Ballet Traditions and Contemporary Demands

Modern choreographers have played a pivotal role in challenging traditional ballet concepts and creating works that reflect contemporary values and questions, thereby enriching the art form’s depth and versatility.

George Balanchine (1904–1983), often hailed as the father of modern classical ballet, revolutionized the art form by stripping it of its dependence on narrative and elaborate spectacle, presenting it in a pure, classical form. He synthesized classical ballet with other styles, subtly incorporating elements of jazz and American folk dances like hoedowns. Balanchine’s “plotless” ballets, often referred to as his “Black and White” works due to their simple costumes, focused attention entirely on the dancers’ movement and musicality, demonstrating that ballet could be as inventive and experimental as other art forms. He redefined ballet from within, using its tradition as a springboard for experimentation.

William Forsythe (b. 1949) is a trailblazer known for pushing the boundaries of ballet, mesmerizing audiences with bold artistic experimentation. His unique style combines classical technique with modern athleticism, expanding ballet’s fundamental structures to create something uniquely contemporary while still celebrating classical vocabulary. Forsythe’s work is characterized by complex, intricate movement patterns, technical difficulty, and an innovative use of improvisation and collaboration, often incorporating elements of theater, music, visual art, and new technologies like video and digital projections.

Michel Fokine (1880–1942) transformed traditional ballet with dynamic movements and expressive storytelling, bringing emotional depth and narrative to the stage. As a key choreographer for Sergei Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes, he created landmark works like The Firebird and Petrouchka, emphasizing the importance of careful research into cultural traditions underlying a ballet’s setting. Fokine aimed to liberate ballet from its academic straitjacket, jettisoning the formulaic conventions of his predecessor, Marius Petipa, and revitalizing the classical vocabulary by freeing dancers’ arms and spines from rigid adherence to traditional poses. His “tone poems” used new musical forms and subordinated showy technique to dramatic expression.

Alexander Gorsky (1871–1924) was an influential Russian choreographer known for restaging Petipa’s classical ballets with a focus on greater naturalism, realism, and characterization. He valued acting skills over bravura technique and often used artists outside the dance world for sets and costumes. Gorsky notably reshaped the role of the corps de ballet, transforming them from a static background into an important, bustling, and culturally relevant part of the drama, breaking the symmetry typical of Petipa’s works. He was inspired by Isadora Duncan’s belief that dance should be a natural expression of the soul and Konstantin Stanislavski’s acting system.

In Finland, Jorma Uotinen (b. 1950) stands as a major figure in performing arts, known for his bold and innovative choreographies that combine classical ballet technique with modern dance and expressive styles. Uotinen’s extensive career includes almost 80 creations, and he has served as artistic director for the Helsinki City Theatre Dance Company and the Finnish National Ballet. His work, sometimes described as “open dance,” has involved collaborations with visual arts, and his intensively visual choreographies often draw inspiration from artists like Jérôme Bosch and René Magritte. Uotinen’s approach highlights the fusion of classical lightness with the weight and groundedness of contemporary dance, reflecting the human body’s inherent weight.