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| Thursday, 5 August 2004 |
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Alto-classicism, deviation from classical ballet by Gwen Herat
Several eminent choreographers collectively evolved a dance style which time proved an alternate to the theatrical dance style as well as classical ballet. This took place in the past few years of the twentieth century. The growing concern of these choreographers, Glen Tetley, Eliot Feld, Hans van Manen, Christpoher Bruce etc though not simultaneously, was focused towards the same theme. Together, they fused the best qualities of ancient and modern techniques of ballet and contemporary that produced a vibrant style called Alto-Classicism, later, to be replaced by modern or contemporary dance. They felt the audience would readily understand and motivate them further for the establishment of this form of dance. Hans van Menen had already evolved the important clue to the genesis of Alto-Classicism. None of the choreographers deemed it necessary to invent something new but they felt the time was ripe to look in another direction towards another technique. They were not certain about its outcome but the sincerity, integrity and conscience guided their motives. But the choreographer was saddled with a problem. He was not sure how the dancer would react to such change, completely and all of a sudden. He had to tell her in the most possible way he could. He had to make it look exciting and passionate. He had to strike out and search for something that can be expressed with feeling. He had to bear in mind the loftiness and yet again the new aspirations needed new directions. The best choreographer to do this at that time was Glen Tetley who was already embroiled in it. However, choreographers like Feld, Van Manen, Bruce along with Tetley, felt that everything was not right with the state of classical ballet as against the techniques evolved by Martha Graham who had by now developed the process being codified and reached the end of the road.
They all agreed there was much in both styles which they cherished and wanted to preserve. Not surprisingly and to the surprise of the dancers, they started to create their own ballets incorporating everything they found exciting from the two very different techniques. Slowly but steadily Alto-Classicism was taking roots. Consequently, it became an important period of renaissance in Europe and the United States as early as in 1960s when almost all these choreographers formulated their dance techniques. By now, Martha Graham style had caught on and inspired one and all. Together they all arrived at independently towards their dreams, dazzled the audience because of a direct human appeal. For the moment ballet was taking a back seat as the audience was focussed on these new contemporary techniques. It was beautiful to look at though it cannot be said of the Graham style though she inspired it. Some classical steps were found to be ludicrous. The technical possibilities covered a much broader spectrum and was possible with either of the individual classical or contemporary techniques. Such was the versatility. It was not restricted to a doctrine through which the homage to air, elevation and extension of limbs as in classical style and bodily contraction found in other techniques. There was full freedom of expression and unlimited feel. The technique of Alto-Classicism belonged exclusively to Glen Tetley who had pioneered its cause and accommodated it in its stride to produce personal touches. It allowed the world to see the established dance forms in an entirely new way. In the process, it avoided a head-on collision between two extreme styles that of contemporary dance and classical ballet. Each was in danger of taking itself far too seriously, trying to exist in a vacuum by displaying contempt for each other. More so, they had become a bore to the audiences and thanks to the emergence of Alto-Classicism, they survived. Part of the clue is the derivation as explained by Tetley while the other was a musical clue. Musically, Alto can mean high type of adult male voice or the lower type of adult female voice. So, it explains the system. If you imagine the technique of classical ballet as (high adult male voice) because of the importance of high elevation and the technique of contemporary dance as (lower adult female voice) because of its relationship with the ground, it was the appropriate prefix for a word that represented a combination of two different classical styles. Agreed or not, it was it. As for its creator, Tetley remarked about Martha Graham and her company's Embattled Garden whose technique remained in Alto-Classicism and how Graham discovered the masterworks and the compelling techniques. She was a brilliant teacher who evolved any technique to its best. Great companies like the Royal Ballet of Britain and Denmark would never have imagined putting on a ballet that employed the Graham style. Alto-Classicism changed the process in a devious kind of way. They went all out to present Graham 'gift-packed' in a classical ballet. Today the Royal Ballet has in its repertory the works of Graham, Tetley, van Menen, Bruce etc. while Feld is held in the repertory of the London Festival Ballet. ########### Visakian's at Netherland International Folkloristic Dance Festival A group of 30 students from Visakha Vidyalaya - Colombo represented Sri Lanka at the SIVO 20th International Folkloristic Dance Festival held in Holland from July 28 - August 01, 2004.
Sivo is a member of the International organization of falk arts, modlin, Austria. Seventeen, other foreign Folklore groups; "That is more than 600 musicians, singers and dancers from all over the world participated in this festival along with five Dutch folklore groups". This was the first occasion that a team from Sri Lanka participated in this grand event. The oriental dance troup of Visakha Vidyalaya, Colombo comprised selected young talented students. Last year they won the most exceptional performance award of CELESTA 2003 International Dancing Competition which was held in Laknow, India and several other National award for their performances. Sri Lankan dancers were due to perform in six open air stages in the village of Odoom which is situated in the province of Drethe, located in Northern part of the Netherlands. Visakian's presented a selection of 10 different elegant traditional dance items of Kandyan and Low Country Origins of Sri Lanka. Dancers were students of Mrs. Swarna Basnayake, senior dancing teacher of the Visakha Vidyalaya and music was composed by Mrs. Anusha Malwatta of the same school. |
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This annual event held during the summer every year was organized by
Stichting International Volksculturen Odoom (SIVO).
