Jean-Georges Noverre

My whole research idea came from reading a statement about Jean-Georges Noverre's views on dance. Letters on Dancing and Ballets was first published in 1760, and this composition is still considered to have no literary equal.

His views that dancing had to be linked to acting in order to be successful appears to have been taken on board by the dance industry in the, however the structure of dancers lessons seem very similar to the ones before he wrote his book. Vocational training still focuses on pure dance technique – surely if dancers are going to be successful they need to be able to act in order to portray the emotion behind what they are doing, therefore shouldn’t dancers have to learn to act?

It is crazy to think that ideas formed in the 18^th century are still extremely relevant and that despite be well respected people have not fully explored the potential of what Noverre claims to be true. When searching literature to help my study I found it extremely difficult to find research directly linking to mine. Does having drama lessons help you improve as a dancer did not seem like a unique subject matter at the time of creation but after a basic literature search I realized it was an area greatly overlooked and I felt a need to research it. It seemed a crime not to further Noverre’s findings and see how relevant they were in the today’s world.

I am pleased to say after months of research Noverre’s theory that acting is needed to make dance successful still holds true, and it crosses over in to the need for dancers to study acting, not just for a piece of choreography to have a story. More often than not the physical preparations for a dance role are promoted over the artistic content, when in fact it is the acting of a dancer that sets one apart from the other when they our of a high professional level. When watching Agony and Ecstasy: A Year with English National Ballet, it is clear to see that choreographer Derek Deane is striving to get the emotional content from his dancers, and he states that, phenomenal physical technique is very impressive but it’s not the whole package (Deane 2010) Yet at no point are the dancers given acting lessons/or even a minute to focus on and help draw out this content, as is the way in which ballet rehearsals are structured. The reasoning given for why one prima ballerina is preferable to the other is the fact that ‘(she)..is so much more expressive physically’. Yet in watching the rehearsals it is clear to see that it is not the dance physicality that is different it is the acting through dance that sets them apart. Who knows if Deane had used different language to describe the fact he wants more acting rather than saying ‘you need to give me more’ if the ballerina would have understood better and become a better performer, because it appears that she is confused what he means with physical execution such as lifting the leg higher and being stronger.

BBC4 – Agony and Ecstacy: A Year with English National Ballet, episode 1. Aired March 2010