a commercial release in either the United States, Britain or Australia, and were available for viewing either through purchased DVD’s, websites and/or YouTube videos.  Film content could include dancing en pointe.  The film featured characters that had a correlation with the classical ballet industry, or a complete storyline based around the world of classical ballet.  Excluded were documentaries, biopics (films based on the life of a person), and recordings of performances that took place on a stage or in a television studio and feature length films of ballet companies performing works from their repertoires.

The final set of films chosen for data analysis best fulfilled this broad range of requirements for inclusion.

Benaquisto and Given (2008, p. 3) state that “the grounded theory approach to qualitative data, associated with Barney Glaser and Anselm Strauss, is the most prominent source of an explicit set of techniques and procedures for coding and processing data”. “A code in qualitative inquiry is often a word or short phrase that symbolically assigns a summative, salient, essence capturing, and/or evocative attribute for a portion of language based or visual data” (Saldana, 2009, p. 3). This technical aspect of the grounded theory suited the purpose of identifying repetitive themes and filmic strategies that occurred within the films throughout the designated decades. Before the labelling of stereotypes and cinematic tropes could be assigned, the verification of their existence first had to be identified. This first stage is referred to as “initial coding” (Benaquisto & Given, 2008, p. 3).

“During this initial stage of bringing order to and making sense of data…reading of the data is often suggested in a search to identify as many ideas and concepts as possible without concern for how they relate” (Benaquisto & Given, 2008, p. 3).

Choreographic strategies to achieve visual communication within an original film narrative through 57 academic ballet choreography

In writing about the coding process, Benaquisto and Given (2008, p. 3) explain that it

“refers to the steps the researcher takes to identify, arrange, and systemize the ideas, concepts and categories uncovered in the data”. Extensive note taking was used throughout the coding process to first identify instances throughout the films of the data set that pertained to character identity. Other codes were applied in instances where particular storylines or outcomes for the lead protagonists were relevant to my study and appeared with regularity.

This process, also known as “memoing” (Benaquisto & Given, 2008, p. 2), occurred systematically throughout the whole observation of the films. While not all codes were used in the later stages of analysis, they provided a means of definition and description which would later be of use when collation into categories occurred.

During this ‘initial coding’ process, notes were taken on instances within the film that were of note and/or relevance to the study. For example, situations or characters that happened with frequency would constitute two separate codes, plot twists that occurred repetitively would be another code, the ballet character’s reaction or response to them could again, be two more separate codes, and so on. Notes were taken in the form of memoing while watching the films, to document this initial coding process.

As one proceeds through the initial coding of the data, there is usually much potential for pursuing a variety of themes and issues. Nonetheless, as coding progresses, particular categories and themes emerge as more salient, as central to integrating a number of key concepts, and/or as being of interest to a particular topic under study (Benaquisto & Given, 2008, p. 4).

From the initial process, the codes are then codified. To “codify is to arrange things in a systematic order to make something part of a system or classification, to categorize”

(Saldana, 2009, p. 8). Key concepts and themes that emerged had a particular distinctiveness to each decade of film production. “Coding is thus a method that enables you to organise and group similarly coded data into categories or “families” because they share some

58 Choreographic strategies to achieve visual communication within an original film narrative through academic ballet choreography characteristic – the beginning of a pattern” (Saldana, 2009, p. 8). “As a very basic process, codifying usually follows an ideal and streamlined scheme” (Saldana, 2009, p. 11), as illustrated in Figure 2.

Figure 2: “A streamlined codes-to-theory model for qualitative inquiry” (Saldana, 2009, p. 12)

From the categories that were created from the coding, themes emerged that were repetitive throughout the films, for example, wish fulfilment scenarios, overcoming the odds placed against the lead female protagonist, and ultimatums to her to give up her career for the man she loves. As Saldana (2009, p. 11) writes, “And when the major categories are compared with each other and consolidated in various ways, you begin to transcend the

“reality” of your data and progress toward the thematic, conceptual and theoretical”.

Theory was constructed upon the themes that presented themselves as dominant and repetitive within the films viewed. These themes would subsequently be recognised as definitive examples of stereotypes and cinematic tropes within the ballet film genre. Dick

(2007, p. 402) states that theory is “an explicit model or set of statements which illuminate a situation by abstracting its key features”. From the theory I constructed, I proceeded to write the original story from which the screenplay was created.

Choreographic strategies to achieve visual communication within an original film narrative through 59 academic ballet choreography 4.3.2 Creative Practice One data collection method that informed my creative practice was the notes documenting character studies for the principal roles in the film. These notes, in turn, were assimilated and translated via the use of the Academic Ballet Steps Deconstruction table. This table which is discussed in chapter 5, helped me to conceptualise how to approach the task of choreography for the three dance sequences. Throughout the creative process, a digital video camera was utilised to capture data. After portions of the academic ballet sequences had been created in the dance studio, I used the digital video camera to record both myself and the dancer/actress dancing these sequences. This mode of data collection allowed me immediate access to the footage and gave me a direct connection to what was being choreographed, how it looked visually and if it translated well to screen.

4.3.3 Qualitative Data Collected from an Audience Survey After the successful completion of the film, 18 research participants were invited to a private screening, on the proviso that afterwards they would agree to fill out an audience survey. The questions included in the survey pertained directly to the participants’ opinions after viewing of the film. The questions were as follows:

1. What are the typical types of characters and plotlines you have seen in films (in a cinema or on TV) containing ballet? 2. Was it a surprise to see ballet used with this kind of subject matter (domestic violence)? 3. In the film you have just viewed, was the use of ballet successful in conveying the story. 4. Were there any scenes in the film containing just ballet (no spoken dialogue) which were particularly effective in telling the storyline? 5. In your opinion, is ballet capable of portraying current issues?

60 Choreographic strategies to achieve visual communication within an original film narrative through academic ballet choreography The participants were asked to answer these questions in their own words, with all surveys remaining anonymous. The surveys were then collected on the day of the screening and later digitally transcribed for analysis.

4.4 Ethical Considerations

Ethical clearance for this research was approved by QUT’s Human Research Ethics

Committee. As a creative practitioner conducting research with human subjects, I needed to consider and identify with potential risks that might arise during the course of the research.

This included potential risks to the participants involved in the making of the film, and, the invited participants attending the screening of the film. Buday (2006, p. 36) states that, “As a researcher working with human subjects in a creative and collaborative environment and through embodied processes, sensitivity, ethical issues and the welfare of participants need to be considered”. Hanstein (cited in Buday, 2006, p. 36) elaborates on potential risks to participants by stating that

the risk to subjects as a consequence of participating in a research study may be physical, psychological, or social, …the researcher has an ethical responsibility to provide subjects with a true and accurate statement of the propose of the research, the conditions under which data will be collected, and how the results of the research will be made public.

Full disclosure of the subject matter of the film’s narrative concerning aspects of psychological domestic abuse were detailed within the Participation Information Sheet and

Consent Form. Once participation had been agreed upon, if any discomfort arose before, during or after the filming process or after viewing the screening of the film, a fully qualified

Social Services Counsellor would be on hand to consult.

4.4.1 Safe dance procedures All due care, diligence and application of Safe Dance Practices and Workplace Health and Safety measures were adhered to throughout this research project with maintenance to

Choreographic strategies to achieve visual communication within an original film narrative through 61 academic ballet choreography the highest level of Ethical standards as stipulated in the NHMRC National Statement

Chapter 2.1 Risk and Benefit (National Health and Medical Research Council, 2018).

Consideration was given, due to natural occurrence or unforeseen circumstance, to risks that could be identified. The following safety management measures were applied throughout the entire duration of the rehearsal and production process:

The choreographic and filming process took place in industry standard dance studios, and venues adhering to:  Safe Dance Practices as detailed in the – Queensland Ausdance Safe Dance Practices Manual (Ausdance, 2011).  Workplace Health and Safety Standards as stated in the ‘Occupational Risk Management in the Australian Film and Television Industry Draft’ National Safety Guidelines of 2004 created by the Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance (MEAA) (Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance, 2017). The dancers, being professionals, were all fit for purpose and conversant with Safe Dance Practice requirements.

4.4.2 Participant wellbeing Participant well-being was taken into consideration at all times during the rehearsal period of the choreographic sequences and also during pre-production, post-production and the private screening of the film. Due to the sensitive nature of the subject of the project, I had organised for a qualified Social Services Counsellor to be available at all times for all production members and for research participants post screening of the film. All research participants were made fully aware of the subject matter of the film which included fictional scenarios of psychological and domestic violence. Three advisory notices providing information on the content of the film were placed at the entrance to the building where the film was to be screened, on the entrance door to the studio where the screening was to take place, and also in full screen format before the opening credits of the film. The advisory notice also provided contact phone numbers for relevant agencies concerning domestic

62 Choreographic strategies to achieve visual communication within an original film narrative through academic ballet choreography violence should any participant feel the need for further contact. The participants were also given the opportunity to withdraw from participation at any time without any enquiry made as to the reason/s why.

4.4.3 Participant consent A Consent Form for QUT Research was provided to all research participants prior to participating in the project. A Withdraw of Consent for QUT Research form was also provided. All participants were advised that they could withdraw from participating in the research at any time without enquiry made as to the reason/s why.

4.5 Bias of the Study

The creative practice component of this research project was undertaken by me as a lone choreographer/director/researcher, working autonomously in the studio and on location.

A professional dancer was brought in at a secondary stage to work under my direction and learn the dance sequences. This dancer, who played the lead role of the female protagonist in the film, was invaluable for her feedback on the choreography. After viewing the filmed dance sequences recorded in the dance studio, she provided a different viewpoint on the choreography. This also assisted in maintaining objectivity throughout the choreographic process.

The decision to create the original screenplay based on a story that highlighted the issue of psychological and domestic violence in today’s society, was chosen to test the communicative abilities of academic ballet choreography through an extreme contemporary narrative. It was of utmost importance to me throughout the research that the issues were presented authentically and treated with respect. A professional Social Services Counsellor was employed throughout the creative process. Aside from supporting the dancer and actor, the counsellor provided me with interesting perspectives that otherwise would not have been

Choreographic strategies to achieve visual communication within an original film narrative through 63 academic ballet choreography considered in regards to the authenticity of the dance sequences created, enabling me to add texture to the character’s experience.

64 Choreographic strategies to achieve visual communication within an original film narrative through academic ballet choreography

Chapter 5: Process

5.1 Planning and Preparation

In planning for the creative development component of the research, and the production of the film, it was identified that many elements would need to be organised and put into place. I was conscious that undertaking the multiple roles of researcher, writer, choreographer, costume and production coordinator, director and producer, my time would be stretched. Also, due to the severe time restraints imposed upon the production of the film, it was crucial that organisation on my behalf was meticulous. Four fundamental components needed to be considered which included sourcing a production team, finding a composer as well as, a suitable female dancer/actress and a male actor who would play the principal leads in the film, and, identifying with two appropriate locations were filming would occur.

Fortunately, I had two people in my network of friends that I felt would be perfectly suited to undertake the principal leads. After approaching them and discussing my research, they both agreed to be involved in the project.

The acquisition of a production team was imperative for the project and I was fortunate enough to have come across one inadvertently when enquiring about photographic equipment at a camera store. Speaking with the store assistant, who was a recent graduate of the Griffith

Film School, I expressed the potential dire straits I foresaw for myself if unable to find a production crew for the film I was needing to make as part of my research. This initial meet was fortuitous in that I ended up engaging the store assistant to take on the role of cinematographer as well as finding through his contacts, other graduates of the Griffith Film

School who made up the rest of the production team. Three original composers were found

Choreographic strategies to achieve visual communication within an original film narrative through 65 academic ballet choreography for the film. Two being long term friends of mine within the music industry and the other found via Facebook forums.

The primary focus of the storyline was to maintain realism when representing it on screen in a visual narrative. While the dance studio was the main location for the creation of the choreographic sequences, two separate locations were used for the actual filming of the dance sequences. These were the kitchen and living spaces of the small apartment where the female character lives after having left her husband, and the interior living spaces of the larger marital home the female character shares with her husband. Both locations were the living environs of myself and family members. These locations were taken into consideration when writing the original story as they needed to imply the change in circumstances that the female character had come across once leaving her husband.

5.1.1 Developing the Screen Play Initial stages in the planning of this research included the creation of an original screenplay for the film. The screenplay, informed by theory derived from analysis of a wide range of films, as well as literature pertaining to the research subject, emerged as a cinematic narrative story. Films of a variety of genres, with a common thread being the subject of ballet, were analysed. Data was collected from this analysis in the form of note taking, pertaining to the emergence of stereotypes and cinematic tropes used in films with relevance to the subject of ballet. Results from the data informed a theory proposing that stereotypical characterisations have hindered the use of academic ballet choreography in narrative cinema.

Furthermore, the continual use of cinematic tropes to tell narrative stories on film about ballet, have created a definitive format as to how choreography created using academic ballet technique, has been included in the narrative of film stories.

In writing the screenplay, character studies for the two principal leads, Anna Ferson-

Wells, the female protagonist, and Aiden Ferson-Wells, the character of her husband (a non-

66 Choreographic strategies to achieve visual communication within an original film narrative through academic ballet choreography dancing role in the film), were written simultaneously as the script went through consecutive drafts. This allowed for the creation and development of the two characters and their personalities; the role of Anna being the predominant character that the dance sequences are choreographed on, and Aidan, the narcissistic husband.

It was important that within all three sequences, the choreography displayed meaning.

The process to derive meaning from the choreography was multi-layered, initially informed by a meticulous deconstruction of academic ballet steps, using a dictionary of terminology of

The Royal Academy of Dancing as a basis. Adding to this, I developed a reference table I had entitled Academic ballet steps Deconstruction table (see Table 1), consisting of five categories; Academic ballet step / Form / Function / Direction of body / Meaning. The completed table is provided in Appendix 2.

Academic Ballet Form Function Direction of Meaning Step What does it What can it be Body Movement What are some of Technical title look like? used for? Where does the the possible body move when meanings this step the step is can convey when performed? performed?

Table 1: Academic ballet steps deconstruction table.

The aim of designing this table was to provide me with a way of looking at individual academic ballet steps in order to evaluate their form, function, direction and potential meaning for use in the choreographed sequences. Additionally, in some instances, contextual gestures and everyday movements were integrated to give continuity to the choreography – an artistic license I felt was appropriate. Contextual gestures and everyday movements were used sparingly so as not to detract from the main focus of the research, which was academic ballet steps and their ability to convey meaning in the context of narrative film. The sequences needed to provide a visual dialect in the film as a way to communicate portions of

Choreographic strategies to achieve visual communication within an original film narrative through 67 academic ballet choreography the story in lieu of dialogue. Each of these sequences were also required to communicate the character development of Anna through the use of academic ballet choreography.

5.2 Choreographic Sequences

As discussed earlier, the screenplay needed to provide contexts in which choreographic sequences could be inserted. Three sections from the screenplay were identified as being the most suitable to communicate portions of the story, via the use of academic ballet choreography. The narrative in all three choreographic sequences is discussed below.

5.2.1 Choreographic Sequence 1 The first choreographic sequence occurred early in the film in order to establish the character of Anna in the present day. My aim was to communicate to an audience her character and emotional state through the use of academic ballet steps. This sequence integrated the use of props, being everyday items, one would find in the kitchen. The sequence illustrates Anna walking home carrying two shopping bags. She enters the apartment making her way to the kitchen where she begins unpacking the bags in order to put items away. Upon opening the first cupboard, she rethinks what she is about to do and instead decides to make herself a cup of tea. Anna’s actions establish the normality of her character, performing everyday tasks whilst portraying a pleasant disposition. Living on her own. she is responsible to no one but herself, content with where she is in life, body and mind, living each day as it comes with regularity and normality.

5.2.2 Choreographic Sequence 2 The second choreographic sequence in the film occurs soon after Anna has experienced a flashback of past memories initiated by looking at photos of her wedding. It is in this scene that the character of the husband is integrated. The visual narrative establishes Anna’s character as a woman who has had a previous career as a professional ballerina, and informs the viewer that her career has been brought to an untimely end due to a debilitating injury.

68 Choreographic strategies to achieve visual communication within an original film narrative through academic ballet choreography Importantly, these scenes were included to establish a context for the use of academic ballet choreography within the visual narrative. The following scenes in the visual narrative were created in a montage format in order to depict the deterioration of her marriage. This montage consists of a consecutive group of scenes to imply that the passing of time has occurred.

These scenes are heavily integrated with academic ballet choreography to demonstrate the change in her character due to her changed circumstances at this point. Anna no longer has a career doing something she loves, but instead, is married to a narcissistic, psychologically abusive husband. She has become the victim.

5.2.3 Choreographic Sequence 3 The third choreographic sequence occurs in the aftermath of the most dramatic scene of the film where psychological abuse escalates to physical abuse. The choreography had to be translatable on multiple levels in terms of what the character was communicating. The sequence acts as a storytelling device that illustrates how Anna responds to what she has just experienced. Anna’s reaction and response to the physically abusive attack from her husband is then communicated through the use of Choreographic sequence 3.

5.3 Creating the Dance Sequences Prior to rehearsals it was important that the dancer/actress attended pre-production meetings regarding the filming process as well as attend dialogue rehearsals. This allowed the dancer/actress to gain an in depth understanding of the role she was to play in the film.

The creative process initially took place in mapped out rehearsal studios, measured to replicate the actual interiors of the two living spaces in which the filmed choreography would occur. One of these spaces is the interior of the small apartment that Anna lives in as a single woman. The second is the interior of the house she previously lived in with her husband. In developing the movement sequences, I would initially create the choreography on myself in the dance studio and then teach the movement sequence/s to the dancer/actress playing the

Choreographic strategies to achieve visual communication within an original film narrative through 69 academic ballet choreography role of Anna. Once this was achieved, we would then work on location transferring the sequences created in the dance studio and develop them further in the three dimensional interior spaces of the two apartments.

Visual storyboards were created by referring to the data collected in the dance studio, this data being the filmed rehearsals with the dancer/actress. These visual storyboards assisted me in formulating how I proposed the scene to look as a whole. They also assisted the male actor playing the role of the husband by providing him with visual aids. It was integral that the male actor understood the composition of the scene in which he was to share the space with the character of Anna as she would be dancing near him. These visual storyboards were also used to provide the cinematographer with a visual outline of how I wanted the scene to be filmed from the director’s perspective, a role I also undertook in the research.

Throughout the creative process I engaged with the cyclical process associated with action research to inform the further development of sequences. The second and third sequences incurred multiple cycles due to the intensity of the character portrayal needing to be communicated via the use of the choreography. The number of times I engaged with the cyclical process depended on whether I was satisfied that the choreographic objectives for each sequence had been achieved.

Video journals were kept, when reflective writing could not keep up with my thought process. As these video journals recorded my immediate response from viewing the sequences developed, they proved highly beneficial in that they assisted in my reflection process, allowing me to plan for another cycle to be implemented if needed.

Written journaling was used as a source of data collection for each reflection stage after the choreographic sequence had been created by me, set on the dancer, filmed and analysed.

70 Choreographic strategies to achieve visual communication within an original film narrative through academic ballet choreography Minimal changes to the choreography were made once the movement sequences were transferred to the set. These minimal changes pertained to spacing the movement effectively in the set.

5.3.1 Dance Sequence 1 In creating the first dance sequence, potential obstacles had to be taken into consideration. The dance space for this sequence is initially confined to a three-dimensional galley shaped kitchen which then moves into a slightly wider living space. Spatial limitations upon the choreography therefore, had to be factored in from the beginning. Hence the planning and preparation stages were inclusive of specified measurements placed within the dance studio space, in preparation for the choreography being created within it.

The first portion of the choreographic sequence begins with Anna making a cup of tea.

In creating this section, I was influenced by the choreographic innovations of Gene Kelly and

Fred Astaire. Feuer (1993) cites Michael Wood referencing the innovative use of props that

Kelly and Astaire instigated within their dance routines for film musicals and states:

A whole batch of domestic objects is rounded up and danced with. These are precisely the connections that great musicals are always making: these are the continuities they insist on; our speech can be nudged into music, our way of walking can be edged into a dance; and the things in our house are all possible props for an improvised ballet (Wood, 1973, cited in Feuer, 1993, p. 3)

Feuer refers to Gene Kelly’s expansive use of seemingly everyday objects as props in his iconic dance numbers as, “environment choreography” (Feuer, 1993, p. 5). The contextualisation of this choreographic strategy for my own choreography in this particular dance sequence, relates to the character of Anna performing the everyday task of making herself a cup of tea. Instead of walking around the kitchen to get the items she needs, such as the cup from the cupboard, the spoon from the drawer, the teabag from another cupboard and

Choreographic strategies to achieve visual communication within an original film narrative through 71 academic ballet choreography the milk from the fridge, Anna dances around the kitchen to obtain each of the items. The choreographic strategy undertaken to achieve this, was created on multiple levels.

I also drew upon the Academic Ballet Steps Deconstruction table in order to inform the creation of the sequence. With the title of the academic ballet step having been established earlier, I looked to their form and functionality in reference to what the step looked like, and in this context, what could it be used for. This ‘making a cup of tea’ portion of the dance sequence was further developed in the galley kitchen, working with the environmental props and adjusting to the confines of the space. It became evident that I needed to minimise the use of travelling steps, incorporate tight preparations for steps when needed and develop neat finishes after their execution. I also had to ensure that the choreography allowed Anna to dance comfortably within the confined space whilst fulfilling the task of making the cup of tea without tripping over herself. Academic ballet steps had to take the role of where walking around would normally be sufficient.

An example for the use of a step purely for its form, rather than any particular function, was with the single use of an elongated leg in the air when she is facing length ways in the space, translated via an arabesque derriére en l’air, when taking the spoon from the drawer as demonstrated in Figure 3. It is also an example of an academic ballet step used when economy of space is not needed, as the space available permits the use of this particular step.

Figure 3: Form

72 Choreographic strategies to achieve visual communication within an original film narrative through academic ballet choreography Figures 4 and 5 illustrate the use of both form and function. In Figure 4 the dancer is standing on the left leg on demi-pointe for a functional reason, that being to retrieve the box of teabags that are beyond her reach if she were stay on flat foot. Coming off the demi-pointe, she transfers onto a flat foot with the left leg into en fondu, with the right leg extending behind her to attitude derriére en l’air (Figure 5). This demonstrates a mix of form and function, in that the step looks like it does (form) because if she were to extend and straighten the leg in the air it would hit the bench and wall behind her, thus becoming functional.

Figure 4: Form and function

Figure 5: Form and function.

The second portion of the dance sequence involves Anna leaving the galley kitchen space and moving into the wider open area. In this part of the sequence, four of the categories

Choreographic strategies to achieve visual communication within an original film narrative through 73 academic ballet choreography from the Deconstruction table were drawn upon to inform the movement vocabulary. These being form, function, directionality and meaning. The first example is illustrated in Figure 6, where Anna is facing inward into the galley kitchen space with her right leg extended behind her in an arabesque en fondu derriére. This step provides functionality and directionality, in that the direction of the leg is aimed at the open space behind her. The functionality of the step, is that it is used as the beginning of two steps joined together that moves the dancer into the open dance space as seen in Figure 7.

Figure 6: Directionality and function

Figure 7: Form, function and meaning

74 Choreographic strategies to achieve visual communication within an original film narrative through academic ballet choreography This dance step, referred to as an assemblé en avant en l’air is a jumping step and can denote happiness, much like when a child is happy, they may jump in the air and clap their hands. This is the first of a grouping of steps employed for their form, meaning and functionality. The aim of using jumping steps in this second portion of the dance sequence is to translate emotions of being happy and excited, thus contextualising Anna’s character as being a happy and contented woman. Functionality and directionality is revisited with further steps added to the choreography for the purpose of the dancer needing to get from one point to the next in a relatively confined space as can be seen in Figures 8 and 9.

Figure 8: Diagonal direction of the leg-line

Figure 9: Forward direction of the leg-line

Choreographic strategies to achieve visual communication within an original film narrative through 75 academic ballet choreography 5.3.2 Dance Sequence 2 The objective of the choreography for this dance sequence was to depict the deterioration and change of Anna’s character. At the beginning of the sequence her character illustrates a woman happy and full of great expectations. As the sequence progresses her character changes to a woman who becomes nervous and is made to feel constantly unsure of herself and of her surroundings. The movement vocabulary for this sequence was created to be performed in the interiors of the house that Anna and Aidan share as a married couple.

Four spaces within the house are utilized which include the upstairs master bedroom, the staircase, the vestibule of the house and the kitchens’ cooking and dining areas. These spaces offered the opportunity to develop choreography that was more expansive.

The beginning of this scene depicts Anna waking up in the morning in bed with her husband. I wanted the choreography for this portion of the montage sequence to convey her character as being a happily married woman in love with her husband. In developing this sequence, I drew heavily from the meaning category of the Deconstruction table. The choreography consists of a combination of academic ballet steps incorporating jumps as can be seen in Figures 10, 11 and 12. Jumps were also utilised in this sequence to maintain continuity with the jumping steps that were employed in the first dance sequence.

Figure 10: Jumping steps

76 Choreographic strategies to achieve visual communication within an original film narrative through academic ballet choreography

Figure 11: Jumping steps

Figure 12: Jumping steps

Directional and functional steps were also added, directed in the line of where Anna needs to get to, moving her from point A to point B as seen in Figures 13 and 14.

Figure 13: Directional and functional steps

Choreographic strategies to achieve visual communication within an original film narrative through 77 academic ballet choreography Figure 14: Directional and functional steps

Towards the end of this beginning sequence Anna’s movements are designed to represent apprehension. It is in this section that Anna leans in to kiss her husband goodbye before he leaves the house for his morning run. Receiving no response from him, a definitive change in tone to the scene and the reactions of Anna regarding her husband’s behaviour is introduced through the choreography.

A change in the style of choreography develops in the middle portion of the sequence and the concept of tentativeness is introduced. The steps presented are deliberate and measured, utilising the deep plié in second position and the deep fondu, which is completely opposite to the vivacity of the previous choreography. At this point in the creative process I introduced the concept of imagery. I asked the dancer to imagine herself as a panther hiding in a tree, watching the movements of her potential prey, only in the sense that every move the animal makes in that situation is deliberate and measured. This is how I wanted her to dance the movement in this sequence.

Another direction I gave the dancer as she executes this sequence involved the use of eye focus. I instructed the dancer to keep her focus on the husband character at all times whilst dancing. I wanted her to “eye him up” whilst he was sitting at the breakfast table. The intention behind this instruction was to convey the idea of Anna gauging her husband’s mood and his potential reaction to anything that she might do to upset him (see Figure 15 and 16).

Figure 17 illustrates the grabbing of Anna’s wrist by her husband after she places the orange juice on the wrong side of the table. This pettiness plays into the choreography highlighting the nervousness that builds in Anna.

78 Choreographic strategies to achieve visual communication within an original film narrative through academic ballet choreography

Figure 15: Anna performing steps that are deliberate and measured, gauging her husband’s mood who is sitting at the table in front of her

Figure 16: Anna performing steps that are deliberate and measured, gauging her husband’s mood who is sitting at the table in front of her.

Figure 17: Grabbing of the wrist, which instigates the next phase of Anna’s change in character leading to nervousness.

The form and function of the steps is maintained throughout every sequence and again used for their practical use. In the next scene of the sequence Anna is found by her husband resting in bed without his consent. As he stands over her aggressively, she wakes up and gets out of bed, making a quick retreat for the bedroom door, as illustrated in Figure 18. For this particular scene, I use an academic ballet step in its most basic form being a pas de boureé en arrière. This step serves the purpose of moving Anna from the bed to the door

Choreographic strategies to achieve visual communication within an original film narrative through 79 academic ballet choreography (functionality), and, by travelling the step backwards, it allows the dancer to keep an eye on the husband as she cannot afford to take her eyes of him at this moment in the bedroom

(meaning).

Figure 18: Pas de boureé en arrière used for the dual purpose of getting away from the husband and keeping an eye on him.

In the following scene, Anna is directed by her husband to return to the bed and straighten up the covers. In this dance sequence the academic ballet positions of the arms 1st and 2nd, are used to assist the dancer to flatten the bed quilt, as seen in Figure 19. The marriage at this stage portrays Anna virtually becoming her husband’s house servant, performing mechanical duties with the fluidity of the previous movements all but gone.

Figure 19: Flattening the bed quilt using academic ballet arms from 1st to 2nd position.

The last portion of the montage sequence deals with Anna’s nervousness and anxiousness resulting from being around her husband. For this sequence, I utilised technical exercises associated with an academic ballet class. I felt that the ballet steps within these

80 Choreographic strategies to achieve visual communication within an original film narrative through academic ballet choreography exercises would assist in portraying her agitation and nervousness. Anna performs a group of fast-moving steps at the bottom of the stairs while waiting for her husband. Her torso is held upright and directed towards him as he descends the stairs, whilst her legs are moving swiftly performing an intricate fast set of movements for the feet as demonstrated in Figure 20.

Figure 20: Anna performs fast moving sequences of steps to show nervousness.

The conclusion of this scene revisits the beginning sequence in which Anna leans in to give her husband a kiss goodbye as he leaves for his morning run. See Figure 21. For this dance sequence, I instructed the husband character to perform an exact repeat of his actions as he had done in the beginning sequence. However, in order to demonstrate a definitive change in Anna’s character, I modified Anna’s movement sequence so that she does not perform the same actions as previously. This was done to reveal a diminished affection toward her husband and shows a lack of effort, due to the fact that, Anna now realises there will be no response from her husband to anything affectionate she may display toward him.

Choreographic strategies to achieve visual communication within an original film narrative through 81 academic ballet choreography

Figure 21: Leaving the house scene repeated with different mood added by lower lighting and sombre costume colours.

Another scene which is repeated is the placing of the husband’s orange juice on the breakfast table by Anna. Now knowing exactly where to place it, she steps back and waits for a reaction from him. Anna’s apprehension is seen in her facial expression, evident in Figure

22. In this sequence, I used quick petit battements steps travelling up her supporting leg almost to a point of reaching her inner thigh, as illustrated in Figure 23. My aim was to demonstrate through these steps her anxiety felt from performing the simplest of tasks for her husband, which she now knows will never be done to his satisfaction.

Figure 22: Anna stands back from the table with a look of apprehension on her face.

82 Choreographic strategies to achieve visual communication within an original film narrative through academic ballet choreography

Figure 23: Anna performing fast petit battement steps showing her agitation and nervousness at the possible reaction from her husband.

The montage sequence finishes with Anna tentatively walking down the stairs following her husband. Here the pointed foot, deliberately and carefully placed in front of her on the stairs (see Figure 24), intimates a measured and thought out move, much like her thought process regarding performing the simplest of tasks for husband at this point in her marriage. There is nothing carefree left in her movements at this point.

Choreographic strategies to achieve visual communication within an original film narrative through 83 academic ballet choreography Figure 24: Anna deliberately places each foot carefully in front of the other as she tentatively descends the stairs behind her husband.

5.3.3 Dance Sequence 3 This dance sequence, being the most dramatic in the film, was created entirely in the dance studio and required the most concentrated work in regards to the development of the choreography. I resorted to observation and reflection multiple times throughout the creation of this sequence as there needed to be absolute context with the choreography and what was happening in this particular scene – the most dramatic of the film and one that had to be approached accordingly.

What needed to be communicated here was Anna’s reaction to being pushed down the stairs by her husband as well as the wider scope of feelings as to her current situation. Steps in the choreography reflected her tending to her aching neck, incorporating port de bras movements as shown in Figure 25.

Figure 25: Anna checks for injuries incorporating port de bras movements.

Deep pliés and fondus, recurring steps from the previous sequence, were utilised to help portray the anguish of her situation (see Figure 26). Plies being downward movements simulating feelings of despair, desolation and being downtrodden.

84 Choreographic strategies to achieve visual communication within an original film narrative through academic ballet choreography

Figure 26: Anna performs deep pliés and fondues. The recurring theme of desolation and despair.

Within this sequence, a momentary suspension of reality occurs when light appears from the front door of the house. This light was used to intimate the feeling of potential escape. In developing this sequence in the dance studio, and, wanting to display a sense of urgency to this potential escape, frantic and excessive movements of the legs were incorporated in the choreography (see Figure 27). The light guiding her to open the door disappears, her chance lost. Anna could have escaped right then and there, but doesn’t for fear of the consequences. In speaking with the Social Services Counsellor who observed these rehearsals, she informed that this fear is an authentic reaction from women in these situations.

Figure 27: The frantic action to Anna’s choreography intimates the desperate situation of contemplating escape. Big wide positions and movements.

Following this momentary suspension of reality, Anna’s upper body movement enacts the despair that she feels. Moving backwards, her body sinks to a fully kneeling position

Choreographic strategies to achieve visual communication within an original film narrative through 85 academic ballet choreography almost on the floor to represent a desolated state. This is a deeper downward movement then the previous pliés and fondus as demonstrated earlier (see Figure 28).

Figure 28: Anna displays complete despair at her situation with choreography travelling further to the floor.

From this despair comes a moment of clarity. This scene depicts Anna transporting herself back to the enjoyment of her life as a ballet dancer. The choreography in this sequence is designed to suggest she is back in a ballet class, performing the movements with fluidity; representative of her character when she was at her happiest. I directed the dancer to perform this sequence with her eyes closed as if needing to visualise herself in a space anywhere other than where she is at this moment in her life (see Figure 29). Creating this scene was particularly emotional for the dancer as I asked her to really dig deep within the character of Anna and to express how she was feeling at this moment. A momentary escape from her reality. I approached this tentatively when transferring the choreography onto the dancer as I needed to relay emotion very deeply here. The dancer drew on her own life experiences in performing this scene.

Figure 29: Anna revisits her past as a ballet dancer through the technical movements of academic port de bras.

86 Choreographic strategies to achieve visual communication within an original film narrative through academic ballet choreography The sequence finishes with a short technical enchainment one would perform in an academic ballet class. Breaking out of her dream like state, Anna returns to reality and the fact that she now has to return to the bedroom and sleep in the same bed with the man that pushed her down the stairs (See Figure 30).

Figure 30: Anna finishes the dream-like sequence in a long arabesque en fondu line of the leg. She then snaps back to reality and stands up to face returning to the bedroom.

Choreographic strategies to achieve visual communication within an original film narrative through 87 academic ballet choreography

Chapter 6: Discussion

Throughout the duration of the research project there were three data sets created for analysis. The first of these was the data resulting from my analysis of the films viewed pertaining to characters of the ballet world and films of the ballet genre. The second data set collected emerged from the choreographic process undertaken to create the three dance sequences as seen in the film Nearly Not Me. The final set of data collected resulted from the participant questionnaires that were filled out after a private screening of the film. This chapter is structured according to these three data sets.

6.1 Findings from the film analysis

I started this project with a “general understanding of the phenomenon” (Egan, 2002, p.

278) in terms of stereotypes and cinematic tropes existent within the ballet film genre.

Literature reviewed, rather than contributing to any bias, merely enlightened my knowledge of the phenomenon and widened the scope of films for inclusion into the data set. This was important because “one of the biggest problems (as seen by classic grounded theorists) is when researchers dismiss data altogether because it does not ‘fit’” (Ke & Wenglensky, 2010).

I chose not dismiss films that had minimal adherence to the subject matter of ballet. The wide scope of films not only removed possible of bias, but also provided invaluable evidence to support the theory. Through analysis of the resulting data set, theory emerged as detailed below.

The traditions inherent to the aesthetic of academic ballet have hindered the use of academic ballet choreography as a means of visual communication within narrative cinema.

Aspects of this tradition, and subsequent lay perceptions of it, have influenced the creation of characters and their personalities depicted within fictional narrative cinematic storylines. The

88 Choreographic strategies to achieve visual communication within an original film narrative through academic ballet choreography standardizing of a set theme of personality traits attributed to both female and male characters of ballet, with minimal variation, has, in turn, influenced the inclusion of academic ballet choreography in the narratives of these storylines.

Predominantly incorporated into cinematic narratives for its visual aesthetic, academic ballet choreography has usually been included to align with the perceived fantastical nature of the ballet dancer or, in other cases, the propensity for death or unrequited love. The use of academic ballet choreography in cinema narrative, as a metaphor for these characterisations, has adhered to its rigid traditions when presented as a metaphor. This has perpetuated a repetitive cycle of conformity that rejects innovation or experimentation, resorting to a continual reliance on choreographic sequences as visual spectacle, rather than translatable devices for communication.

6.2 Findings from the practice

Through this study, and in particular the practice-led component, findings emerged from the practice which proved invaluable in informing the development of movement sequences and how they were adapted to the two locations. I found that choreographic strategies I employed also proved invaluable in terms of developing the character of Anna and how I used academic ballet choreography as the medium for visual communication within the film’s narrative. The notes I made in my written choreographic journal documenting character studies for the principal roles in the film, as well as, notes regarding choreography that would be created in the dance studio were vital in preparing me for the start of rehearsals.

In conjunction with my written choreographic journal, I found the use of a digital video camera to record the dance sequences created in the studio was crucial in informing the development of these sequences. I used the digital video camera throughout the creative

Choreographic strategies to achieve visual communication within an original film narrative through 89 academic ballet choreography process to record both myself and the dancer/actress dancing these sequences. This mode of data collection allowed me immediate access to the footage and gave me a direct connection to what was being choreographed, how it looked visually and if it translated well to screen.

Findings from the digital recordings revealed that in most instances, the choreography translated well to camera.

My choreographic notes and the digital video recordings allowed me to systematically plan, act, observe and reflect. This cyclical process of action research informed multiple stages of the choreographic process supporting my investigative choreographic practice. I found this process extremely beneficial as it allowed me to interrogate the movement created, evaluate whether the movement sequence/s developed communicated the ideas relevant to the portions of the film where the movement sequences would be placed, and informed the re- development of the academic ballet sequences. In order to reflect and interrogate the movement sequences developed I used a set of guiding principles as follows:  Did the choreography suit the character’s emotional and psychological state?  Did it suit the musical accompaniment?  Were the steps able to be filmed with the dancer’s body able to be seen in its entirety?  Did the overall visual effect of the choreography act as a suitable catalyst for the adding of emotion, gestural movement and proposed additional filming strategies to create the narrative’s storytelling aspect?

As the creative process advanced, I realised that I was utilising data captured from the digital video camera merely for the analysis of the movement. I also realised that I was approaching rehearsals as I always have, creating dance sequences to be performed on stage.

In reviewing the footage, I now needed to consider if the intent for each dance sequence was also captured on the dancers. I had to ensure the intent was realistic and immediate in a way different to how it would be portrayed on stage. It was important to me that the character of

Anna maintained realism when being represented on screen. On further review of the footage,

I realised that the choreography had to be ‘flattened out’ for the camera in order to capture

90 Choreographic strategies to achieve visual communication within an original film narrative through academic ballet choreography the whole body moving. Whilst taking advantage of filming techniques to capture and add to the meaning of the choreography would be utilised in the filming of the dance sequences, ensuring the whole dancing body was seen needed to be taken into consideration as often as possible. The use of the digital video camera assisted me in ensuring this.

Another finding that emerged during the creative process dealt with space. Although I had mapped out the dance studio to replicate the interiors of the two living spaces in which the filmed choreography would occur, and, created the movement sequences to utilise all of the space, I had not taken into consideration the area that the camera would occupy. I therefore needed to refer back to my storyboards created for the cinematographer, to work out where the camera would be positioned for each dance sequence. This informed how I respaced and reconfigured the movement sequences to the actual space that would be available.

The findings that were most significant throughout the process were the need to capture the emotion and or gestural movement of the dancer in close-ups or mid –shots. The mapping out of the dance spaces for the choreographic sequences for space familiarisation and analysis of the choreography via reflection upon video recordings. These presented opportunities from a filming perspective allowing me understand ‘less is more’ for some aspects of the choreography. These emerged from the practice and were instrumental in assisting me to create a film containing academic ballet choreography that would serve as a means of visual communication in a cinematic narrative. The findings revealed that the choreographic strategies I employed in creating the film served as appropriate approaches to achieve my purpose.

Choreographic strategies to achieve visual communication within an original film narrative through 91 academic ballet choreography 6.3 Findings from the audience survey

Five questions were posed to the participants in a survey after they viewed the film.

The first survey question asked “What are the typical types of characters and plotlines you have seen in films (in a cinema or on TV) containing ballet?” In relation to the first part of this question, participants used the following words to describe the types of characters that they most associated with ballet characters in film: innocent, sweet, determined, villains, heroes, damsels in distress, traditional gender roles, pretty, young, thin, gentle, female, anorexic ballerinas, mentally unhinged, downtrodden, timid, passionate, victims, young students, principal dancers, underdog, favourite, Mommies girl, and good/mean girl. What is interesting with these descriptors is that they directly relate to character portrayals I identified in ballet. The way the participants responded correlates to the stereotypes that have been identified within the contextual review, particularly films between the years of 2000 to 2017.

Responses to the second part of the question, in reference to plotlines, represented the participants’ recognition of particular cinematic tropes that have been perpetuated in the films of the ballet genre. The variety of responses aligned with a recognition of cinematic tropes, as identified by McLean (2008) and discussed in the literature review. These tropes were as follows (using the participants’ wording):

 Dark sometimes, yet graceful plotlines.  A child/person with a vision or a dream that is achieved after a particular adventure or challenge is dealt with.  Principal dancer coming from failure to great success or challenge that is dealt with.  The heroes’ journey, common goal or teamwork narrative  Comedy relief or fairy-tale style.  Characters relate to youth and development but in a controlled setting and relatable to a young ballerina’s dream.

92 Choreographic strategies to achieve visual communication within an original film narrative through academic ballet choreography One standout response was: “It’s been refreshing to see ballet shown in a different and more meaningful light” (Research Participant, 2018). Analysis of the responses from this question validate the proposition that stereotypes and cinematic tropes are evident and ongoing in films of the ballet genre.

Question 2 asked the participants, “Was it a surprise to see ballet used with this kind of subject matter (domestic violence)? Yes / No (please circle and explain why)”. The unanimous response to this question was that ‘yes’, it was a surprise to see ballet with this kind of subject matter. There were varying responses as to why. A common response was that ballet is traditionally about (in the participants’ words): fairy-tales, something nice, light happy joyful stuff, joyfulness, traditional stories, beauty and delicacy. Some of these responses showed a preference for ballet to be presented only within these formats, inferring its visual aesthetic to be somewhat compromised and possibly less enjoyable when aligned with more realistic scenarios. Two participants’ responses complimented the use of ballet within new scenarios. They expressed surprise that it could be used to effect when taken out of traditional representation. One response in particular was interesting. It reads as follows:

Ballet is so often viewed as beautiful and delicate, so to see it shown with such meaning and power behind every move and detail was surprising, but still remained beautiful and elegant without losing any impact of the message and in fact enhancing the storyline (Research Participant, 2018).

Responses to this question suggest that a pre-requisite for many people’s enjoyment of ballet in film is that academic ballet choreography is used. While one could argue that this is an example of the conditioning of film audiences via stereotypes and cinematic tropes, the responses also show the potential for use of academic ballet choreography in new formats while not losing the appeal that tradition holds.

Choreographic strategies to achieve visual communication within an original film narrative through 93 academic ballet choreography Question 3 asked the participants: “In the film you have just viewed, was the use of ballet successful in conveying the story? a. Yes/No (please circle) b. In what way was it successful / unsuccessful?” Again, the unanimous response to this question was ‘yes’, that ballet was successful in conveying the story. Dance sequences that were used to convey the story using academic ballet choreography were shown to be translatable. Responses provided below illustrate that the lead character was indeed understood via her use of academic ballet choreography to communicate the narrative:

 The ballet conveyed the emotion of the main characters.  The use of music in conjunction with the steps helps to portray the emotion associated with the storyline.  Successful - conveyed the major behavioural and personality types involved in domestic violence.  Especially at the end to depict her feelings of being trapped and joy at being free.  Movements successfully conveyed the moods.  The use of ballet steps looked to have both character basis and a thematic one.  The movement showed different emotions. The scene where the lights are flashing and the subject stands by the door, her steps show she is inquisitive.

Question 4 asked the participants “Were there any scenes in the film containing just ballet (no spoken dialogue) which were particularly effective in telling the storyline? a. Yes /

No (please circle), b. Describe these scenes, c. Would any of these scenes been conveyed more successfully through the use spoken dialogue rather than using ballet?” The participants were unanimous in agreeing that ‘yes’, there were scenes in the film that were particularly effective in telling the story without the use of dialogue. This validates the use of academic ballet choreography as an effective means of communication within cinema narrative. The responses also validate the choreographic strategies that I employed to achieve this communication, more so than I expected. The opening dances sequence in the kitchen and

94 Choreographic strategies to achieve visual communication within an original film narrative through academic ballet choreography living area had particular resonance with the audience, the choreography successfully communicating the intended meaning. Others found that the dance sequence which followed the physical attack communicated the state of the lead character’s emotions particularly well without the use of dialogue. One participant stated; “The scene after the wife recovered from the fall was clearly depicting her anguish and pain. Spoken dialogue was not necessary in these scenes” (Research Participant, 2018). Another participant stated; “I believe it was much more impactful with no dialogue” (Research Participant, 2018).

While the responses were all positive in terms of the participants’ understanding of the choreography’s intent, one participant questioned the ability of academic ballet choreography to communicate a particular facet of the story in the film. The participant stated: “the reaction after the abuse I actually found not very useful and the most jarring to watch, but I think it’s because we are not used to seeing it in this way” (Research Participant, 2018). This was interesting in the sense that, while academic ballet choreography proved predominantly successful in translating a message, audience members may not be conditioned to interpreting reactions to abuse through this means.

Question 5 asked the participants “In your opinion, is ballet capable of portraying current issues? Yes / No (please circle and explain why).” Again, the participants unanimously responded ‘yes’. At this juncture, it is worth relaying in full some of the enthusiastic responses from participants, as they greatly support the continued investigation of academic ballet choreography in the manner used for this study.

Before viewing Nearly Not Me, I was sceptical and thought ballet was good for fluffy fictions and fairy-tales, but this has shown me how wrong I was. Ballet is absolutely able to portray current issues! It is such an expressive form of dance art and a medium with the stage to literally to create and express an impactful message about any kind of topic to its audience (Research Participant, 2018).

I think ballet is capable of portraying current issues as an external point of expression, especially with the use of music. But I think most people (GP) are not used to seeing something they consider traditional or classical in a non-traditional setting. Would be

Choreographic strategies to achieve visual communication within an original film narrative through 95 academic ballet choreography interested in seeing other current issues such as mental health, gun violence in this format (Research Participant, 2018).

Ballet is a form of the body which provides an opportunity to engage the audience in a deeper way than we could with dialogue. It also encourages the viewer to interpret and connect with the subject matter from their own life experience (Research Participant, 2018).

6.4 Choreographic strategies

Through this study I used the following choreographic strategies to inform my use of academic ballet choreography as the medium for visual communication within my film, without relying on stereotypical characterizations / plotlines to tell the film’s narrative:

1. Created a meticulous character study for the lead female protagonist that avoided stereotypes. 2. Created a plotline that avoided cinematic tropes as traditionally used in ballet films. 3. Developed a deconstruction table to provide me with a way of looking at individual academic ballet steps in order to evaluate their form, function, direction and potential meaning for the use in choreographed sequences. 4. Incorporated the use of every-day props within the dance sequence in order to reflect reality. 5. Used digital video to record the dance sequences created in the studio in order to enable the action research cycle, therefore assisting in the further development of the sequences. 6. Used a written choreographic journal to plan choreography to take into the studio and to evaluate the sequences created to assist in the further development of the sequences. 7. Used visual storyboards for the practical application of enabling the choreography to be viewed within three dimensional spaces. 8. Mapped out the dance studio space to replicate the interiors of the two living spaces in which the filmed choreography would occur. This was vital in informing how I created the dance sequences.

96 Choreographic strategies to achieve visual communication within an original film narrative through academic ballet choreography

Chapter 7: Conclusion

The purpose of this study was to create a film containing academic ballet choreography through strategies that would challenge stereotypes, cinematic tropes, and filming techniques.

It sought to address the following research question: What strategies might a choreographer use when employing academic ballet choreography as the medium for visual communication within a film, without relying on stereotypical characterizations/plotlines to tell the film’s narrative?

In order to address this question, a literature review was conducted in which it was determined that choreographic strategies for academic ballet in film is a topic that has not previously been addressed in academic writing however there is literature that pertains to the history of ballet in film. In this regard, the present study therefore makes a valuable contribution to knowledge. In addition to the literature review, a contextual review was conducted, revealing that there was a significant use, and perpetuation of, stereotypes, cinematic tropes, and standardized filming techniques in films portraying characters of ballet dancers and the ballet industry. This study is significant in that 30 films were analysed. This number is substantial in that these films needed to fulfil the criteria of containing academic ballet choreography, featuring characters with a correlation with the ballet industry, or a complete storyline based around the world of ballet.

The research design for the study utilized a mixed methodology employing qualitative research strategies and methods. The research incorporated studio-based action research, aspects of grounded theory, and an audience survey for the collection of qualitative data about the film. Findings from the contextual review informed the creation of the original story from which the screenplay was written. Sections of the screenplay were identified in

Choreographic strategies to achieve visual communication within an original film narrative through 97 academic ballet choreography which dance sequences would be inserted in lieu of dialogue to help in conveying the storyline. The creative process took place in an industry-standard dance studio where dance sequences were created for the film. These sequences were further developed in the two locations where the filming took place, being the interior spaces of a small apartment and a larger family home.

Through this research, this study has identified eight successful choreographic strategies that a choreographer might employ when using academic ballet choreography as the medium for visual communication within a film, without relying on stereotypical characterizations / plotlines to tell the film’s narrative. These choreographic strategies were deemed successful because, after viewing the choreographed sequences within the film, the participants in their responses to the survey questions were unanimous in finding that the choreography communicated the sections of the story as I intended, that is, without reliance on stereotypical characterisations and cinematic tropes.

Given this positive response to my study, I recommend to future researchers interested in completing a similar investigation that they aim to explore further contemporary subject matter with the use of academic ballet choreography as a source of communication within narrative film. In this way, the scope of academic ballet choreography will be broadened.

98 Choreographic strategies to achieve visual communication within an original film narrative through academic ballet choreography

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104 Choreographic strategies to achieve visual communication within an original film narrative through academic ballet choreography

Appendix 1: Glossary of academic ballet terms

All definitions are directly quoted from the Royal Academy of Dancing, Dictionary of Classical Ballet Terminology, 2007.

à terre – a ter (Fr. on the ground.) Phrase to describe a position in which the working foot is in contact with the floor.

Adage – adazh (< It. adj adv adagio, slow, slowly, leisurely and with grace; Fr. nm a slow movement in music and ballet.) Term describes a combination of slow, graceful coordinated movements of the arms feet, body, and head performed with ease, grace, and fluidity. Adage movements are combined to demonstrate beauty of line and form as well as subtlety of expression, and to develop the dancer’s sense of equilibrium when the body is supported on one foot.

Arabesque derriére en l’air - a-ra-BESK – (Arabian

Arabesque en fondu - a-ra-BESK ah fo-DU (Fr. Arabesque; blended action.) An arabesque taken with the supporting leg en demi-plié.

Assemblé en avant en l’air – a-sah-BLAY ah na-VAH (Fr. gathered step; forward.) An assemblé in which the front foot slides out to 4th devant and finishes devant. This step travels forward.

Attitude derriére en l’air – a-tee-TUD (Fr. nf a pose or way of holding oneself.) A contained position based on curves. A balanced pose on one leg with the other leg in a curved position at 90 degrees.

Battement glissé - bat –MAH glee-SAY (Fr. beating; sliding.) An opening and a closing of the fully stretched working leg with a quick gliding action of the foot which causes the toes to be released just off the floor. Practiced to develop speed of footwork.

Battement tendu – bat -MAH tah-DU (Fr. beating; outstretched.) The opening and closing of a stretched working leg à terre. Practiced to strengthen the use of the foot and to bring all the foot and leg muscles in to play on both the outward and inward movements.

Battement jeté - bat –MAH zh(u) – TAY (Fr. beating; thrown.) A sharply thrown action of the working leg opening to 45° degrees and returning strongly to a closed position. Used for developing strength and turnout, and important in the preparation of allegro steps.

Choreographic strategies to achieve visual communication within an original film narrative through 105 academic ballet choreography Battement fondu - bat –MAH fo-DU (Fr. beating; melted.) A smoothly coordinated bending and stretching of both the supporting leg and the working leg. An essential exercise for developing strength and control for jumps.

Battement frappé – bat- MAH fra-PAY (Fr. beating; hit.) A striking action of the foot directed towards the floor using a strong extension of the leg. An exercise to develop speed and precision in the use of the foot and the ankle.

Battements tendus en arrière - bat-MAH ta-DU zah na –VAH (Fr. beatings; outstretched; backwards.) A series of battement tendus to 2nd alternating legs with the working leg beginning in 5th position devant and closing 5th position derrière so that the series retreats.

Battements tendus en avant – bat-MAH ta-DU zah na-VAH (Fr. beatings; outstretched; forward.) A series of battement tendus to 2nd alternating legs with the working leg beginning in 5th position derrière and closing 5th position devant so that the series advances.

Batterie - bat-REE, bat-(u)-REE (Fr. nf the act of beating.) Jumps performed with a beating action of the legs, comprising all types of entrechats, brisés., and steps that are embellished with a beat.

Brisés – bree- ZAY (Fr. pp pf v briser, to break or shatter; adj broken; nm in dance, a beaten jump.) A travelling beaten step consisting of an outward brushing motion en fondu, a jump with the supporting leg beating against the working leg, and a landing en demi-plié or en fondu.

Changements, entrechat quatre, entrechat six – see batterie above

Demi-pointe – sur la d(u)-MEE-pwet (Fr. on; the half tiptoe.) Phrase used to describe steps which are performed with the ball of the supporting foot or feet contacting the floor.

Dévelopés – dayv- loh- PAY (Fr. pp of v developer, to unfold; adj unfolding; nm in dance, an unfolding action of the leg.) A slow and sustained unfolding of the working leg.

Enchainment – ah-shen-MAH (Fr. nm a sequence of dance steps.) A dance phrase or combination.

En croix – ah krwa (Fr. in the form of a cross; crosswise.) Phrase used to describe a sequence repeated devant, to 2nd, derriére and again to 2nd, or the reverse.

En fondu – ah-fo-DU (Fr. melted, in a blended action.) term used to describe a position in which the supporting leg is bent and the heel stays in contact with the floor, as arabesque en fondu.

En l’air – ah – lar (Fr. in the air.) Phrase used to describe a position in the which the working foot is off the floor.

Glissade – glee- SAD (Fr. of a dance step which consists of gliding our sliding along the floor.) A connecting travelling step in any direction and performed terre à terre.

106 Choreographic strategies to achieve visual communication within an original film narrative through academic ballet choreography Grand – grah (Fr. adj large or big.)

Grand battements – grah- bat- MAH (Fr. big; beating action.) A strong throwing action of the working leg.

Grand battements en cloche - grah- bat- MAH ah klosh (Fr. big, beating action; like a bell.) A dynamic action in which the working leg swings forward and backward through 1st position like a pendulum, commencing and finishing in an open position devant or derriére.

Grand ronde de jambe en l’air - grah ro d(u) zhahb ah ler (Fr. big; circle of the leg; in the air.) A slow sustained circling action of the leg en l’air tracing a 180°-degree arc parallel to the ground.

Pas de bourée – pah d(u) boo-RAY (Fr. boureé step.) Terre à terre steps performed in a continuous movement in any direction, demanding quick, precise footwork. Can vary with the use of the front or back foot on the initial extension.

Pas de boureé en arrière – pa d(u) boo-RAY ah-nar-YER (Fr. boureé step; front.) A pas de boureé travelling backward. From 5th devant the action commences with a demi-plié: the working foot extends to 4th devant at glissé height then closes p to 5th devant en demi-pointes; the back foot immediately steps to small 4th en demi-pointes. Then the other foot closes into 5th devant en demi-plié.

Petit Battement – p(u)-TEE bat-MAH (Fr. small; beating action.) A small sideways beating action of the working foot on the cou-de-pied of the supporting leg. An exercise in accent speed, and dexterity of the lower leg.

Pirouettes – peer-WET (Fr. nf in dance, a turn done around oneself, often while balancing on one foot.) A spinning action performed on one leg en dehors or en dedans.

Plié – plee-YAY (Fr. pp of plier, to bend, adj bent; nm bending or bending action.) A bending of the knees.

Port de bras – por d(u) bra (Fr. a carriage of the arm or arms.) 1. A range of arm movement performed within the conventions of classical ballet, always in balanced harmony with the movement of each other and the rest of the body. The simplest forms are the basic port de bras and the full port de bras.

Port de bras of the arms (full) – por d(u) bra, - A port de bras, consisting of one continuous movement in which the arms are lifted from bras bas through 1st to 5th position, and opened to 2nd before lowering to bras bas.

Positions of the arms, 1st – A basic position in which both arms curve to form an oval in front of the body, so that the little fingers are slightly above the level of the waist.

Positions of the arms, 2nd – A basic position in which the arms are held to the side and are just in front of the body. They are slightly curved and slope gently downwards from the shoulders to the tips of the fingers.

Choreographic strategies to achieve visual communication within an original film narrative through 107 academic ballet choreography Retiré – r(u) – tee- RAY (Fr. pp of v retirer, to take away or remove; adj withdrawn; nm a withdrawn position or action.) A drawing up action of the working foot to retiré position, a position just below knee height. Can be executed with different qualities, performed with various ports de bras and set on different rhythms.

Ronde de jambe à terre – ro- d(u) zhahb a ter (Fr. circle of the leg; on the ground.) A circling action of the working leg along the floor en dehors or en dedans. An essential movement to develop and maintain the supporting and working legs.

Sautè – soh-TAY (Fr. pp of v sauter, to jump, adj jumped; nm a jump.) A basic jump from two feet to two feet.

108 Choreographic strategies to achieve visual communication within an original film narrative through academic ballet choreography

Appendix 2: Academic ballet steps deconstruction table (with analysis)

(Working notes which reflect my interpretations)

Academic Ballet Form Function Direction of Meaning Step What does it What can it be Body What are some of Technical title look like? used for? Movement the possible Where does meanings this the body step can convey move when when performed? the step is performed? Adage Exercise Leg is either Adage has Adage is filled incorporates the straight out in minimal with emotion. use of the port front in the air, movement as Deep, personal. de bras now to the side in the it is used to Technical steps with the air, to the back show balance can really movement of in the air. Can and strength. accentuate the the legs into be done all the Can have dancer’s control positions en same with bent directionality and strength l’air - straight legs in attitude. with position while still being legs in the air of the leg in emotive and with bent legs the air. expressive in attitudes. Doesn’t take through the up as much movements. Can space when be used for legs are in sadness and attitude unhappiness. positions. Dejection.

Battement fondu Bending of the Predominantly Showing Infers meaning supporting leg used as a direction much the same as in a plié preparation and either to the plié. Single leg movement with landing from front, side or bending up and continuous single leg back. With down. Could movement of jumps. slower infer indecision, the working leg movement with the up and to front, side intention, due down movement. and back to plié of the Split personality, positions. supporting bipolar. leg. Long, extended line of the working leg.

Choreographic strategies to achieve visual communication within an original film narrative through 109 academic ballet choreography

Battement frappé Step of Roundabout En l’air Striking of the working leg way to move to position can floor can infer striking the another position. end up aggression, floor in a pointing to anger, bullying, brushing front side or nastiness. movement to back. Can end up in glissé travel moving height position forward or en l’air. back. Battement glissé Same motion as Show direction Can show Sharp and the tendu with of where the direction directional. foot coming an body is moving. moving inch off the forward, to the floor. side or to the back of the body. Battement jeté Same motion of Show direction Can show Sharp and the glissé with of where the direction directional with foot coming off body is moving. moving more power to the floor and forward, to the the force of the leg raised to side or to the step. Aggression, just under 45º back of the frustration, degrees. body. Used as anger. preparation for step into a jump. Battement serré Small beats Preparation for No Fast movement front to back at batterie en l’air. directionality. infers irritability, ankle of nervousness, working leg. pettiness, fear. Feeling cold. Battement tendu Pointing the Show direction Can show Mainly infers foot to the of where the direction direction of the front, side or body is moving. moving body movement. back of the forward, to the Small, neat, tidy, body. Foot side or to the sharp, organised. stays on the back of the floor. body. Brisés Legs shoot out Travels Extremely Forthright, to the front side forward, directional. extremely or back of body sideways and The whole directional. Can beating in the backwards with movement travel fast and air with the moving jump in uses the feet, cover a wide

110 Choreographic strategies to achieve visual communication within an original film narrative through academic ballet choreography body leaning the air and feet legs and upper space. Movement into the beating. body to show on purpose. direction of direction. Strong intent. movement. Changements, Jumps in the air Raises height of Moving Big jumps can performing body. Used for forward, side infer power, entrechat quatre, multiple reaching to to side and dominance, changes of feet higher levels, backwards, authority. entrechat six– all positions from jumping onto an turning. front to back. object or person. batterie

Dévelopés /Adage Slow Slow directional Travelling Thinking, movement of movement, forward, softness, the working leg front, side or sideways or lethargic. travelling up back. backwards Heightened the supporting slowly. awareness with leg through high legs. Grand retire to high gestures. Gentle, open leg kindness. positions.

Glissades Incorporating Body moves Moving Gliding along, the battement slightly into the forward, side happy, content. If glissé into a air using the to side and done sharply can small jumping movement of the backwards. mean definitive, step that feet. closed, not open slides/glides for discussion. across the floor. Grand battements Working leg Kicking, moving Known as ‘the Child-like, en cloche swings in the something out of step of the carefree, happy, air from front the way. Making bell’. Swings not a care in the to back in high a space for back and world, feeling in positions en oneself. forth. the moment. l’air.

Grand battements Same as grand Moving step Moves Big grand en croix, en avant battements forward and forward and gestures. and en arrière earlier in table back. Would back and can Powerful when but now look amazing in show moving forward. moving big groups. directionality forward and with the raised

Choreographic strategies to achieve visual communication within an original film narrative through 111 academic ballet choreography back. leg. Showing intent to move forward, back. Grand Two legs come Usually Body moves Large movement. up to the sides performed on up into a big Extreme changements in a double the spot or jump landing happiness, retiré position moving from in demi or full excitement. underneath the one spot to pliés. body as it another a wide jumps in the space away if air. done with a preparation to gain height.

Grand ronde de Same n/a Half circles Full ronde can jambe en l’air movement as the body in infer ronde de jambe full ronde or encompassing a à terre but with directional space. Big, grand leg in the air. with half gestures. Half ronde – front ronde can infer to side or back indecision about to side. going forward or Meaning to the side. direction can Either/or –should start at the I do this or front ending should I do up at the side that??? Or back and also in to the side. Infers reverse possible indecision as to what direction one can take.

Pas de bourées Moving step Used as a Can move Performed slow travelling travelling step to forward, back, and fast. Can forward, back, get from A to B. side to side, infer multiple to the side, turning. meanings. turning. Performed fast, turning, can mean crazy, unhinged, manic. Performed slow, turning, can look dreamy, fantasy- like. Plié Legs bend at Preparation for Downwards Downwards knees to the jump. Landing motion of the movement can

112 Choreographic strategies to achieve visual communication within an original film narrative through academic ballet choreography side. from jump. body. infer feeling low, depressed, downtrodden, unhappy. Earthy, grounded. Pirouettes Turning steps Used for visual Used for Used for visual in multiple effect. visual effect. effect. positions – closed and open. Port de bras of the Arms move Adding quality Arms rounded 1st position: arms using through and texture to in positions rounded, bras bas, 1st, 2nd, positions that movement. other than hugging, 3rd, 4th open and correlate with arabesque maternal, crossed, 5th the feet arms. No embracing, positions. directionality reassuring, unless body traditional. movement 2nd position: open incorporated. expanse, wide Direction of gesture, broad head can show chest, opening intent of /inviting direction. 4th positions: stable, held, positioned, regal. 5th position: framing, proud, regal, in control. Retiré Working leg Used mainly as a Working leg Can be made to travels up turning position travels up the look like a supporting leg for pirouettes. side of resting step. to a bent Transitional supporting leg Heightened position with position for bending at the awareness. working leg extension of knee. Pulling oneself pointed at the working leg into upright. side of the open positions knee. en l’air. Retiré en demi- Bring the leg Preparation for Body moves Needing to get up to the side turns. Raising upwards one something at a pointe. of the knee height of body inch. Can higher height. standing on when going onto move Can be done demi-pointe. demi-pointe. forwards to slow which infers the sides and creepy, back. calculating, predatory. Done fast, can look and mean sharpness, precision. Ronde de jambe à Working leg Circular moving When at the Circular motion makes semi- step that stays barre the of the body can

Choreographic strategies to achieve visual communication within an original film narrative through 113 academic ballet choreography terre circular shape on the spot body stays infer literally on the floor to when performed facing front. going in circles. the outside of à terre. When Like the up and the supporting performed in down of the leg. Can be the centre the fondu going in done with the body can be circles could supporting leg moving in a infer going crazy, moving 360-degree indecision. outward or circle. inward. Sautès Jumping into Raise height of Upward Spritely, happy, the air holding body. Used for movement of awake, energetic. the position reaching, the body with Surprise. that the feet are jumping onto an the jump Visualise here a in - 1st through object or person. landing in a cat jumping in to 5th. Landing plié. Can the air when in a plié move forward, shocked or position in the side to side surprised. Legs held position and back. are straight on landing. beneath its body, fully tensed. Tendus en avant Pointing to the Movement Has dual This step and en arrière side closing in travel forward directionality strongly infers 5th front and back from A by moving needing to get consecutively to B. forward and from one place to to travel back with the the next but forward. pointing of the tentative when Reverse, foot going to moving forward closing behind the side of the and retreating to travel back. body. with maybe some doubt when moving back. The pointing of the foot to the side shows indecision. Thinking along the way from A to B. Tentative but needs to get there.

114 Choreographic strategies to achieve visual communication within an original film narrative through academic ballet choreography