Tanzrecherche NRW: Classical Tradition / Modern Society by Mirjam Otten

C L A S S I C A L 

T R A D I T I O N 

— 

M O D E R N 

S O C I E T Y 

A HANDBOOK FOR CREATORS 

AND DECISION-MAKERS ON 

KEEPING CLASSICAL BALLET 

RELEVANT 

Prepared by Mirjam S. Otten

Credits 

Mirjam S. Otten, BA AKC 

In der Tanzrecherche #40 des NRW Kultursekretariat 

E-mail: mirjam.s.otten(at)gmail.com 

https://www.mirjamotten.net/ 

A grant from NRW KULTURsekretariat — funded by the 

Ministry of Culture and Sciences of the Federal State 

North Rhine-Westphalia. 

© Mirjam S. Otten, BA AKC 2022 

Classical Tradition // Modern Society 

Classical Tradition // Modern Society 00

Contents 

SECTION I 

Background 

Introduction 

SECTION II 

ELEMENTS OF RELEVANCE 

The Nature of Ballet 

Social Context 

Relations 

Programme & 

Productions 

03 

04 

10 

15 

17 

24 

28 

38 

Objectives & Methodology 

Interviewees 

Heritage, Appropriation & Evolution 

Criticism and Relevance Today 

Heritage Preservation 

A Word on Contemporary Dance 

Government 

Value System 

Performance Art 

Workmanship 

Technique 

Status 

Social Developments 

Current Affairs 

Technological Developments 

Cross-Sector Relations 

International Exchange 

Public Relations & Media 

Audience-Building 

Education 

Outreach & Engagement 

Public Participation 

Programming 

Re-working Heritage Pieces 

New Commissions 


Good practice 

Production 

Characteristics 

People 

Industry 

Characteristics 

44 

51 

63 

68 

Re-enactment 

The Artistic Process 

Training 

Communication 

Artistsic Agency 

Dancing 

Insights 

Quality 

Scale 

Contents 

Storytelling 

Emotional Experience 

Mood 

Integrated Production Elements 

Venue 

‘Show experience’ 

Format 

Choreographic Talent 

Collaborators 

Directors & Leadership 

Boards of Directos 

Career Pathways 

Institutions 

Psychology 

Equality & Diversity 

SECTION III 74 

Discussion 

75 

Challenges 

About the Author 

Acknowledgements 

Bibliography 

Appendix 

82 

A: Further Reading 

B: Interview Questions 


SECTION I 


CONTEXT 

Background 

This research into the continued relevance of classical ballet 

emerged in the context of the NRW Kultursekretariat 

(NRWKS) programme ‘Dance Research NRW’. The NRWKS is 

the German Federal Country North Rhine- Westphalia's Office 

of Culture, a public-law initiative of theater- and orchestrabearing 

cities and one regional association in the state. 

Working closely with the Ministry of Culture, it is committed 

to promoting intercultural projects and cultural exchange. 

‘Dance Research NRW’ is a scholarship programme that aims 

to enable artists and creatives in the dance sector to 

undertake independent research with special regional, 

political, cultural, social or scientific references. 

Mirjam Otten’s Dance Research #40, titled ‘Classical Tradition 

/ Modern Society’ explores how the classical dance heritage 

can maintain continued social relevance. By learning how 

ballet companies, leaders and creators handle decisionmaking 

around the classical heritage and new impulses, it 

wants to gain and present insights into different ways of 

making the classical movement, style and stories accessible 

to the modern viewer. 


METHODOLOGY 

Primary data collection was preceeded by a profound review of the literature. 

Search terms included permutations of ‘dance’, ‘ballet’, ‘relevance’, ‘heritage’, 

‘modernisation’, ‘preservation’ and ‘culture’. A large array of resources was found, 22 

of which were reviewed in-depth (see Bibliography). Further resources are available 

(see Appendix A). 

In order to understand practical tools and considerations around relevance within 

the current dance industry, a range of interviews was then conducted with directors, 

choreographers, producers and leaders of the international dance scene. Although 

the literature often suggests that it is only the Artistic Director who holds power to 

determine a company’s relevance by making decisions around repertoire, casting 

and sometimes even choreography itself (Schnell, 2014), a decision was made to 

include creative staff of varying positions so as to reflect a more thorough and 

profound view of current industry dynamics. Interviewees were asked to participate 

on a voluntary basis. Out of 19 approached contacts, 11 agreed to participate and 7 

of them completed the interview process. Interviews were eiter held via Microsoft 

Teams or in person and consisted of 9 to 12 questions (see Appendix B). Interviews 

lasted between 30 minutes to 1 hour and were conducted in January and February 

2022. 

TERMINOLOGY 

The concept ‘relevance’ takes on different meanings in interaction with different 

target groups. As Dominic Antonucci pointed out in his interview, ‘something that 

might be relevant for arts council funding might not be relevant to the headlines of 

the press, which in terms might not be relevant to the audience.’ For the purpose of 

this research and report, ‘relevance’ will refer to the ability to connect with an 

audience. 

When talking about classical dance heritage, interviewees were encouraged to refer 

to all elements of this heritage, including choreographic pieces, a system of training 

and movement technique, as well as industry practices. 


This report does not discuss 

WHETHER classical ballet is 

relevant to modern society. It 

explores how an existing 

relevance can be maintained, 

extended and renewed: It is a 

toolbox for the industry. 


OBJECTIVES & 

HOW TO USE THIS REPORT 

This report compiles insights from the literature as well as current 

industry leaders. It is important to note that these participants, as 

anyone coming from within the dance industry, will have a biased 

and inflated view of its relevance due to their enhanced exposure to 

as well as dependence on it. This report does not aim to discuss the 

question of whether classical ballet as a form of art is or is not 

relevant to modern society. Rather, it aims to explore how an existing 

relevance can be maintained, extended and renewed; or a lack of 

relevance – should it exist – can be created. The following findings 

aim to function as a resource for decision-makers, creators and artists 

in the classical dance industry by providing a glossary-type overview 

of themes and practical considerations in keeping with modern times 

and facilitating a more easy and profound connection with audiences. 

The report is organised in 8 sub-sections that refer to fields that 

contribute to relevance in and of dance. Each subsection will feature 

several parts of that field and a brief paragraph that discusses how 

they pertain to the topic of relevance as well as practical steps that 

might be taken in that area to promote increased social traction. 

Whilst readers may decide to approach the report chronologically, 

this format invited them to use the table of contents to direct their 

attention to sections and topics of particular interest to their work. 

This report presents neither an exhaustive nor complete list of the 

elements contributing to an industry’s continued role in modern 

society; it is also not a prescriptive list of all the things a company or 

creative in the industry should be thinking about, doing, and/or 

engaging with. It is an open resource for inspiration and reflection. 

In this, it builds on an understanding that learning from one another 

and exploring new ideas remains at the heart of our practice. In this 

spirit, it can offer invaluable lessons in cultural renewal which are 

expected to contribute to a shared ambition of promoting the 

continued relevance of the dance heritage and its accessability. 


THE INTERVIEWEES 

It has been a pleasure to interview inspiring leaders 

and creatives of the European dance scene. 

Get to know them before reading about their ideas. 


MAśDELEINE oNNE 

dominic antonucci 

AśNDREW MCNICOL 

AśLAśSTAśIR MAśRRIOTT 

KAśTY SINNAśDURAśi BEM 

RICHAśRD BERMAśNGE 

CRYSTAśL COSTAś 

The current Artistic Director of The Finnish National 

Ballet, looks back on over 16 years experience as a 

Director of established ballet companies, including 

the Royal Swedish Ballet and Hong Kong Ballet, as 

well as a distinguished career as a dancer. 

The Assistant Director of Birmingham Royal Ballet, 

has a long history with the company. Before 

assuming the position, he had a successful dance 

career of his own and staged various British works 

and heritage pieces internationally. 

Freelance choreographer, the Artistic Director of his 

own company, McNicol Ballet Collective, as well as 

an Artistic Associate at English National Ballet 

School. His choreographies are known to use the 

classical language in an inventive and fresh way. 

An internationally established freelance 

choreographer working within as well as beyond the 

dance industry. Looking back on a successful dance 

career with the Royal Ballet, his works honour the 

classical movement vocabulary. 

The Artistic Director of Brecon Festival Ballet, the 

first company in Wales to show a full professional 

production of The Nutcracker. Her exceptional 

contribution to the dance culture in Wales was 

honoured with a British Empire Medal in 2020. 

The Creative Director of English National Ballet 

Youth Company, a performance company that gives 

young dancers in training an opportunity to collect 

company experience, also enjoys a vibrant career as 

a choreographer and teacher. 

Staging Akram Khan's World War I memento Dust 

with Ballett Dortmund at the time of the interview, 

the Canadian also works as a guest teacher with 

several international companies. Beforehand, she 

was a First Soloist with English National Ballet. 


HERITAGE, APPROPRIATION 

& EVOLUTION 

INTRODUCTION 

One cannot think about the ‘ballet’ as one heritage. Ballet iself is 

neither novel nor autonomous in its conception or development. It 

carries within it the heritage of folk dance and court mannerism 

from which it evolved, and thus appears as a modernisation of a 

previous tradition itself (Brinson, 1989; DeValois, 1957). As 

developped as a form of art, this process of drawing inspiration 

from other traditions, of appropriation and modernisation, has 

been ongoing and even instrumental to its success. Castro (2018) 

describes for example how the exposure of Spain to Les Ballets 

Russes’ The Rite of Spring effected subsequent developments in 

Spanish as well as Russian dance: He credits Les Ballets Russes’ 

use of first Russian and then Spanish folk dance elements in 

productions for the success of the works as well as the root 

inspiration for the development of several Spanish touring 

companies in turn. This example highlights a second important 

aspect in ballet’s identity, or ‘non-identity’ as a ‘heritage’: It’s 

international context. Ballet sits at the crossroads between 

national and international culture. Even though many countries 

nowadays have a unique national ballet heritage, ballet is 

distinguished by a shared approach to movement at the 

international level, as well as, global similarities in consumption 

patterns as well as a universal symbolic standing. This springs 

from vibrant exchange in the early ballet industry in the form of 

international tours. Subsequent artistic inspiration increasingly 

intertwined and assimilated different national traditions (Castro, 

2018). Exemplary of this is Diaghilev’s ballet Las Meninas, which 

escapes definity in its adherence to a national tradition in being a 

production that appears as and is paying hommage to Spanish 

folklore culture yet remains inherently Russian in its heritage as a 

piece of the original repertoire of Les Ballets Russes. 


Even though the ballet industry’s shared approach to movement has been 

institutionalised into a conglomerate of varied national traditions as different 

schools of dance emerged as ‘national form(s) of creative self-expression’ (DeValois, 

1957: 963), they remain part of a shaed tradition. “Each new incarnation [of The 

Nutcracker], from professional to amateur to Nutcracker on Ice, claims imperial 

Russian parentage” (Fisher, 2003: 5). For our industry today, this means that the 

tradition and heritage we speak about henceforth is not one, but each national 

heritag posesses a complex identity rooted in shared international histories of 

creative development that have been institutionalised within the nation state. 

One cannot think of 'ballet' 

as one heritage. 

Ballet as we know it today bears a heritage of older styles of dance, as well as a 

continued practice of appropriation and evolution at the crossroads of being an 

international practice finding its identity as heritag in the national sphere. This 

report cannot take on the task of untangling and re-working these complex pasts 

and does not aim to be a – albeit much needed – critical take on the nature of what 

is conidered classical heritage. Instead, it turns towards the continued practice of 

ballet in the 21st century, framing the tradition in its shared technical and aesthetic 

approach to movement and repertoire. This is done in an attempt to make a 

practical contribution to reconciling a controversial practice with modern social 

standards and demands, fostering a more consolidated future for ballet in the 21st 

century. 


BALLET CRITICISM & 

RELEVANCE TODAY 

Ballet as practiced and presented today is often criticised for its 

political incorrectness and distorted approach to the body, for 

being out of touch with contemporary dynamics and relying on 

falsified reproductions of the past (Segal, 2006). Headlines read ‘5 

Things I Hate About Ballet’ (Los Angeles Times) and Jennifer 

Homans famously declared the death of ballet in her 2010 book 

‘Apollo’s Angels: A History of Ballet’. Studies across the globe find 

an alarming discrepancy in the immense popularity of social 

dancing on the one hand, and the lack of interest in ballet on the 

other, which often ranks as one of the least popular art forms 

(Schnell, 2014). 

Madeleine Onne rejects these notions and makes a strong 

argument for the success of classical ballet. She points to high 

ticket sales in her company in Finland, which she interprets as a 

continued hunger to see live production, saying “as long as people 

fill our opera houses or venues all over the world when there's a 

classical ballet, I would say it is relevant.” 

It is important to note that the popularity of ballet — or a lack 

thereof — does not necessarily say anything about its social 

relevance. Many Artistic Directors in fact draw a difference 

between relevance and appreciation: Whilst the audience might 

not appreciate a work of choreography, it might still be relevant to 

them, society at large and the advancement of the art form in 

itself (Schnell, 2014). This report dives into that latter 

understanding of relevance. It does not argue whether ballet is or 

is not relevant. Rather, it explores how a relation to the audience, 

a social impact and an awareness of modern realities can be 

fostered and expanded so as to ensure a continued relevance of 

ballet, irrespective of whether that relevance is present and/or 

reckognised in the first place. 


HERITAGE PRESERVATION 

It is impossible to speak about the continued relevance of a cultural tradition without 

acknowledging the role of preservation. If we follow Katy Sinnadurai’s view, then 

classical ballet is as part of a wider cultural heritage, likening it to important 

architectural buildings or famous works of art, which are worthy of preservation in and 

of themselves. As we speak about tools to put such a form of heritage more in touch 

with society, we need to be aware of the inherent change that process bears, and the 

potential impact it might have on the tradition going forward. Whilst this report 

cannot offer a thorough review of the concepts around preservation, this section will 

briefly discuss ideas around heritage preservation as they pertain to the succeeding 

pool of resources and the idea of social relevance. 

Preserving a heritage does not always mean keeping it static. Johnson and Snyder 

(1999) suggest that preservation is a means of giving value to culture. That definition 

means that any attempt at heightening the social traction of classical ballet becomes 

an act of preservation in itself. Going one step further, it has also been proposed that 

the very nature of dance as a practice escapes preservation in the traditional sense. 

This is because dance contains intangible elements such as the knowledge inherent to 

the practitioner of the heritage artifact, the performer, or its contextual nature in 

spanning across different forms of media and semantics (Mallik et al., 2011). Hybrid 

modes of performance, for example work of British artist Ruth Gibson, posesses a 

uniquely temporal nature of performance art whose very nature poses a threat to its 

existence as heritage due to lack of reproduceability (Whatley, 2013). Even though this 

line of thought generates a sense of ‘the impossible’ when it comes to conserving 

ballet as a heritage, it does bear practical suggestions that celebrate the momentary 

and intangible nature of ballet: Firstly, it condemns locking a choreography up in strict 

preservation for example by legal means. This prevents the work to develop its full 

creative identity through continued re-enactment and actualisation (Lepecki, 2010). 

Actualisation can be described as ‘displacement by which the past is embodied only in 

terms of a present that is different from that which it has been’ (Deleuze, 1991: 71). It 

challenges the notion of archives as spaces of preservation and — following Foucault’s 

notion of transformation — sees the acting body as the true archive of the dance 

(Lepecki, 2010), as well as its inherent renewal. In a reassuring way, these ideas imply 

that whilst our efforts at preservation might be futile and misguided, the very practice 

of dance carries within it a core relevance in its contextual and performed nature. How 

we can embrace those aspects for industry practices is discussed further in Section II: 

The Nature of Ballet. 


On the other end of the spectrum, recent years have seen a large increase in 

interest and initiatives in heritage preservation. Different tools of documentation, 

often linked to technological advancements such new video technology, have 

facilitated dance documentation and distribution (Johnson and Snyder, 1999). It is 

suggested that today, modern web technologies and multimedial approaches to 

documentation have overcome the above described time/space dichotomy that 

callenges dance preservation (Johnson and Snyder, 1999). Using the example of 

Indian dance, Mallik et al. demonstrate how digital ontologies that link resources 

and cultural knowledge artifacts by concept recognition can build an intelligent 

contextual system of heritage preservation (Mallik et al., 2011). Such tools have 

become a key feature in reconstructing and reviving past works (Johnson and 

Snyder, 1999). Given the importance of preservation by means of documentation 

and archival work, the American Dance Heritage Coalition’s project manager Smith 

(2012), calls for increased funding for archival staff, space and projects. She 

believes that combined with the DHC’s education initiatives and expanding 

collaborations with academic scholars as well as digital collections, they are key to 

the survival of the classical tradition. Andrew McNicol believes in the value of this 

kind of preservation because he sees paticularly traditional repertory as an 

important source informing the future of ballet by way of reflection. To him, ‘some 

of the heritage works are really important in helping us understand what has come 

before and how we can build on that or evolve that, or move in a different direction 

to that. The importance of having those reference points is key.’ Documentation 

work can help such referential preservation efforts. 

The following report does not take a stand on which take on preservation is or 

should be preferred. It does value archival work and documentation as much as 

spontaneity and the momentary nature of performance art. It therefore wants to 

encourage companies and creators to reflect on their own view on the interplay of 

relevance and preservation by offering a range of ideas as described above. 

A WORD ON CONTEMPORARY DANCE 

Many participants picked up on the common notion of seeing younger, more 

contemporary dance styles as ‘the modern’ and ballet as ‘the old-fashioned’, as 

Madeleine Onne put it. This research is based on a parralel appreciation of both 

forms as advocated by several interviewees. Whilst it explores topics of crossfertilisation, 

collaboration and modernisation, it does not see ballet eventually 

evolving into, or being replaced by contemporary dance, and the thought and tools 

offered hereafter do not aim at that purpose. Rather, they want to evolve ballet and 

its industry in its own way and right. 


SECTION II 


elements of 

relevance 


THE NATURE 

OF BALLET 


Is ballet inherently} relevant?ć What constitutes the 

unique appeal of classical dance and howw can wwe take 

advantage of it to wwiden our social impact?ć 

GOVERNMENT 

The process of social traction is set in the public sphere. In the 

context of ballet, historically, this is the National sphere, as ballet 

institutions would often have been created by Royal decree or 

similar national public bodies (Bonnin-Arias, et al. 2021). As a 

public body, the art of ballet finds itself in the realm of 

government: It gains authority in being a national symbol of 

heritage. This symbolism is acquired through endorsement by the 

public sphere, which gives ballet institution power to dictate what 

is relevant to and reflective of the interests of society. In Bordieu’s 

(1992) eyes, ballet as a form of cultural capital constitutes a 

powerful tool in offering an institutional framework for creating 

an objectified vision and representation of a social group, a 

society. Practically, this means that the theatre stage takes a 

representative function of ‘showing the life of (a) people’ in the 

international realm (DeValois, 1957: 964). In this representation, it 

acts as a guideline of the represented reality, what is shown to ‘be’ 

becomes as what ‘should be’. In more concrete terms, Brinson 

(1989) explains that the dance community exerts influence on 

society by showcasing and therewith endorsing, selling a certain 

style of movement, fashion, music, etc. In this powerful nature, it 

bears inherent relevance as a determinant of social and cultural 

realities (Brinson, 1989). This view offers reassurement to the 

industry, testifying to its inherent ability to connect with society in 

its own political nature. It migh also nudge leaders in the industry 

to reflect on the social power their visions and works exude. 


VALUE SYSTEM 

Peter Anastos, former Director of Ballet Idaho, proposes that ballet’s strong 

adherence to a strict set of values around form and aesthetics enables it to 

maintain its identity throughout changing periods of history and associated 

fashions (Schnell, 2014). Audiences appreciate classical works for their beauty and 

commitment to a certain aesthetic, states Crystal Costa in agreement. 

Besides the dedication to a specfic movement aesthetic, Madeleine Onne suggests 

that the values of the artists in the industry themselves inherently seek growth in 

the art form, which in turn ensures continuous progress. She says: “[O]verall artists 

are eager that we go further the whole time. (…) They are hungry to constantly go 

forward. (…) That is what is making thing relevant, that even if we do a Swan Lake, 

we are not relaxing on the whole Swan Lake thing saying, yeah, we just do it the 

easy way. No, we constantly feel like, okay, how can we do it fresher?” It is 

important to acknowledge and celebrate both — the industry’s dedication to a 

movement aesthetic as well as its artists’ spirit of renewal that serves the industry 

as a driving force for innovation and relevance. 


PERFORMANCE ART 

A ballet rendition poseses a unique tempo-spatial specificity. A 

performance is bound in place and time as well as the uniqueness 

with which it inhibits a body. Against this background, the act of 

re-enactment in itself signifies a renewal and reinvention of the 

original work in a new body-time-space construct that surpasses 

any attempt at static preservation (Lepecki, 2010). Expressing this 

idea In simpler terms, Peter Anastos expresses that ballet 

manages to stay relevant by the very nature of dance being a 

performed artform, presented by evolving bodies and techniques 

that themselves evolve a production from its original version to a 

contemporary presentation (Schnell, 2014). Costa agrees, pointing 

out that the ongoing evolution of the physical abilities of dancers 

offers a source of intrinsic renewal even without innovations in a 

classical piece’s makeup and choreography. She advises that “to 

keep (ballet) relevant, we have to keep allowing that athleticism 

to shine through with keeping the heritage of the style”. 

Andrew McNicol takes a different approach to ballet’s performed 

nature, highlighting its temporal nature as a movement language. 

He explains: ‘What I love about ballet is it's a language of the 

present tense. There's nothing about it that says yesterday I did, 

unless you start going into mime, but the actual language itself, 

it's totally 100 percent in the present moment. So there is a 

vibrancy and a liveliness to that, which I can't help but feel is, 

relevant, compelling, exciting.’ Both of these bodies of thought 

emphasize the embedded ‘contemporary’ nature of performance 

art as a lived phenomenon. Tapping into this characteristic can 

expand the excitement of a ballet performance McNicol speaks 

about. 


WORKMANSHIP 

William Forsythe famously declared: ‘Ballet is Olympian’. The dedicated training 

required, extreme physical workload as well as extraordinary bodily of dancers 

place them amongsth elite level athletes. Madeleine Onne sees this physicality of 

ballet as a selling point. She thinks that in the same way that people are interested 

in waching sports and high-calibre athletes, they are fascinated by ballet. Peter 

Anastos equally sees ballet’s relevance in the physical achievements and aesthetic 

realities it propagates, as well as the workmanship embedded within them. ‘The 

commitment [of dancers] is astonishing, it's an Olympic effort to get through a 

training and to have a career. That in itself is a remarkable thing that should be 

celebrated’, agrees Andrew McNicol. Continuing to honour and showcase the 

extreme workmanship that goes into the ballet practice is an important piece in 

helping audiences apprecite this heritage and its lived reality. 


TECHNIQUE 

‘They say if you can play classical guitar, you can play almost anything. Whereas if 

you're a rock guitarist and you've only studied rock, maybe you can't achieve being 

a classical guitarst so easily. I feel the same way about ballet and that's probably 

the most important reason for keeping the classical ballet tradition alive and a very 

high standard.’ This is Domonic Antonucci’s way of explaining the importance of the 

classical ballet technique to the wider dance culture. Many choreographers share 

his view: McNicol believes in the adaptability and brilliance of ballet technique as a 

creative language and thus advocates the preservation of ballet as a creative 

medium. Marriott explains that he uses the classical movement language “because 

it's probably the most versatile, because technically an artistically and musically, 

there are so many facets to classical ballet. It makes a very easy template to make 

ballet on.” He believes it’s unique technical features — the long lines of an 

arabesque or the height of its aerial lifts — offer unique movement repertory to 

choreographers that cannot be replaced by another movement language. He adds, 

“I don't see it as a kind of obstruction because you can bend the rules as much as 

you want.” Dominic Antonucci resonates this view of classical ballet technique as a 

strong base for creation, both within and beyond the classical genre. To him, 

classical ballet acting as a core of technique and physical training that inspires 

other genres of dance, saying ‘those skills and vocabulary can be brought to other 

genres quite readily.’ 

Katy Sinnadurai goes one step further. She sees even potentially outdated parts of 

the classical technique as a part of its unique expressive appeal. Reflecting on the 

convention of wearing pointe shoes, she says ‘I wouldn't get rid of pointe work at 

all, but it is a strange and painful thing to put women through. I think the way that 

we can justify carrying on this classical tradition is to say, this is our language. Our 

way of connecting with our audience is with our bodies and this particular 

technique. Even though it's a very weird technique and only a tiny percentage of 

the population will ever do, it's still the language. We're still humans using our 

language to connect with you, it's that particular way of talking.’ Tapping into this 

unique movement language of the ballet technique is a celebration of the classical 

heritage and a testimony to its continued relevance. 


If you can play classical guitar, you can play 

almost anything. Whereas if you're a rock 

guitarist and you've only studied rock, maybe 

you can't achieve being a classical guitarst 

so easily. I feel the same way about ballet. 

– Dominic Antonucci 

However, Sinnadurai criticises developments in the ballet industry that place too 

much focus on technical abilities. She thinks that ‘because we're pursuing this ever 

rising technical bar, we leave behind 95% of the audience.’ She sees this as a way of 

‘playing to each other’, given that only the small audience — people already within 

the ballet — world will appreciate extraordinary technical achievements. In her 

eyes, ‘the majority of the people sitting in the audience don't know if someone has 

a good balance or not.’ This is a call to embed technique within choreography in a 

balanced and audience-oriented way. It does however not question the inherent 

relevance of the classical technique as unique and powerful movement language, as 

well as a core creative resource to the wider industry. 


THE SOCIAL 

CONTEXT 


Howw does the social standing of dance influence its 

impact?ć Do current affairs play} a role in our wwork?ć 

Howw do wwider developments wwithin social practices and 

technologies influence our practice?ć 

STAUTS 

Historically, a high social status would attracts capital through 

public endorsements. This is vital in preventing marginalisation. 

The Spanish bolero tradition for example was marginalised due to 

its lack of high art status and associated endorsement by the 

upper classes (Bonnin-Arias, et al., 2021). In a similar manner, 

today’s ballet industry is often dependent on wealthy beneficiaries 

and institutions to provide financial support, which in turn is not 

seldom based on the distinguished nature of ballet as an art form. 

Beyond capital, status will play a role in attracting viewers: The 

Nutcracker’s popularity in post-war America stemmed partly from 

its upper-class status, which attracted those targeting and 

experiencing upwards social mobility (Fisher, 2003). Even though 

a high social status plays has thus often been instrumental in 

enabling ballet, it is nowadays often perceived to be a limiting 

factor for ballet’s accessiblity and expansion: Social stigma around 

dance and ballet as an elitist form of art lead to a lack of exposure 

and thus relevance (Rockwell, 2006; Schnell, 2014). Modern 

creators are invited to contemplate the social status their work 

plays to and leans on, whilst funders are encouraged to adapt a 

more varied view of classical dance. 


SOCIAL DEVELOPMENTS 

How a public will receive a certain ballet piece is partially dependent on wider 

social developments and concerns (Castro, 2018). Fisher (2003) credits this 

mechanism with The Nutcracker’s popularity in 20th century America. The 

experience The Nutcracker gave the American public — immersing them in an 

exciting, partly exotic journey within the safe and orderly context of the dream tale 

tamed in the end — played to a stable family community and a simple celebration 

of tradition aligned with social desires and communal nostalgia at a time of vast 

industrial change (Fisher, 2003). In a similar manner, early Spanish reviews of The 

Rite of Spring praised its democratic nature after the establishment of the Second 

Republic in Spain (Castro, 2018). Alastair Marriott infers that changes in social 

context mean that classical productions will appear differently to different 

generations. In this process, he values the visions of the past seen in traditional 

works as conversation-starters and mirrors of the change that society has 

experienced since their inception. This is particularly pertinent when thinking about 

how changing acceptability standards are increasingly revealing problematic 

representations and storylines in many classical ballet pieces. Andrew McNicol 

points out that all forms of art are subject to changed perceptios rooted an evolving 

society and nonetheless remain important reflections of a past way of life. To him, 

this process can be a great source of creativity as new works emerge that tackle 

outdated elements in traditional productions. 

Beyond the ways in which a work is perceived by the public, Whatley (2013) argues 

that the practice of dance itself will bear a reflection of a changing society, saying 

that ‘dancing bodies embody particular pedagogies and philosophies of movement’. 

He questions in how far these realities make ways into what is consiered heritage 

due to their temporal nature and rootedness in an evolving social and bodily reality. 

Even so, this line of thought would advocate a dance practice that favours 

increased agency of the dancing artist, improvisation and regular renewal of 

choreographic aesthetics so as to make room for the inherent modernity of the 

moving body to emerge. How this can be done is discussed in the section ‘Good 

Practice’. 


CURRENT AFFAIRS 

Beyond wider social developments, Andrew McNicol sees an immediate interaction 

with current affairs in his works. He believes that ‘because we're living, it's a living 

art form, we are responding to what's happening’. Recalling a commission for 

Philadelphia’s Ballet X, he explains: ‘There was one section, which was a pas de 

deux between two men. It was essentially a fight. One of the guys was white and 

one of the guys was black. Two days prior to the show, there had been a shooting in 

Philadelphia, a white police officer shot a black man. I remember we were 

rehearsing and the ballet mistress beside me after we had done that section was 

quite emotional. I said to her, what's happening for you, what's going on? She said, 

it's taken on a new meaning and poignancy, because of what's just happened and 

therefore what's in people's mind.’ He encourages choreographers to leave their 

works open to these individual projections as they can deepen the impact and 

significance of a piece for the audience. 

TECHNOLOGICAL 

DEVELOPMENTS 

Domminic Antonucci points out that a large part of classical ballet’s continued 

relevance lies in a natural process of evolution along the lines of technological 

advancements: ‘For instance the tights that dancers wear: The tights that I was 

wearing in the 90s, are not the tights that we wear today. The comfort level is 

different, the material is different, the look is different. (…) Things move along and 

evolve and grow. For every department, whether it's wardrobe or lighting or the 

stage crew, there are new tools, there's new knowledge, so there's an evolution 

there.’ This reassuring reflection reminds us as an industry to embrace progress and 

pursue innovation in all areas of our work. 


RELATIONS 


Through wwhich structural channels do wwe engage wwith 

society}?ć What is the role of the media in helping us 

connect wwith our audiences?ć Does the cohesion the 

dance industry} affect its ability} to remain relevant?ć 

Howw can wwe move closer to audiences in alternative 

engagement formats?ć 

GOVERNMENT 

RELATIONSHIP 

Art is a public good, and as such often relies on support from 

public institutions. The financial and idealistic support Marius 

Petipa for example received from the Russian Tsars laid a path for 

the success of Russian classical ballet as a cultural heritage into 

the present day (Tomina, 1945). In the reverse case, tense 

relationships with government could hinder social relveance and 

artistic development, which is why Brinson (1989) calls for a 

relaxation of institutional pressures on national companies to 

allow for more creative freedom (Brinson, 1989). Crystal Costa 

calls for increased public funding for the arts. At the same time 

she is acutely aware of the moral background to decisions around 

public funding attribution, expressing deep concern over 

competition between social causes such as homelessness or 

health care and cultural initiatives. In spite of complex intragovernmental 

decisions, she advocates building positive 

relationships with public bodies to build funding avenues. 


CROSS-SECTOR RELATIONS 

Ballet foms part of a wider dance and performance sector with a wide variety of 

actors, artist unions to theatre venues to charity initiatives. Across this cultural 

sector, a strong shared voice can magnify it’s political agency (Brinso, 1989). 

McNicol suggests that strengthening relationships in the sector and the wider arts 

could have a positive impact on our creative practices. Referencing pieces of 

classical music that maintain their popularity in spite of problematic histories, he 

suggests that we look at what other classical arts are doing to draw parallels and 

understand our shared conversation about relevance on a deeper level. 

Beyond the cultural scene, there have been successful initiatives that bring modern 

audiences in touch with classical dance through cross-sector networks. The way the 

American Dance Heritage Coalition works cooperatively with other institutions in 

the industry as well as archives and libraries, is identified as a major contributor to 

the securing of dance heritage into the future (Foley, 1999). The ‘America’s 

Irreplaceable Dance Treasures’ exhibition is another successful example of a 

collaborative approach that encourages public dance literacy by integrating 

practitioners, academics, journalists and students and creating an accessible format 

that put selected works of dance in context to explain their significance (Smith, 

2021). Those ways of working show us that reaching out to professionals from other 

backgrounds and exploring new ways of sharing our ambitions is an exciting field 

of opportunity to expand the public resonance of classical dance. 


INTERNATIONAL 

EXCHANGE 

Intercultural encounters enrich a local cultural scene and foster a 

deeper understanding of its significance (Johnson and Snyder, 

1999). Historically, there are strong interdependences in the 

development of national dance traditions that can be traced back 

to lively international exchange (DeValois, 1957). 

The Russian and Spanish dance cultures for example drew 

inspiration from one another and became increasingly 

intertwined in through the Spanish tours of Les Ballets Russes 

(Castro, 2018). This led to the development of heritage ballets in 

Spain, and the appropriation of Spanish folklore for Russian 

productions in turn, for example seen in Diaghilev’s ballet Las 

Meninas. The Nutcracker, brought to the US as an ‘immigrant’ 

production from Russia in the late 19th century, even went so far 

as to become the work of ballet most intimately associated with 

notions of American identity and values (Fisher, 2003). As an 

industry, we gain inspiration and cross-fertilisation from 

international exchange and company tours. Costa suggests 

touring is moreover a great way to expand exposure and 

generate interest, and asks cities to think of hosting a ballet 

company for a night as a similar investment to hosting a large 

sports event. 

Mobility can also create a broader vision for individual creatives, 

believes Richard Bermange. He encourages artists to seek out 

experiences in different places, asking if you've been in one 

institution for your entire career, how would you ever gain 

autonomy within your own practice?’ 


PUBLIC RELATIONS 

& MEDIA 

‘Exposure is (…) the first step to relevance’ (Schnell, 2014: 41). Reviewing a range of 

actions taken by dance companies to embrace modern audiences, Schnell (2014) 

describes ballet’s negative public image as the main hurdle to its continued 

relevance. In short, ‘(c)lassical ballet has a public relations problem’ (Brinson, 1989: 

697). 

To Brinson (1989), a first way to address this is changing ballet coverage in print 

media. He points to the importance of dance criticism and reportage in shaping the 

role of ballet in society. His suggestion is that journalistic coverage should be 

ample, aware of the significance of dance and focused on the deeper artistic 

dimension of staged works. In order to achieve this, companies might want to 

provide more tailored insights events or informational resources for the press. 

Beyond print media, the emergence of the film industry has taken an important role 

in changing ‘the public’s appetite for, and acceptance of, dance’ (Johnson and 

Snyder, 1999: 7), as well as increasing its portability and accessibility (Fisher, 2003). 

Because of this, many directors today, for example Lourdes Lopez, AD of Miami City 

Ballet, speak in favour of increased broadcasting and televising of ballet when 

asked what ballet needs to flourish in the future (Carman and Cappelle, 2014). This 

can be done in many different ways: Alastair Marriott would like to see increased 

distribution of online content via digital platforms or television channels such as 

SkyArts. Katy Sinnadurai points to public live streaming of performances, which can 

eliminate financial access barriers and thus helps reach as wide an audience as 

possible. 

Expanding the view to wider media exposure, Crystal Costa highlights the large 

amout of publicity and marketing dedicated to sports. She argues that this heavy 

exposure biasses the public’s preferences towards sports rather than culture. This 

insight stresses the importance of widespread and engaging media campaigns in 

culivating a social appetite for ballet. 


AUDIENCE - BUILDING 

Audiences are not random. It is a conscious and strategic effort to build and 

cultivate them. Katy Sinnadurai therefore points out that it is important to chose the 

first time a viewer is introduced to ballet with care. She suggests that they should 

be exposed to something that is entertaining and easily understandable, for 

example Romeo and Juliet. ‘Once somebody is committed and on board and wants 

to see more, then they're going to be interested in the whole spectrum of things 

and more modern work, more challenging works’, she says. This insight might be 

particularly relevant for new companies or initiatives looking to attract viewers 

unfamiliar with classical ballet. 

Taking a more long-term view, Andrew McNicol underscroes the significance of 

shaping and fostering an ongoing audience relationship, saying ‘I think the 

challenge is about cultivating an audience that wants to see new things and 

acknowledges and is excited about the fact that sometimes it will work, sometimes 

it won't’. To him, this helps the industry function more freely. ‘Ballet X in 

Philadelphia are a great example of that, because they're very much a creation 

company and it's new and they built a community and an audience there, which 

goes to see the work more so to see how the dancers are responding to the 

challenges posed by the choreographers, instead of going because of the name of 

the choreographer. There's something quite liberating and freeing in that.’ 


EDUCATION 

Rachel S. Moore — former Executive Director and CEO of American Ballet Theatre — 

points out that the consumption of ballet as a visual art is highly correlated to 

having been exposed to it as a child (Carman, 2007). Madeleine Onne would 

therefore like to encourage schools to take students to see ballet performances, so 

as to creates an early familiarity with the genre and experience that reduces bias 

later in life. Beyond visual exposure, Dame Ninette de Valois credits the extensive 

practice of early ballet education for creating a ‘dance-conscious’ nation in mid- 

19th century Britain (DeValois, 1957: 963). It is therefore proposed that classical 

ballet take advantage of the power that lies within its teaching by being part of the 

national curriculum in public and private education alike. This can counteract 

marginalisation of the art as well as confinement to a specific audience (Brinson, 

1989). Costa joins these calls for schools to include basic ballet alongside other 

sports in the PE curriculum, believing that this will ceate e a sense of 

understanding of and admiration for its physical demands. Additionally, she 

advocates for teaching of dance history. 

Beyond primary education, integrated higher education scholarship can broaden 

society’s understanding of the social functions of dance, for example in connection 

with anthropology or psychology. Such education and the corresponding 

scholarship should particularly enable creatives and choreographers to create more 

integrated work (Brinson, 1989). Promoting widened scholarship in the reverse, 

Dana Caspersen, Dancer and Choreographer with The Forsythe Company holds the 

corresponding view that young dancers should experience exposure and education 

in non-dance-related fields so as to widen their awareness of social dynamics which 

can then be incorporated more easily into their practice (Carman, 2007). 

Besides curricula and programmes, educational institutions play an important role 

in realising these ambitions. Libraries, for example, ‘can be the catalysts in creating 

a new awareness of dance as a rewarding resource. Libraries can expose new 

audiences to a full understanding of dance through environments as inspiring as 

stage performance venues’ (Johnson and Snyder, 1999: 15). They do this by offering 

in-depth background information that enables a better understanding of the art 

form. Audiences and creators alike are encouraged to re-think libraries as important 

local actors, resources, and even partners, in increasing interest and understanding. 


OUTREACH & ENGAGEMENT 

Engaging in dance even just as a leisure 

activity will by default inspire wider 

interest in the art form (Wagner, 1997). 

Besides widening audiences and attracting 

new interest, outreach and engagement 

programmes are also a precious way of 

making a positive impact on local 

communities. Birmingham Royal Ballet’s 

Dominic Antonucci sees great potential in 

expanding outreach programmes and ways 

of bringing ballet to audiences that go 

beyond stage performance. ‘I would like 

see ballet made available to anyone not 

just to watch, but to be involved with, to 

love and to experience in whatever 

capacity they might wish. So whether you 

have a disability, or you are from another 

culture that may have a complicated 

relationship with dance, wherever you're 

coming from, that you can be involved in 

it. Whether you want to design costumes 

for it, whether you want to actually 

participate in dance yourself or perform, I 

would love to see that become wider and 

more all-encompassing.’ He imagines 

extended access to ballet classes for 

varying ability levels, or performances in 

the companies’ smaler facilities that are for 

and with minority groups. This vision takes 

a broad approach to relevance that 

saturates society in a profound way. 

Freefall Dance 

Company 

The Freefall Dance Company 

is a company offshoot from 

Birmingham Royal Ballet. Set 

up in 2002, it provides highquality 

dance training and 

performance opportunities 

for people with severe 

learning disabilities such as 

Down Syndrome. 

Dance for 

Parkinson's 

The Dance for Parkinson’s 

programme, which is for 

example offered by English 

National Ballet, offers dance 

sessions to people with 

Parkinson’s disease to 

facilitate a reduction in their 

medical symptoms. 


PUBLIC PARTICIPATION 

The social roots of dance lie in community culture, and and used to serve an 

experience rather than an entertainment purpose. The Rennaissance changed the 

function of dance in society, separating performer and audience so that dance 

became something be experienced by viewing rather than participating (Johnson 

and Snyder, 1999). However, innovative projects today are reversing those 

dynamics, acknowledging that participation and dance play an important part in 

community formation and social cohesion (McNeill, 1995). 


PARTICIPATION CASE STUDY 

Brecon Festival Ballet 

Katy Sinnadurai’s Brecon Festival Ballet is such a public participation initiative: Her 

The Nutcracker is a full-scale professional production based on a communityparticipation 

approach. Whilst it features a professional orchestra and professional 

dancers in the lead roles, erything else is done by people from outside the industry 

on a volunteer basis. This begins on stage, where local children and adults assume 

character roles. In the party scene, real local granddads are on stage portraying the 

grandfathers, whilst the corps de ballet is formed by dance students. Sinnadurai 

found that this variety brought liveliness and realistic human interaction to the 

production. She also points out that ‘by having 99 people on stage in total, 15 of 

who were professionals, 20 of who were students and the rest were local, that 

massively increased our audience because everybody wanted come to see the 

person they know.’ Even though not every production lends itself to this 

participation-based approach, ‘Nutcracker has roles that you could put non-dancers 

into as long as they can walk in time with the music and do a basic partner dance. 

We did have auditions to make sure that they could do that’, explains Sinnadurai. 

She does however concede that it remains important to her to have professional 

dancers in the lead roles to maintain a high standard. 

Beyond stage appearances, about 150 members of the local community made 

costumes, painted scenery and did fundraising. Sinnadurai herself stands behind 

Brecon Festival Ballet on a voluntary basis out of a profound belief in its value for 

the local community. Throughout the production process, she received exceptional 

feedback from participants. The process of coming in every week and rehearsing 

helped people meet each other, explore new talents, and find new passions. She 

testifies to great social and even mental health benefits for the community 

springing from this mode of involvement. 

How can we reconstruct this format elsewhere? Sinnadurai credits the unique 

characteristics of an already tight-knit local commmunity in a small town, which 

she is a longstanding part of, with the exceptional local effort and success of her 

vision. Therein lies a great encouragement for talent rooted in other similar 

communities to think of setting local impulses through artistic initiatives. 


PROGRAMME & 

PRODUCTIONS 


Howw can wwe structure an artistic season in a wway} that 

serves the audience as wwell as the industry}?ć Can and 

should wwe re-ėwwork heritage pieces in order to keep them 

relevant?ć What role do neww commissions play}?ć 

PROGRAMMING 

Programming is an important strategic tool in building and 

cultivating an audience relationship. Madeleine Onne takes a 

broad approach when preparing a season programme for The 

Finnish National Ballet, aiming to have a balanced repertory 

that attracts a wide audience. She thinks, ‘there should be 

something for everyone. It should be something for those 

who are more adventurous, it should be something for those 

who want a story ballet, something for the families, 

something that's more challenging. Something old and 

something new.’ Alastair Marriott agrees that the diversity 

within dance should be reflected through a balanced 

programme of works and encourages audiences to appreciate 

modern work alongside classical pieces. Sinnadurai also 

highlights the importance of balance in terms of mood and 

contents, saying: ‘I'm beginning to think of an idea of a ballet 

that I want to say something about our impact on the 

environment, but I would do it in a mixed bill that ends with 

a load of fun, because I don't think people want to go to the 

theatre to be preached at.’ 


These kind of mixed programmes are often said to be more 

succeessul than traditional story ballets in attracting large 

audiences (Schnell, 2014; Carman 2007). Onne challenges this 

perception, pointing out that audiences that would likely 

appreciate shorter ballets are those that are often less likely to 

frequent an opera house and will thus not attend the very triple 

bills created for them. Sinnadurai’s solution to this is to combine 

old and new in a mixed programme. She suggests that particularly 

people visiting ballet for the first time will be likely to see a show 

they have heard of, which will be a heritage piece such as Swan 

Lake or The Nutcracker. In order to retain this name appeal but also 

introduce a wider spectrum of ballet, she suggests programming 

triple bills with one piece that presents on extracts, or just one act, 

from a heritage production. 

Beyond attracting an audience through the variety and balance of a 

season, programming is also a tool to shape the relationship with 

the audience by forming the preferences of that very audience. 

Stephen Mills — Director of Ballet Austin — mentions the 

importance of intelligent programming so as to gradually introduce 

complex pieces and build the audience’s understanding and taste 

in the long-term (Schnell, 2014). 

Looking at developments in the wider industry, Marriott stresses 

the importance for companies to tune into a unique artistic identity 

through programming that returns from a global shared repertory 

to local diversity. Rather than encouraging the ‘loudest ten voices’ 

to be heard across the globe by way of a shared international 

repertory, this would make space for more choreographic variety, 

making company tours more interesting and rewarding for foreign 

audiences. Onne has successfully exemplified this approach: When 

programming the 100-year anniversary season for The Finnish 

National Ballet, she commissioned a Made in Finland triple bill 

that exclusively features Finnish choreographic talent. To her, this 

is also a way of giving her audience something to be proud of and 

honouring their contribution to the national culture sector: ‘I want 

the Finnish people to feel that they should be proud of their 

national company that they're paying for (through taxes).’ 


CLASSICAL COMMISSIONS / 

RE-WORKING HERITAGE 

Ballet’s devotion to tradition is sometimes criticised as a way of living in the past. 

This criticism overlooks the fact that ballet’s heritage choreographic works are — as 

described by several interviewees — often the ones that are most successful 

commercially. Beyond their popularity, they have a role to play in maintaining 

ballet’s relevance: Scholl (2014) suggests that as much as Diaghilev’s modernisation 

of early Russian ballet was what rapidly increased the art’s global popularity, a 

return to older works and technical aspects was what fortified it’s success 

afterwards through the Russian ‘classical’ revival. He describes this process as a 

‘retrospectivism’, a way of taking inspiration from ideals and aesthetics that 

predated Russian ballet’s first modernisation to inspire the second one (Scholl, 

2014). Along similar lines of thought, Richard Bermange describes the tension 

between tradition and modernity as a source of creative interest. He believes that 

“the story of ballet is a conflict always. So it's important that we keep bouncing off 

each other. Without it, we're saying the same things again. And it makes it exciting, 

as long as the new really is new and as long as we're looking at the old with new 

eyes.” What he suggests is that heritage pieces should be presented in fresh ways to 

appeal to modern audiences. 


Madeleine Onne on the other hand explains that when commissionning classical 

pieces, she sees value in emphasizing traditional and timeless qualities of a 

production, pointing out that they are large investments that are expected to stay 

with a company for at least 10 years. Whatley (2013) seconds this view, listing 

reproduceability as an important consideration in building and maintaining a 

heritage. 

I want something that can survive in 

10 to 20 years, because it's such a 

huge, huge investment. So in 

classical commissions, I want something 

traditional and special for us. 

– Madeleine Onne 

Crystal Costa acknowledges that there are different ways of re-working classical 

pieces, arguing that all have their place. Whether it be a story re-interpreted in a 

new language of movement as in Akram Khan’s Giselle, or an adaptation focusing on 

renewing the story and integrated production elements whilst keeping with the 

classical movement repertoire, for example Tamara Rojo’s Raymonda. Alastair 

Marriott follows the latter line of thought, advising that classical stories can be 

revived by making them more historically accurate. ‘You set (them) in a more 

realistic village, and you can do much more research into what the real clothes 

would look like. And when you do additional choreography, you can study all the 

other versions and make a decision as to which bits are really important and which 

bits need to be updated.’ Conversely, Madeleine Onne is in favour of adapting some 

elements of classical pieces away from their original version and towards a reality 

that is more reflective of the audience’s life. For this reason, The Finnish National 

Ballet’s Swan Lake for example features snow to reflect the Finnish climate, which 

makes the production more relatable to local audiences. 


NEW COMMISSIONS 

Choreographer Christopher Wheeldon has made it clear that new commissions bring 

excitement to the industry (Carman, 2007). In the eyes of Madeleine Onne, they 

offer a space to celebrate the growing variety of different dance styles as a source 

of cross-fertilisation. In commissioning new ballets, she often invites contemporary 

choreographers, suggesting that “contemporary choreographers working with 

classical dancers usually inspire each other and that takes the art form to explore 

new ways”. In this, she is careful to ensure that the physical abilities of classical 

dancers are taken advantage of, so as to highlight the unique qualities of ballet 

amongst more modern dance formats. 

From the commissionnee’s point of view, Alastair Marriott calls choreographers to 

lean into restrictions posed upon them by a particular commission, suggesting that 

being limited to a specific set of parameters can generate creative solutions and 

new ways of thinking. In this creative process of generating new work, Richard 

Bermange warns of uncconscious pastiche, suggesting that “if you really want to 

make a change, you have to question yourself a lot and repeatedly to make sure 

that you're always on the right track. Keep referring back to the question, it's like 

doing an essay.” 


GOOD PRACTICE 


Does the idea of relevance play} a role in our daily} 

practice?ć Howw can wwe design and share the artistic 

process to amplify} its impact?ć What role does the 

artistic agency} of the individual dancer play},Ā and howw 

can wwe encourage this from a y}oung age?ć 

RE-ENACTMENT 

Re-enactment – or more simply repetition — is a powerful 

tool. In scholarship, it has been described to drive the 

continued contemporaneity of a choreographic piece through 

the act of actualisation (Lepecki, 2010). This process of 

actualisation is described as a ‘displacement by which the 

past is embodied only in terms of a present that is different 

from that which it has been’ (Deleuze, 1991: 71). This 

understanding rests on the relevance ballet achieves in being 

a performed art as described in earlier sections. In pactical 

terms, it means what Alastair Marriott said in his interview: 

The traditional ballet repertoire should continue to form part 

of our practice. It contain choreography whose unique 

difficulty offers dancers a platform for technical and artistic 

growth. In this the very act of repetition and inherent 

actualisation contributes to the growing excellence in the 

physicality of the wider art form. Crystal Costa seconds this 

view, saying that the classical technique is a unique source of 

learning and intelligence for the dancer’s body. She sees 

continued practice of classical choreography as a driving 

factor of advances in dance physicality due to the unique 

challenges they pose for a dancer’s technique and stamina. 


THE ARTISTIC PROCESS 

Andrew McNicol shines a light on the importance of an intentional artistic process. 

In his own practice, he makes sure to be very clear about what a specific 

combination of environment, group of artists, time frame and culture lend 

themselves to in terms of artistic impact. To understand and integrate this well into 

his work, he has found it important to get to know the artists and environment they 

work in before beginning the artistic process. In building that rapport, McNicol 

hopes that ‘the work is serving the environment, the culture, the community of 

where it's happening’. This ties into an understanding of ballet as a contextual art 

form described in earlier sections. 

Speaking about challenges and hurdles within the artistic process, Richard 

Bermange warns that ego can get in the way of creative success. He calls creators 

to be reflective and regularly question their own role and contribution in the studio 

alongside the the other involved artists. 

TRAINING 

The classical ballet technique is characterised by an inherent appeal described in 

earlier sections. However, it is also a fundamental part of the industry’s daily 

practice, and as such requires regular modernisation. Antonucci explains that an 

important part of his work at Birmingham Royal Ballet is to ensure that technical 

standards and methods used in training and rehearsals are current. As technical 

abilities and understanding – fuelled by disciplines like physics and medicine — 

evolve, it is important that the way of working is up to date. ‘Physical demands on 

the dances are greater than they were, so how do we intelligently achieve those 

demands while still keeping the dancers safe and healthy?’, is what he asks himself. 

His strategy is keeping an open mind, taking on new input from other institutions 

and companies and integrating them in one’s own practice. Richard Bermange 

echoes that companies should put advancements in understanding of the human 

body, dancer safety and training techniques at the forefront of their practice. 


COMMUNICATION 

Richard Bermange suggest that relevance and modernity begin within ballet 

instiutions – and the patterns and practices within them. To him, a very improtant 

structural element affecting the creation of relevant work is communication. He 

advocates change in internal communications so that new ideas and traditional 

teachings alike are communicated and instilled in artists in a way that is respectful. 

He is convinced that “anyone who's trained the last 20 years and before will have 

memories of some things that were not okay. Even within my own career, looking 

back now I go, well I can't let that happen to other young people.” This is why, in 

his company setup at English National Ballet Youth Company, Bermange 

encourages horizontal communication structures that reduce hierarchical friction 

and create mutual respect, suggesting that “If I'm a director and you're an artist 

then we're colleagues as well.” 


ARTISTIC AGENCY 

Is it important that the individual performer has room contribute to 

the piece she / he will perform? Yes, says Andrew McNicol. He is 

convinced that the creative exchange with the people he works 

with in the studio supports the continued relevance of classical 

ballet as a creative language. This is because to him, the act of 

choreographing is ‘a dialogue with living artists’. Going on, he 

explains: ‘Creativity is the thing that I'm trying to encourage and 

create an environment where that can foster an environment 

where the talents and personalities and contributions of the 

dances can be optimized and brought forward, channeled in a 

direction so that it's cohesive, and there's a clear drive (…). Then as 

a consequence of that, I would hope that it would be more likely 

that people feel the relevance or connected because it's born out 

of a very present, alive, generous place.’ In rehearsals for Akram 

Khan’s Dust at Ballett Dortmund, Crystal Costa similarly 

encouraged artistic freedom and a sense of emotional 

absorbedness within the choreography. ‘I think what's exciting and 

beautiful is when something is spontaneous and it doesn't look 

like someone's doing the steps, but they're literally coming up with 

it on the spot. So even if it's choreography, you can do it in a very 

different way and it might make the other person react different, 

because maybe the musicality is different, even through subtle 

things. I'm trying to bring that spontaneity.’ To her, that is what 

makes a piece fresh and relatable. 


Choreography is dialogue 

with living artists. 

– Andrew McNicol 

In order to make that kind of work possible, Bermange believes it is indispensable 

to intentionally encourage young artists to have more creative agency. ‘Because 

ballet is so prescriptive you can lose your sense of autonomy within that and 

therefore we end up with a whole generation of young artists who don't have their 

own sense of autonomy in their work. So how are we ever going to expect them to 

move into leadership, or move into creative work and have a sense of having a 

voice?’, he asks. Bermange says that acknowledging dancers as artistic collaborators 

in the studio is crucial to this approach. Additionally, he embraces mentoring and 

coaching initiatives that help young dancers gain the tools to work freely within the 

classical tradition. 

In line with this, he further embraces professional agency and responsibility at the 

artist level in a more organisational capacity. He recalls an experience of company 

dancers having to organise their own rehearsals on a tour and how gratifying it was 

to be given the trust and tools from leadership to organise themselves and 

successfully present a piece. He felt especially connected to the audience on that 

occasion. 


DANCING 

The act of dancing itself creates a space of opportunity for building and shaping the 

relevance of an art form: Reflecting on her time as a First Soloist at English 

National Ballet, Crystal Costa describes how her approach to classical ballet 

changed after exploring the mode of engagement offered by more contemporary 

pieces. ‘Akram [Khan]’s work for me has changed the way I see interpretation of 

dance as a role’, she says. This inspired her to bring more depth and natural, 

genuine human emotion to the act of dancing. She particularly calls for more 

naturalness in the mime often used in classical ballet, suggesting this changes the 

experience of a piece because, “(the viewer) can relate and say, oh, she's not just 

acting she's feeling that.” For this reason, Katy Sinnandurai asks her dancers at 

Brecon Festival Ballet to present emotions and actions in a realistic way as opposed 

to using conventional, ‘beautified’ mime. This makes choreography more easily 

readable and thus accessible. 

In this, Costa does however acknowledge limits in ballet’s ability to let genuine 

human emotion shine through. To her, “part of the problem is that the technique is 

so hard, a lot of our energies are put into that. You can't really be as free as you 

might be in a contemporary piece where you can just stand there as a human.” 

INSIGHTS 

RWhen thinking audiences and how to best connect with them, we often remain 

focused on the realm of performance or stage work. However, there is great value in 

opening up the artistic process and daily practice that stand behind performances 

to the audience. When presenting the debut show of his company McNicol Ballet 

Collective, Director Andrew McNicol experiences a stron positive response to 

sharing the creative process with the audience through behind-the-scenes insights. 

Seeing and understanding how a work is made allowed the viewers to connect with 

it better on stage because they felt they recognised certain sections and challenges 

that were a part of it. In preparing and expanding such formats, McNicol encourages 

decision-makers in the industry to ‘invite more people in from outside and ask them 

what they're seeing or what they're not seeing’ to guide their approach to providing 

audience-tailored insights. 


PRODUCTION 

CHARACTERISTICS 


Howw do wwe magnify} the relevance of a ballet 

production?ć Why} is it important to be mindful of the 

ex|perience created for the viewwer?ć Which alternative 

production elements can wwe ex|plore in the future?ć 

QUALITY 

When discussing the state and future of the English Ballet at the 

Royal Society of Arts in 1957, Dame Ninette de Valois based her 

responses on a deep commitment to enhancing the quality of ballet 

productions (DeValois, 1957). In her eyes, improving all production 

elements as well as the symbiosis between them would strengthen 

ballet’s standing and attractiveness in society. This link between 

quality and relevance is echoed by Crystal. She suggests that higher 

artistic quality amplifies the artistic message and intention of a 

choreography by making it readable: Increasing the quality of a 

piece reduces distractions such as technical flaws and thus enables 

a better connection to the audience. Continually pushing artistic 

quality further evolves and heightens the art form itself so that it 

stays of interest to those already familiar with it — for example 

critics — by ways of new heights of excellency (Schnell, 2014). 

In line with Dame Ninette de Valois’ commitment, Dominic 

Antonucci universally declares that ‘excellence is relevant’. For him, 

this goes beyond the technical standard and quality of a work, and 

refers to the general ambition of excellence, explaining: ‘If we do 

things as good as we can possibly do as an organization and that 

goes not just with our performances, but with our outreach, with 

our programming, with our hiring, with how we dance, how we 

perform, how we project and portray - if we are excellent, we are 

going to reach and impact our audience and it's going to resonate 

with them and it's going to affect them. Therefore we will be 

relevant.’ This is a passionate call for pursuing excellency in all 

areas of production. 


CONTENTS 

The contents of a ballet production appear to be the most straightforward canvas 

for creating social relevance – but how is this best done? 

Stephen Mills — Artistic Director of Ballet Austin — points out that stories and 

themes as powerful devices that allow an audience to identify with a ballet 

(Schnell, 2014). With the upcoming ‘Sibelius’ production at The Finnish National 

Ballet, Madeleine Onne taps into this mechanism by taking a legendary Finnish 

story surrounding the composer Jean Sibelius and his wife Aino to the stage. The 

topic embraces the Finnish public by playing to national heritage and culture. 

Brinson (1989) presents an even more practical approach, promoting the 

importance of responding to social changes by making ballets that have concrete 

content inspired by contemporary life (Brinson, 1989). Katy Sinnadurai rejects this 

view, suggesting that relevance does not always have to stand in relation to current 

affairs. She says ‘it's perfectly valid to put on a show where people can forget all 

about what's happening today and go be transported somewhere else. (…) Not 

everybody wants to go to the theater and almost be lectured about the society we 

live in.’ Andrew McNicol similarly prefers to lighten the experience of ballet to the 

viewer. He suggests that ‘it doesn't always have to be necessarily a huge, profound 

subject. It's also deep and meaningful to play, to have a lighter subject.’ Dominic 

Antonucci agrees, warning that storylines with complex topics and a heavy focus on 

a personal journey – whilst they can be very effective in touching some people – 

leave the audience on the outside looking in. “If you bring someone in to see 

Manon, you have people that really connect with it very deeply and are really, really 

moved. And then you have another portion of the audience that are like ‘I didn't 

really go there’.” Different topics and storylines have a different breadth of reach – 

and it is important to reckognise that in leadership and decision-making. 


It doesn't always have to be 

necessarily a huge, profound 

subject. It's also deep and 

meaningful to play. 

– Andrew McNicol 

Taking a closer look at the contents of heritage pieces in particular, one realises 

that most of them are rather unrelatable. Thinking about Sleeping Beauty, Crystal 

Costa points out: “I can't relate to someone who would wake up after a hundred 

years and just kiss and fall in love with the person who's in front of her.” As a 

dancer, she would overcome this by focusing on more small-scale, real human 

emotions, recommending that in dancing Sleeping Beauty’s Love Pas de Deux, 

“maybe not necessarily the whole story makes sense to you, but you try and make 

that moment (of being in love) make sense.” 

Richard Bermange approaches the challenge of classical storylines in a different 

way. He encourages companies to dive into the deeper themes of traditional 

productions which are often relevant in their universality. Looking at The 

Nutcracker, he suggests that whilst not every company might have the resources for 

a spectacular Victorian party-scene, the production itself “is more about growing up, 

and also a mourning for childhood. It's quite sad. (…) I mean, essentially, she's a 

little girl who falls in love with a barbie doll. So in a sense she already started to 

become a woman. It is a coming of age story, a female coming of age story, which is 

even more interesting because it's not something we often see.” Exploring those 

profound themes in a different way can lead to intelligent adaptations of heritage 

ballets. 


STORYTELLING 

It is not only the contents of a ballet that matter, but also the way they are 

communicated. To Katy Sinnadurai, ‘[dancers] are storytellers. The relevance of 

ballet today is that it's done by people and it's about people. Even in an abstract 

ballet, a personality comes through. You can make the ballet as abstract as you like, 

and still people will see something in it.’ In this sense, Sinnadurai sees her role in 

directing as telling a story in a clear way. She prioritises this over aesthetic or 

artistic ambitions, saying ‘I think if [the viewers] come out at the end and they've 

got no idea what that was all about, but very impressive, I haven't done my job.’ 

Richarch Bermange equally believes in the importance of good storytelling to 

enable a ballet to connect with and speak to the audience. When referring to the 

contens of many classical ballet productions, he believes that beyond making 

adjustments to maintain acceptability, it is important to adjust the storytelling. “You 

can't keep telling the same things the same way. We can tell them, but we can tell 

them in different ways”, he says. Bermange therefore advocates increased 

dramaturgy in ballet productions to ensure ideas and themes are communicated 

effectively. He also promotes engaging with other forms of art and entertainment as 

a way to inspire creators to find new ways of storytelling. He says: “I like TV, and if 

you're working in a narrative art form then it's really useful. To see how they 

communicate certain things, seeing good writing. I feel as an art form we need to 

be invested in good writing and good storytelling.” 


EMOTIONAL EXPERIENCE 

Performance brings with it a uniquely somatic mode of engagement, a visceral 

connection between the consumer, the viewer, and the work of art that exists as it 

is consumed, seen and experienced (Whatley, 2013). Is the art relevant through the 

very fact that is ceates an experience for the viewer? This would imply that the 

intangible value and relevance of human emotion that lies within this purpose 

should constitute the focus of our efforts at maintaining relevance. Many Artistic 

Directors of today believe this to be the case. McNicol remembers a choreographer 

saying ‘when we're watching someone dance, what is it that we're looking for? It's 

the best qualities of humanity: Fearlessness, vulnerability, courage, risk-taking, all 

of that.’ Madeleine Onne agrees, saying “people want to get touched somehow. You 

want to feel something when you go [to the ballet], if you're crying or laughing or 

getting angry, you want to feel.” Dominic Antonucci aggrees. For him, an emotional 

connection with the audience is a priority in relevance, because ‘if it touches them 

and it reaches them, it will be relevant, whether it carries any social message or any 

reference to current affairs or current ideas is sort of beside the point. Does it reach 

that person? Does it resonate with that person?’ 

There are different ways of encouraging, shaping and guiding this emotional 

experience. Andrew McNicol prefers to take a hands-off approach: Rather than 

forcing certain topics and reactions on the audience, is important to him to create 

work that ‘speaks to and celebrates what it is that we love about dance and shares 

that and invites people in and then lets them see and feel its relevance.’ On the 

other hand, Birmingham Royal Ballet is intentionally creating a certain experience 

for the audience with Carlos Acosta’s Don Quixote. Antonucci describes that ‘the 

heart of the ballet is timeless in that the audiences, they want to laugh, they want 

to smile, they want to clap along, they want to go "wow" at the big lifts, even 

though that is not necessarily always high art as we think of. (…) It's very simple, 

but it brings the audience together with the dancers. It's like this sort of coming 

together of joy because the dancers are loving it and the audience is loving it at the 

same time. So that to me equals relevance.’ Whether a production is specific and 

intentional in the experience it wants to create, or leaves itself open to the 

individual, it is important to remain aware of emotional response as an impactful 

part of a production’s traction and therefore leave space for it. 


MOOD 

The tone of a ballet greatly influences the experience of the viewer 

as well as the wider reception of a work. Reflecting on the last 10 

years of dance, Dominic Antonucci identifies a tendency for works to 

be very serious, striking a profound and heavy mood. ‘I fear that we 

are not connecting with our younger and wider audiences because 

we've gone from being this classical elite art form to being about 

really serious, brown and black, heavy topics that are about personal 

trauma. (…) There is a place, there's a time and a place where that is 

effective. But as a whole creative era I think we're going to look back 

on the late 2000s, 2010s as being almost a grunge era for ballet. 

Lots of Browns, lots of blacks, lots of dark lighting states and 

schemes, lots of heavy music, and where is the fun?’ Katy Sinnadurai 

shares this criticism: ‘I'm slightly worried that the ballet world is 

maybe trying to be so relevant that you will go to a theatre and you 

will have a very gloomy stage and it will be very full of soul 

searching and hand-wringing, and that's okay if that's what you 

want. But I don't know if we put all our eggs in that basket, if we 

actually will reduce our audience numbers.’ Behind these staged 

tendencies, Andrew McNicol sees a wider ‘perception, particularly 

with ballet and the grandeur that often comes with that, that it sort 

of has to be serious and if you're not serious and engaging with it in 

that way, then somehow you've misunderstood the point.’ He 

concedes that ‘with all the serious important cultural change and 

values that are shifting, we do want to respond and make work that 

addresses that. But at the same time, I also want to have a really 

good time. I want to party. I want to be carefree. I want to escape. I 

want both. It's just important that we highlight that ballet as De 

Valois said, is 'adaptable in its possibilities' and it can work at both 

ends of that spectrum.’ 


I think we're going to look back on 

the late 2000s, 2010s as being 

almost a grunge era for ballet. Lots 

of browns, lots of blacks, lots of dark 

lighting states and schemes, lots of 

heavy music, and where is the fun? 

– Dominic Antonucci 

Antonucci recommends that we take advantage of the power in the ‘mood’ aspect of 

any art. Drawing a comparison to the Beatles and the universal appeal of their 

music, he highlights the effectiveness of a ‘feel-good factor’. Rather than 

connecting deeply with a specific, often niche audience, he therefore sees fun as a 

tool to bring in a wider, more diverse audience through its universality. He credits a 

part of The Nutcracker’s success to it’s ability to include an element of fun and 

laughing in a spirit of togetherness shared by dancers and the audience. Another 

example he mentions is the clog dance in La Fille Mal Gardée. Without endorsing 

the more problematic elements of the production, he sees this as a successful 

moment of connecting with audiences, ‘because they're laughing, they're involved, 

they're included in the joke.’ In that way, elements of fun can set the tone of a 

ballet as well as its reception and thus become powerful tools for building a 

connection with audiences. 


INTEGRATED PRODUCTION 

ELEMENTS 

Every production includes elements that go beyond dancing, and it is important to 

reckognise that these influence the success of a piece. The increasing popularity of 

The Rite of Spring for example was very much correlated to the distribution of Igor 

Stravinsky’s corresponding musical score to the ballet (Castro, 2018). This suggests 

that the public reception of a work of dance can be affected by the parallel 

reception of other integrated works of art that form part of the production, such as 

music or costume fashion. To take advantage of this dynamic, Schnell (2014) 

promotes a process of what he calls ‘revisionism’. By this, he means including more 

modern production elements, for example using contemporary music in new works 

of ballet. Along these lines, Alastair Marriott talks about a very positive experience 

working with a costume designer from a contemporary pop background, who had 

exhaustive ideas and an innovative way of thinking. He is convincend that 

designers from other, non-ballet fields “come up with ideas that [he] couldn’t have 

gotten with a traditional collaborator” and encurages producers to reach out to 

collaborators from other fields when thinking about integrated production 

elements. Talking about the importance of working with experienced lighting 

designers, Marriott further advises: “When you do something really good, an 

amazing lighting designer can make it look amazing, if you do something okay, they 

can make it look good. And if you do something amazing and you have a terrible 

lighting design, it will look like crap.” 

Aside from thinking about a specific show, Richard Bermange is in favour of 

questioning integrated production elements at a fundamental level to pull them 

into the modern age. Using the example of pink ballet tights, an often fundamental 

part of costume, he asks: “Should anybody be wearing pink (or brown) tights, at all? 

If it's supposed to imply nudity and brings us back to this mid-18th and 19th 

century, early 19th century kind of thing, which is a little bit risque, it's all very 

outdated. We're not presenting rounded people, we're presenting kind of fetish. It's 

fetishising a whole art form.” In this, he challenges creators and leaders to think 

about all aspects of a production in a critical way – even the most engrained, 

unquestioned parts. 


VENUE 

Certain venues attract certain audiences — and not every opera house is a space 

that every member of society is comfortable in. This is why Ethan Stiefel, former 

Principal Dancer with American Ballet Theatre, proposes that performances in nontheatrical 

venues could promote ballet’s accessibility and relatability (Carman, 

2007). Karen Kain, Artistic Director of The National Ballet of Canada, supports this 

approach by pointing to the success of the company’s outdoor performances 

(Carman, 2007). Madeleine Onne reiterates the benefits of outdoor performances, 

such as example decreased ticket prices, but is also beware of limiting climate 

factors. Beyond outdoor events, she encourages producers to think about in-built 

audiences of non-thearical venues: An ice-hockey fan might be more likely to 

attend a ballet in the ice hockey arena she/he already attends regularly if it’s not 

too much more expensive. 

Whilst such initiatives and alternative performance spaces create opportunities for 

connecting with new audiences, there are many practical hurdles attached to 

performing in alternative spaces, given ballet’s specific floor requirements 

(DeValois, 1957). Technical advancements that increase the mobility of classical 

ballet’s infrastructure could facilitate performances in innovative spaces. 

SCALE 

Maintaining the integrity of a classical ballet whilst streamlining it — either in 

length or scale — is a popular approach to making traditional productions more 

accessible (Schnell, 2014). Particularly smaller-scale productions can be a powerful 

tool for creating impactful work: McNicol believes that they allow him to get to 

know the artists more and choreograph in a way that is more collaborative and 

individual to them. At the same time, because smaller productions would be shown 

in more intimate spaces, he sees something exciting for the audience in being 

‘closer up to these brilliant, beautiful, talented, amazing dancers and people, there's 

something really exhilarating about seeing the sweat, hearing the panting of the 

breath.’ Even though large companies often have the resources and infrastructure to 

create large-scale works, there is a dedicated place for small-scale productions and 

their benefits when thinking about audience enlargement. 


FORMAT 

Andrew McNicol believes that the mode of presentation 

influences how the public engages with an art form. He says ‘how 

it's presented really helps shape and inform how people engage 

or see it’. Re-thinking traditional modes of performances, Onne 

can imagine alternative presentation formats. She alludes for 

example to the Cantonese opera, where the audience would be 

more free to move in and out of an auditorium to enjoy 

refreshments and conversation during a performance. There have 

also been successful examples of a multiformat approach to 

ballet productions, for example Ballet Austin’s Light / The 

Holocaust & Humanity Project, which engages in social topics by 

ways that go beyond performance and include workshops and 

discussion forums (Schnell, 2014). 

Alastair Marriott sees a space of opportunity in difital formats. He 

is particularly interested in film and online productions, calling 

for commissions specifically for film content in collaboration with 

film professionals as opposed to conventional streamings of stage 

performances. These works would take on a different mode of 

presentation from classical ballet, but his own experience 

working on commercial content with Edward Watson has shown 

him the versatile techniques that can be used in such productions 

as well as the wide amount of interest that ensued for the specific 

piece of choreography. These accounts make it clear that the area 

of the ‘performance format’ represents one of the most 

unexplored fields of opportunity for innovation in the classical 

dance world, calling for creative ideas from the industry and 

related field. 


SHOW EXPERIENCE 

'The experience has to start almost when you buy the tickets', says Madeleine Onne 

about dance productions. In this, she shows an adept understanding of ballet as an 

entertainment industry. She also provides a practical example of how this can be 

used to increase social traction. When talking about her Pippi Longstocking 

production for The Royal Swedish Ballet, Onne describes: 'We put huge orange 

braids on the roof for the opera house that you could see all over Stockholm. Then 

we built a huge slide in the entrance. The entrance of the opera house is inspired by 

Garnier in Paris, whith gold and marble and everything, and there was this huge 

slide. My idea was that when the parents bring their kids and they say, you have to 

behave, you have to clap when everyone else is clapping, I wanted them to enter 

that opera house and go, wow, this is a place where I can have fun.' This 

wholesome approach is greatly inspiring, suggesting that there are many measures 

we can take to extend a work of art from the stage throughout the viewer 

experience and thus expand its impact and enjoyment. 


people 


What role do Aśrtistic Directors and Boards play} in 

determining the relevance of classical ballet?ć 

Howw can collaborative initiatives contribute to 

innovation and modernisation of our heritage?ć 

CHOREOGRAPHIC 

TALENT 

A new choreographer will bring with her/him unique ideas, 

artitic vision and a way of moving. David McAllister, former 

Artistic Director of The Australian Ballet, therefore 

encourages companies to invest in new choreographic 

talent to ensure that ballet can benefit from novel 

impulses of each generation (Martin, 2011). Peter Boal, 

Artistic Director of Pacific Northwest Ballet, believes that 

choreographic talent is most free to develop and grow 

when it is able to work without pressure of creating a 

commercially successful production. He suggests that 

companies offer more choreographic laboratories and free 

creative space to achieve such an environment (Carman, 

2007). 


COLLABORATORS 

Whilst it is widely agreed that collaboration is a successful way of fostering 

innovation and creativity, there are many different approaches to chosing 

collaborators and integrating practitioners from alternative fields and styles. 

To Andrew McNicol all artists he works with in the studio are an quintessential part 

of his process. Looking at his fellow creatives in the studio, he thinks about ‘What, 

what stories do they bring? What experience do they bring? How are they looking at 

approaching something? How does that change the nuance of phrasing or 

musicality or sense of attack or urgency? (…) That's incredibly exciting.’ 

Indeed, collaborations within the dance industry bear innovative possibilities. In 

heritage productions such as The Nutcracker, problematic sections displaying racial 

stereotyping can for example be addressed through collaborations with and guest 

performances of groups who are experts in specific folklore dance styles (Fisher, 

2003). An inclusion of diverse dance styles can also interact with and facilitate the 

understanding of a production’s storyline. Madeleine Onne for example invited a 

famous street dancer to collaborate on her production of Pippi Longstocking in 

Sweden to help out with the second act, which is set in the South Pacific. “Instead 

of speaking another language, I found then another way of moving in order to show 

that”, she explains. However, reflecting on overall trends in dance collaboration, 

Alastair Marriott notes that “there's an undertone where some people believe that 

contemporary dance is modern and the future and classical ballet is the past”, and 

feels that whilst classical institutions often invite contemporary collaborators, the 

reverse is less frequent. He therefore encourages contemporary institutions to reach 

out to classical artists and makers for collaborations so as to explore what happens 

when the classical repertory meets artists with a different movement background 

and vocabulary. 


If a collaboration 

works really well, 

they do it better 

than what you asked. 

– Alastair Marriott 

Looking beyond clasical artists, Choreographer Justin Peck 

advocates collaborations with artists from different 

backgrounds and forms of art, suggesting that they can 

enrich our tradition by exposing it to different artistic 

mediums (Carman and Cappelle, 2014). A successful 

example of such a collaboration is Alonzo King’s work 

with non-theatrical groups such as Shaolin Monks, which 

consistently attracts audiences (Schnell, 2014). 

Choreographer Alastair Marriott on the other hand 

intentionally leans into relationships with designers to 

enhance the impact of his works. Generally, he advises to 

work with people that are constructive collaborators to 

enable mutual artistic freedom. That way, “if a 

collaboration works really well, they do it better than 

what you asked.” 


ARTISTIC DIRECTORS 

The Artistic Director holds power to determine a company’s relevance by making 

key creative decisions (Schnell, 2014). Therefore, as a choreographer, Alastair 

Marriott calls for openness and trust from Directors. In his experience, innovative 

ideas sometimes don’t make it past a first meeting, and says: “You kind of rely on 

someone trusting you and giving you that leeway to create.” In order to facilitate 

that ‘leap of faith’ and give directors a clear vision of his concepts, he prepares 

proposals with images similar to a design portfolio. 

Moving to a broader view on the role of directorship, Marriott further points to 

Ninette de Valois’ approach. “When people brought in ballets like Les Noces, for 

years the audience hated it and Dame Ninette de Valois just said, ‘It's good for 

them, we need to educate them, this is a fantastic ballet.’ By the time I was last 

performing Les Noces, the audiences loved it. And I can't imagine if it never existed 

anymore.” Even though he acknowledges that changes to the administration of 

ballet companies have geared the way decisions are made towards financial and 

press considerations, his view encourages artistic directors to take risks. He urges 

directors to make decisions based on artistic taste and conviction. In his words, “we 

have to remember that it is also art, and not just entertainment. So value is not just 

in money terms. I think strong leadership would help that on every part.” 

BOARDS OF DIRECTORS 

In any large institution, Boards of Directors are powerful actors in determining the 

future direction and identity of a company. In the dance world, Alastair Marriot 

therefore criticises appointments of people from non-artistic backgrounds to make 

those key artstic decisions. He also highlights internal structural deficits, suggesting 

that “the problem is that some of the people that are controlling [big decisions] are 

either desperate to please critics because their job depends on it or desperate for 

box office.” In this context, Mikko Nissinen, Artistic Director of Boston Ballet, warns 

of the commercialisation of ballet and advocates the continued prioritisation of 

artistic value over popularity or ‘prettiness’ (Carman, 2007). Larger dance 

institutions might decide to take these criticisms as a nudge to reflect on bias and 

conflicts within their own internal structures. 


INDUSTRY 

CHARACTERISTICS 


Can the dance industry} be structured in a wway} 

that enables it to be more socially} relevant?ć 

Which structural hurdles are y}et to be overcome,Ā 

and howw do wwe tackle them today}?ć 

The best things about [the 

dance industry] are fantastic. 

But the worst things about it 

are really bad. Do the two 

cancel out each other? I 

don't think we're there yet, 

and also we shouldn't be 

working to balance. It's not 

like carbon offsetting, it's 

bigger. It needs to be a 

global conversation. 

– Richard Bermange 


CAREER PATHWAYS 

The ballet industry features a highly streamlined career path from a school to a 

vocational programme to a junior commpany through the ranks of a professional 

company. Falling out of this pattern can leave artists struggling to find progression 

or employment. Leaders today are encouraged to be more open to seeing the value 

of alternative approaches to career progression. Richard Bermange for example 

highlights the self-leadership skills that come with a freelance mode of working, as 

well as the ability to step out of an institutional practice and be objective about it. 

Reflecting on her own journey, Katy Sinnadurai believes that having had a break 

from the ballet world enabled her to return to it with fresh eyes that were more 

aware of the needs of novel audiences. Now, this view inspires her choreographic 

work in the studio, where she says she ‘will always come back to the fact that the 

vast majority of the audience is not in the ballet world.’ In this sense, hiring 

departments and the decision-making criteria underpinning their decisions are 

challenged to consider unconventional career journeys as just as valuable and rich 

in their testimony to an individual’s abilities as more straightforward paths. 

INSTITUTIONS 

'Ballet' on a national scale is dominated by mid- to large-scale companies. In 

comparison to the contemporary dance scene, it has a much smaller freelance and 

pop-up scene. However, those kind of structures offer valuable impulses for 

connecting with society and exploring alternative modes of performance. 


INSTITUTIONS CASE STUDY 

McNicol Ballet Collective 

Andrew McNicol recently founded his own compay McNicol Ballet Collective. It is 

committed to new creations and takes a more project-style approach to producing 

as opposed to full seasons presented by established companies. He describes 

several benefits of this format: It allows him to work with different teams for 

different production ideas as opposed to having the same creatives tackling 

different concepts. This ensures variety and excellence for each new project. At the 

same time, the absence of the large infrastructure, administration and logistics of 

traditional companies gives him more freedom to re-invent the company for every 

production. He describes it as ‘a blank canvas’ that ‘remains a very agile, very 

responsive to what's happening’. 

McNicol sees his company as ‘a complimentary initiative that sits well alongside 

large companies’, mimicking pop-up projects often seen in the contemporary dance 

scene that make the larger dance ecology more dynamic. Creative talent with a 

classical background is encouraged to explore these alternative frameworks for 

their own practice. 


PSYCHOLOY 

Schnell (2014) suggests that ballet practitioners’ statistically low self-esteem builds 

an industry-wide lack of self-confidence. This supposedly gives the discipline an 

uncertain place in the 21st century and fuells a relevance debate the art form does 

not need. Whilst many companies today already offer thorough sports psychology 

support, this criticism might make us reflect on the importance of wider mental 

health programmes, education and training. 


EQUALITY & DIVERSITY 

Relevance fundamentally relies on representativeness, on the ability to reflect and 

embrace social realities. As a predominantly white industry with a strong gender 

imbalance, it is widely acknowledged that ballet needs to take steps to reconcile 

with the diversity of the society it functions in. In fact, Benjamin Millepied, former 

Artistic Director of the Paris Opera Ballet, is convincedd that increasing diversity in 

ballet companies will allow audiences to relate to the art more (Carman and 

Cappelle, 2014). 

Madeleine Onne speaks about positive experiences of being valued as equal to men 

in the industry and rejects critics’ view of old-fashioned industry standards. Even 

though there might be a perception and practice of equality – more research is 

needed here – the industry displays structural gender imbalances in statistical 

terms. Sara Mearns, Principal Dancer with NYCB, suggests to solve these by 

encouraging more women into positions of directorship and choreography (Carman 

and Cappelle, 2014). 

Beyond gender, Dominic Antonucci reminds us of the importance of ethnic diversity 

within a company strucure, pointing out that having company members from all 

over the world at Birmingham Royal Ballet makes the very act of performing on the 

stage with that group of people in itself relevant and more able to reach a modern 

audience. Mikko Nissinen, Artistic Director of Boston Ballet, supports this saying 

that multiculturalism is an important step in bringing ballet into the 21st century 

(Carman, 2007). Madeleine Onne agrees, advocating increasing diversity from the 

stage to the teachings, to be attractive to a multicultural society. She points out 

that “if we start now, we will see the results in 10 to 20 years. And that I think is a 

challenge, which we really have to dive into. It's not going to solve itself.” To 

address the challenge, Bermange stresses the importance of positive discrimination 

at the youth and engagement level to battle structural inequalities and path 

dependencies. For him, this means that “at the bottom level, we're creating an 

uneven playing field at the beginning, so that then as we progress through the 

system, it becomes more level at the top. If we're looking at the top level of the art 

form, we need to invest in that level down.” He highlights that with positive 

discrimination, artistic considerations should nontheless remain an important part 

of any decision, so as not to hire someone just because they posess a protected 

characteristic. 


SECTION III 


CHAśLLENGES 

It is hoped that the above presented list of resources, food 

for thought and ideas can make a practical contribution to 

increasing ballet’s continued relevance in the 21st century 

and thus preserve, celebrate and evolve this unique form of 

art. It does however have to be acknowledged that this 

report does not neither constitute an exhaustive approach to 

ballet’s continued relevance, nor one that is perfect: All 

pathways to modernisation come with an inherent risk of 

failure. Andrew McNicol makes it very clear that ‘there is no 

recipe’. In his own work, he often notices a discrepancy 

between how a work is perceived in the studio and how it 

presents on stage, and warns that it is not always possible to 

ensure that something will translate well to to the audience. 

Beyond that inherent creative risk of failure, this section lists 

remaining challenges in the views presented thus far, as well 

as wider hurdles to the continued relevance of classical 

ballet. 


Short-sighted Success 

When thinking about innovative formats, productions and collaborations, 

Madeleine Onne warns of short-sighted events. Whilst it is great to attract new 

audiences through out-of-the-box thinking, she reminds us that it is important 

to consider whether audiences might not only come for a one-off ‘happening’. 

Political Correctness 

Contemplating how contents and storytelling are established in the creative 

process, Alastair Marriott mentions wokeism and the censorship and fear that it 

can bring to arts. He says: ‘Art is about politics in a way, but it's a reflection of 

the world we live in and we don't live in utopia. (..) I think art is about struggle. 

So I worry about censorship and trying to undercurrent political messages sent 

from up there.” Rather, he sees the role of ballet as a mirror to society, 

suggesting: “Humans naturally fail. So I think we have to reflect that and if it 

produces a conversation, isn't that good?” 

Effort-Reward Ratio 

Crystal Costa addresses wider structures in society when she criticises the gap in 

the attribution of wealth amongst high-quality professionals. In spite of the high 

amount of dedication, training and specilisation required to become a ballet 

dancer, wages in the dance industry fall significantly below other sports 

professions as well as other highly specialised professions, for example in the 

legal field. Taking this line of thought towards the future, Madeleine Onne is 

concerned about the next generation’s willingness to undergo thorough training 

in the face of quick alternatives to earn money, for example on TikTok. 


In spite of many remaining challenges and unknowns, and at the inherent risk of 

unsuccess, all creatives in the dance industry are encouraged to explore and 

experiment with the tools and ideas presented – and will hopefully discover 

insights and unlock impacts extending far beyond this report. 


AśBOUT THE AśUTHOR 

MIRJAM S. OTTEN, BA AKC 

As a creative, Mirjam was professionally trained in classical 

ballet at Gymnasium Essen-Werden with The Folkwang 

University of the Arts, Essen; as well as the Royal Danish Ballet 

and the Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet in St. Petersburg. 

Today, she is an established freelance artist, and regularly has 

the pleasure of working with some of the most highly renowned 

performers and creators in the international dance community. 

As an academic, Mirjam is a King’s College London graduate 

with a first-class BA Hons degree in Economics and Geography. 

She spent the second year of her degree at SciencesPo Paris, 

studying social sciences. Subsequently, she worked at 

University College London for three years, contributing to stateof-the-art 

research at the forefront of social change. 

Mirjam takes great joy in combining her artistic and academic 

experience to produce innovative interdisciplinary work. She 

particularly uses her background in social sciences and 

academic research to generate insights that can serve the 

creative economy. In this, she strives to cultivate a performing 

arts sector that is modern, relevant and engaging with society. 


I would like to say thank you to everyone who contributed to 

this project and helped bring it to fruition. My profound 

gratitude — 

Acknowledgements 

To NRW Kultursekretariat for making this research possible 

through the Dance Research programme. Particularly to Mara 

Nedelcu for the way in which she helped me overcome 

uncertainties and helped realise this project in new ways. To 

the entire administrative team for their patience and 

flexibility. To the leadership for their trust in my vision and 

abilities. 

To all interview partners and the people who facilitated these 

encounters behind the scenes: 

To Madeleine Onne, Lilli Dahlberg and The Finnish National 

Ballet. 

To Dominic Antonucci and The Birmingham Royal Ballet as 

well as Clair Chamberlain at Bread & Butter PR. 

To Alastair Marriott as well as Tobias Round at The Round 

Company. 

To Andrew McNicol and McNicol Ballet Collective. 

To Katy Sinnadurai and Brecon Festival Ballet. 

To Richard Bermange and English National Ballet Youth 

Company. 

To Crystal Grace Costa. 

To everyone who helped prepare and finalise the research 

behind the scenes. To Bethany-Jane Christian for being my test 

interviewee in the beginning and to Jacob Grimmett for being 

my test reader in the end. 

To everyone who took an interest in the 

project and in contributing to it. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Bourdieu, P. (1992) Language and Symbolic Power. Boston: Harvard University 

Press. 

Brinson, P. (1989) The Role of Classical Ballet in Society Today. Journal of the Royal 

Society of Arts, 137(5399), 693–703. 

Calhoun, C. (2016) La importancia de Comunidades imaginadas y de Benedict 

Anderson. Debats, 130(1), 11–17. 

Carman, J. and Cappelle, L. (2014) What Ballet Needs Next. Pointe, 15(2), 46–47. 

Carman, J. (2007) Beyond Ballet Bashing. Dance Magazine, 81(1), 120– 32. 

Castro, I. M. (2018) The Spanish Reception o Le Sacre du Printemps (1913-1936). 

Dance Research, 36(1), 48–66. 

De Valois, N. (1957) The English Ballet. Journal of the Royal Society of Arts, 

105(5016), 962-973. 

Fisher, J. (2003) Nutcracker Nation!: How an Old World Ballet Became a Christmas 

Tradition in the New World. New Haven: Yale University Press. 

Foley, C.E. (1999) [Review of the the publication Securing Our Dance Heritage: 

Issues in the Documentation and Preservation of Dance, by C.J. Johnson and A.F. 

Snyder]. Folk Music Journal, 8(1), 111–114. 

Johnson, C.J. and Snyder, A.F. (1999) Securing Our Dance Heritage: Issues in the 

Documentation and Preservation of Dance. Washington DC: Council on Library and 

Information Resources. Washington. 

Lepecki, A. (2010) The Body as Archive: Will to Re-Enact and the Afterlives of 

Dances. Dance Research Journal, 42(2), 28–48. 

Martin, R. (2011) Is Ballet Dead? Dance Informa Magazine, February 2011 [Online] 

Available from: http://www.danceinforma.com/USA_magazine/2011/02/01/is-balletdead/ 

[Accessed: 29 December 2021] 

McNeill, W.H. (1995) Keeping Together in Time, Dance and Drill in Human History. 

Boston: Harvard University Press. 

Moncusí Ferré, A. (2016) ¿Comunidades imaginadas a contracorriente? Límites, 

soberanía y pertenencias, en cuestión. Debats, 130 (1), 19–30. 

Rockwell, J. (2006) Ballet as a Dance Form Some Just Love to Hate. The New York 

Times, 8 August 2006, [Online] Available 

via:https://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/08/arts/dance/08ball.html [Accessed: 5 

January 2022] 


Schnell, A. (2014) Ballet’s Cultural Relevance in the 21st Century: The Artistic 

Director’s Perspective. [Master’s thesis, Drexel University]. iDEA: Drexel Libraries E- 

Repository and Archives. 

Scholl, T. (1994) From Petipa to Balanchine: Classical Revival and the Modernization 

of Ballet. London: Routledge. 

Segal, L. (2006) 5 Things I Hate About Ballet. The Los Angeles Times, 6 August 2006 

[Online] Available via: https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2006-aug-06-caprimer6-story.html 

[Accessed: 5 January 2022] 

Smith, I. (2012) The Dance Heritage Coalition: Passing on the Vitality of American 

Dance, Dance Chronicle, 35(2), 250-258. 

UNESCO (2021) Lists of Intangible Cultural Heritage. [Online] Available via: 

http://www.unesco.org/culture/ich/index.php?lg=en&pg=00011 [Accessed: 4 

January 2022] 

Wagner, A. (1997) Adversaries of Dance: From the Puritans to the Present. Chicago: 

University of Illinois Press. 

Whatley, S. (2013) The Challenge of the Inter in the Preservation of Cultural 

Heritage; The Intangibility of the Material and Immaterial Dancing Body in 

Performance. In: P. Nesi and R. Santucci, eds. Information Technologies for 

Performing Arts, Media Access, and Entertainment. Berlin: Springer Berlin 

Heidelberg. 


APPENDIX A 

FURTHER READING 

Anderson, Z. (2007) Scottish Ballet’s New Direction, Dancing Times, 97(1164), 24– 

25. 

Bentley, T. (2010) Taking Flight — Book Review ‘Apollo’s Angels - A History of 

Ballet’ by Jennifer Homans. The New York Times, November 26, 2010 [Online] 

Available via: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/28/books/review/Bentley-t.html 

[Accessed: 23 February 2022] 

Boas, F. (1944) The Function of Dance in Human Society. New York: The Boas 

School. 

Deleuze, G. (1991) Bergsonism. H. Tomlison and B. Habberian, transl. New York: 

Zone Books. 

Haskell, A. (1973) Ballet. A Complete Guide To Appreciation: History Aesthetics, 

Ballets, Dancers. London: Penguin Books. 

Homans, J. (2010) Apollo’s Angels - A History of Ballet. London: Granta Books. 

Jordan, S. (2000) Preservation Politics; Dance Revived, Reconstructed, Remade. 

London: Dance Books Ldt. 

Kaiser, M. M. (2008) The Art of the Turnaround. Waltham, Massachusetts: Brandeis 

University Press. 

National Endowment for the Arts (2013) How A Nation Engages With Art: 

Highlights From The 2012 Survey Of Public Participation In The Arts. [Online] 

Available via: https://www.arts.gov/impact/research/publications/how-nationengages-art-highlights-2012-survey-public-participation-arts-sppa 

[Accessed: 23 

February 2022] 

Strum, R. E. (1998) Review—A History of American Opposition To Dance, Dance 

Chronicle, 21:303-316. 


APPENDIX B 

INTERVIEW QUESTIONS 

1. Is it important to keep the classical ballet tradition alive? Why? 

2. In your opinion, is ballet as it is currently practiced and presented successful in 

being relevant for the modern society we live in? Why / why not? 

3. Do you see a tension between preserving this heritage of technique and 

repertoire on the one hand and making sure the modern viewer can still 

connect with it on the other? Please describe the main problems / 

counterpoints. 

4. How do you approach the challenge of keeping the classical ballet tradition 

relevant in your job as [adjusted as relevant]? 

5. What does that mean in the context of [an upcoming production, specific mode 

of working or current project]? How does […] enable you to connect the 

modern viewer with the tradition you are presenting them with? 

6. Are there [other] specific moments, productions or decisions in your career that 

you remember where the approach to the modern audience you describe 

worked out well? 

7. Are there moments you recall where something didn’t work out? 

8. Where do you see yet unrealised fields / initiatives / ideas for connecting with 

society around us? What would you like to see in the future? 

9. Beyond your personal approach, do you see responsibility with other people in 

the creative process to bridge the gap between preserving this heritage and 

keeping it modern at the same time? Who do you think can contribute? 

10. If you had to sum up the things we just talked about: if we as a collective 

industry want to keep ballet relevant to the modern viewer and society, we 

should do these 2 things: 

11. Do you see any risks / negatives / costs in this approach? 

12. As you do your job as [adjusted as relevant], relevance might not be the first 

priority on your mind. Are there things that you consider equally as, or even 

more important for ballet than its relevance to society? 


Credits 

Mirjam S. Otten, BA AKC 

In der Tanzrecherche #40 des NRW Kultursekretariat 

E-mail: mirjam.s.otten(at)gmail.com 

https://www.mirjamotten.net/ 

A grant from NRW KULTURsekretariat — funded by the 

Ministry of Culture and Sciences of the Federal State 

North Rhine-Westphalia. 

© Mirjam S. Otten, BA AKC 2022 

Classical Tradition // Modern Society

Tanzrecherche NRW: Classical Tradition / Modern Society by Mirjam Otten

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