Guest dance4life87 Posted November 18, 2002 Report Share Posted November 18, 2002 Alright well I have read some other posts and obviously, there are diferent way of teaching Ballet. At my school my teacher is strictly Balanchine. I know that there is a Russian way too and some other but I dont know what they are called. Can someone plase tell me the difference between all of them and give me an example of soething. for example how you do a passe in balanchine way and a passe in some other methods way... something like that I guess... Link to comment
Mel Johnson Posted November 18, 2002 Report Share Posted November 18, 2002 There really isn't a Balanchine Method, by itself, at least in my opinion. What there is, is a choreographic style which Balanchine used which has been adapted by some current members of the School of American Ballet faculty. The present Russian style is that developed by Agrippina Vaganova, which is a Method unto itself, owing largely to the development of a separate lexicon (dictionary of term names) distinct from the general Russo/Franco/Italian style most of the world, including "Balanchine", uses. Both Balanchine and Vaganova were trained in the former Imperial system at St. Petersburg, as modified by the Legat Brothers. The Balanchine style uses the term "passé" for "retiré", but where most of the world considers the retiré to hold just under the kneecap, the Balanchine has at times declared that the point of the toe holds right at the side of the knee, which was the former Legat "position tire-bouchon". I don't like to use the term passé for retiré, as passé describes an action which doesn't stop, which is what makes it passé - it keeps passing! Describing what differentiates ALL of the methods is a bit too general a question to be answered in a single post. Link to comment
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