I have recently watched two ballets, one modern (“Tour De Force,” Segerstrom Center, Costa Mesa, CA, August 27th) and one classical (“Sleeping Beauty,” Sherman Oaks Rec Center, Sherman Oaks, CA, Aug. 3rd) and one thing that impressed me, besides the amazing artistry and obvious hours of practice, was the similarity of the moves. Many of the famous dances, according to program notes, were originated in the last century, some a hundred years ago. Even the modern ones, going by clips on YouTube, are still using the same combinations of, basically, how to toss a woman around.
What art form can thrive without new voices pushing it further toward the infinite possibilities of the creative abyss?
Since many dance moves have well-known names (the pirouette, where you curl around like that Pepperidge Farm cookie; the entre-chat, where you move your leg rapidly in the air like a cat got on it) it occurred to me that even a non-dance major, if he was creative, could come up with new moves that might enliven the world of dance.
You are free to take these and expand on them yourself if you are a dancer or a dance troupe.
SPECIFIC MOVES
- L’INVERSION INCROYABLE: Four dancers start with two on each side of the stage, running towards the middle. When they get to the middle they leap in the air, where two of them grab hold of the bodies of the other two and flip them upside down. Without breaking stride, they all “walk” off at the same speed, but with two of them now running on their hands. Repeat to get everyone the right way up again.
- TOMBE ACCIDENTALE: A danceur and a ballerina stand face-to-face. He starts walking forward, and she walks backward. He trips her and she falls flat on her ass, but the surprise is: she flips up again, like karate! He does a jeté and while he’s still in the air he mimes, “How did that happen?” This can be done with any number of ballerinas in a row for a comic effect.
- LE 6:15: Four ballerinas enter from one side, hopping en pointe with their other toes straight up in front of them, and waving their arms and necks slightly like they’re pretty flowers. Four danceurs run towards them as if they’re late for a train and hit their straight-up legs, spinning them around. The men return and apologize, miming that they thought they were supposed to be subway turnstiles. The girls laugh behind their pretty “flower” hands.
- LE MATHEMATIQUE: Two ballerinas both Arabesque side-by-side, lowering their bras inferiore to touch their raised legs so they make two number 4s. A ballerina dances up in front of them and holds her arms parallel at waist level. Four more ballerinas slide on from the right, three en kneelant with their arms in “droopy swan neck” position, and the third one making an X. This spells out “44 = 22 x 2,” but with ballerinas.
- SLEEPING BEAUTY FLOOR ROUTINE: Sleeping Beauty wakes up but instead of kissing the Prince back to show her thanks, she winds up like Simone Biles and does seven back-flips across the royal bedroom floor. This is to show him that she has a career, too.
- YO! BALLERINA!: A ballerina runs across the floor towards two danceurs who are too far apart to catch her. When she is in the air and about to fall to her doom, they each whip out two yo-yos and link them together in the air between them, making a “net” that catches her and lowers her gently to the ground. She falls in love with one of them and he “walks the dog” as they leave the stage, to indicate that they are married now and have a dog.
GENERAL IDEAS
- TASTY NOUGAT: if we look closely, we see that one danceur in a troupe is chewing something. Throughout the finger-turns and pas de quatre that follow, every time he gets close to a ballerina, she starts chewing too, because he’s given her some of his nougat. (Something that doesn’t fatten the ballerinas, like Styrofoam, could be used.)
- QUI STINK? Before the ballet starts, the ballet-master whispers in everyone’s ear and tells them that one of the dancers “stinks.” Everyone is told the same person, except for that person, who is told it is someone else. This creates a sense of on-stage tension that enlivens the whole ballet.
- SUGGESTION: if a ballerina has a bad ankle and “can’t perform,” tape a good ballerina to her sore ankle. Problem solved.
- ENTREZ-VOUS: A danceur playing a prince or a Lord is enraged that he can’t get into the castle where a beautiful lady (a ballerina) is living. He does an angry dance all around the “walls,” then gets an idea, picks up a loose ballerina and uses her head as a battering-ram. When she writhes in pain he shows her a tender ronde de jambe, and comes to care for her more than the “beautiful lady” inside the castle, who becomes a drunk.
- LE VELCRO: The corps de ballet divides in two. Half join their hands together behind them like graceful loops and the other half make hooks. They continue their dance, but every time a hook touches a loop it “sticks,” until everyone in the ballet is stuck together and is having to dance ingeniously. When “Night Falls” with a lighting effect they come apart again, maybe with a ripping sound.
- LA JALOUSIE: A ballerina does impressive pirouettes chainés, watched by two jealous ballerinas who can’t do them as fast. (Her hands are perfectly shaped and her figure shows through her outfit. No wonder she “got the guy” in the previous scene.) She generously offers to show them her moves, but as she hits First Position they use a series of pliés hachettes to cut her to pieces. Now who is the best dancer? Suddenly you have a Greek tragedy on your hands, plus a ballet.
