Why I'm a ballet snob

So I went with a friend to see Romeo and Juliette last night at Ballet L'Opera de Lyon. She liked it and I well... I didn't really. But I, I recently discovered, am a ballet snob.

Let me explain. I have loved ballet since I was old enough to twirl and I have been seeing dance since I was old enough to appreciate it. Everything from the musicals, the Rockettes, and major jazz and tap dance companies to American Ballet Theatre, Milwaukee Ballet and to the presentations at my own university. I have seen a lot of dance.


The best dance I have ever seen... well, that's hard. Honestly, I think some of the best choreography I have ever seen was at the University of Iowa- some of the stuff that Deanna created was amazing, genius and beautiful! So fluid and dynamic, you sat there watching pure poetry in motion. There was a piece by Armando Duarte that was beyond beautiful as well. Truthfully, I went to a stellar school for dance with stellar teachers and choreographers.

The best dancers I have ever seen... well that's difficult too. The best tap dancer I have ever seen is Mark Yonally- Artistic Director of Chicago Tap Theatre; the best male ballet dancers I have ever seen were in Ballet L'Opera de Paris when I saw La Bayadere there 3 1/2 years ago; the best female ballet dancers I have ever seen were in ABT when I saw them do Swan Lake; I loved the 4 fairy dances in Cinderella at Milwaukee Ballet too; The best contemporary/modern dancers I have ever seen were from Alvin Ailey; and the best dancers I have ever known personally are Elizabeth Parkinson and Jenna Riegal; The best dance I've seen in a musical was Movin' Out (Twyla Tharp choreography- so it was stellar in both ways). So yeah... I've seen a lot of dance.

I also know a lot about dance. I am an educated dancer. I'm not the best or most educated out there by any means. In fact, if you lined up all the educated dancers and made them take a test on history and modern day dance, I'd probably be in the bottom 40%. That being said, I still know more about dance than the average non-dancer... probably by a long shot.

Thus, I am a ballet snob. And when I go to see Romeo and Juliette, even with the knowledge that it is a contemporary rendition of it, I sort of expected it to be, well, Romeo and Juliette- a love story portrayed in movement that evokes feelings of love, lust and joy between the two principal characters and deep-set hatred between the gangs/families. I expected, regardless of its contemporary status, to see life, love, sadness, desperation, gang-hatred, and death portrayed in movement.

What I saw instead was a troupe of well-trained dancers moving around on a stage with little or know emotional connections to each other. There was no life in the movement- I can't decide if it was the dancer's fault or if it was the choreographer's... I think I'd have to see more work by the dancers or by the choreographer to decide for certain.

What I saw instead of angular, repetitive choreography with no sense of flow or dynamic. The same plain, static sequences were repeated over and over with slight variations as the characters on stage changed.

I'm not disappointed I saw it- it's always good to see dance. I'm just disappointed that it wasn't good. Oh well, I'm a ballet snob, what do I know.