Decorum

Decorum: Propriety and good taste in conduct or appearance.

Decorum in ballet: Knowing when not to put your leg by your ear.

You don't dance "Don Q" the same way you dance "Giselle". Oh, you'd be surprised how many dancers, professionals, even, who don't get this.

I think Svetlana Zakharova is a brilliant dancer. Absolutely fantastic. I also want to strangle her when I see her leg by her ear in "Giselle"!

One of my students asked me if the penché in Giselle's first act variation should be done en pointe. I said no. Sure, you can, but you shouldn't. Giselle's Mother warns her to be careful because of her health; she has a weak heart. The variation is choreographed wonderfully because it progresses. It starts tentatively. Giselle is testing herself. The first steps are simple, small. As she goes on, and feels strong, the variation gets harder and, as most young people do, she starts to show off. The final manegé is wild and free, but ends with her going to the knee not just because it looks pretty, but because she gets tired. She feels weak. Most dancers don't act this part, they just do the technique.

If you start the variation by doing this bravura move of penché en pointe, you are ignoring the story and, especially with something like "Giselle", there is not one moment when you are not telling the story.

In the second act, okay she's dead, so she doesn't have to worry about her health anymore. However, she's in a romantic length tutu. If you put your leg by your ear, you've got a face full of tulle! Now, I am all for 21st century ballet. Higher legs, more turns, etc. BUT, there's a limit, people! Covering your face with your costume is stupid and one of my students pointed out, you might get it caught on a bobby pin and then act two becomes a comedy.

Decorum. If you dance every ballet the same, you're doing it wrong. Just because you can put your leg by your ear doesn't mean you should. Jeff Goldblum said it best, in "Jurassic Park": "Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, that they didn't stop to think if they should."

Stop. Think.

See you in class.