Forsythe And George Balanchine Essay

In the world of dance, George Balanchine and William Forsythe have changed the way ballet is structured by sculpting the end of the 19th century classical ballet movements to modern contemporary movements, introducing neoclassical ballet. Neoclassical ballet defines the body’s lines and angles. They have both created various original works paired with radical patterns, costumes, setting, movement and music . Forsythe is one of the most significant choreographers of the 21st century. With Balanchine’s influence, Forsythe stretched the ballet dictionary, distorting specific movements of the dancer and invigorating audiences. George Balanchine was born in St. Petersburg, Russia on January 22, 1904. Balanchine was accepted into the Imperial Theatre school at age nine, and made his first appearance in Sleeping Beauty at the notable Mariinsky Theatre.
Postmodern is set in the 20th century and considers everyday movements as art. Postmodern dance reflects deconstructionism, hyperreality, and irony. This postmodern style allowed for the choreographer’s dancers to liberate the specific mannerisms of classical ballet. Although Forsythe abandons the ballet language, he welcomes postmodern aspects of polycentrism and polyrhythm. Polycentrism and polyrhythm derive from the African dance culture.To contribute to postmodern dance, Forsythe claims counterpoint as his means to generate and organize movement, using it as a motor in the body itself, riding the torque and fleshing out the vectors as the dancer spirals her way into the ballet épaulement—the counter position of torso against legs—the same contrapposto that Michelangelo used in sculpture to bring marble to life and convey the depth of human feeling (Haviland, Linda). In addition, Forsythe obscured the gender of the dancer. Similar to Balanchine, the partnering put equal distribution on both dancers during