Again, I feel that these questions are subject to the artist's/choreographers interpretation. Certainly, Shakespearean plays, in the theatre world, have been set in may different time periods, and have undergone a WIDE variety of interpretations. Dance should be no different. Wouldn't life be boring if we always saw the same ballets done the same way? For example, here in Seattle, at Pacific NW Ballet: our Nutracker is done with Maurice Sendak sets and costumes, and is very humorous, almost cartoonish at times. the audiences LOVE it. The New York City Ballet does a more "traditional" Nut, with a growing Christmas tree. Both versions are valid, enjoyable, though very different. When a choreographere wanders into the realm of love, it's the same idea, in my opinion. The artist has their vision, which they are obligated, indeed impelled, to present. The audiene can then decide what "works" or doesn't work, for them.

<small>[ 07 May 2003, 02:27 PM: Message edited by: trina ]</small>

I would say that the Seattle PNB audience just is not ready for nudity in Ballet, though there are smaller dance groups on Capital Hill ( Seattles Edgy area ) which do have modern pieces with nudity.
In dance, nudity will nearly always be somewhat sexually provocative, which by itself is not such a bad thing, but I think that most American audiences at a classical ballet company would have some difficulty with it, and i am not sure the dancers would be thrilled either. I think it could end up being too controversial for most typical regional companies and would likely cost them subscribers, so would probably be a bad economic move on the companies part.
That being said, dancer's bodies are beautiful, and watching a world class dancer dance like this is pretty special.

Mom's issue doesn't seem to be so much with the nudity per se, but with unexpected nudity in the face of young ballet fans.

Imagine we were having a conversation about "nudity in movies" and whether or not it is gratuitous. Movie ratings have taken care of this problem. Go to an R rated movie, and nudity shouldn't be a surprise. Take your kid to a PG movie, and you'll be deeply offended if there was nudity anyway.

Whatever you think of nudity, whether or not it's in a clasic, whether or not it was artistically justified, this is a valid concern for any parent. A little bit of pre-season disclosure regarding nudity could sove this problem for ballet as well as for movies.

Citibob,

I think you've come to the heart of the matter. The school need not make a large deal of it either, even a quiet word to parents when a "student rush" ticket is sold would suffice. We usually purchase rush tickets, as most parents don't have subscriptions.

It's not financially practical or feasible for many parents of young dancers to buy subscriptions to the ballet season if our girls and boys can't attend the performances. Some of us recognize this sad fact, and appease our consciences by donating to the school's endowment fund. But let's be realistic, most people don't do that. So the result is that these parents don't have an appealing way to finance ballet companies beyond the tuition payments.

It would be great if Artistic Directors and the staff of their respective ballet schools collaborated to offer some kind of "family subscription" for thier students. Not all ballets in the season need be included (hopefully most would be .

The companies/schools would have a new revenue stream, parents of enthusiastic young dancers could rest easy, and a new core of ballet patrons could be developed.

<small>[ 08 May 2003, 11:11 AM: Message edited by: Mom_of_dancer ]</small>

Here's a new angle - told off for NOT being nude:

Anger over lack of dancing nudes
By Nigel Reynolds for The Daily Telegraph

A theatregoer who was shocked that a performance by a leading dance company contained no nudity has had a complaint upheld by the Advertising Standards Authority.

A leaflet advertising two performances by Phoenix Dance Theatre at London's Sadler's Wells contained photographs of naked performers leaping through the air.

click for more

We often promote one show with pictures from the previous. It would be a royal pain / impractical / expensive to have to use current photos all the time.

A question - is this good or bad publicity for the Company? For all you voyeurs out there, this article has an image of the brochure under discussion.

Fan's dismay over 'not naked' dancers
From the BBC website.


A theatre-goer left disappointed after expecting to see a show's naked dancers has had a complaint upheld by the advertising watchdogs.
He was annoyed when he spotted a leaflet for the performance by the Leeds-based Phoenix Dance Theatre.

In the black and white photograph - promoting the troupe's performance at London's Sadler's Wells Theatre - a man was shown leaping from the ground, with his back to the camera and a woman is curled into a ball and looking at the man.

The complainant told the Advertising Standards Authority, the leaflet was misleading "because the images did not resemble the actual performance".

click for more

I don't think it's bad publicity; in that case it's good publicity.

I'd forgotten that CriticalDance faced a similar decision on exposure and we came clean with our public (see the image caption):

http://forum.criticaldance.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=16;t=000507;p=2#000031

<small>[ 02 July 2003, 04:53 PM: Message edited by: Stuart Sweeney ]</small>

Wow! Imagine the size of this story if it was in our backyard. On the surface, it sounds like truly brutal treatment.

Sofia's Ballet Prima Donna Loses Contact over Playboy Session
From novinate.com

The Sofia Opera did not renew the contract of its ballet prima donna Masha Ilieva allegedly pinched by her Playboy photo session.

The contract that expires every year on June 30 was automatically renewed last year. For two years, Ilieva is the art director of the ballet company and one of the few dancing directors in the world.

click for more

For comparison, Bulgarians have only around 25% of the purchasing power of the European Union average.

<small>[ 05 July 2003, 07:05 AM: Message edited by: Stuart Sweeney ]</small>

Actually this article brings up a very interesting topic. An artistic director posing nude in Playboy for the good of her company. I'm having trouble imaging Peter Martins doing the same thing.

I'm glad I can't imagine Martins doing that.

Hmm, do you think that strategy might work on CD.com? I'm thinking of an overhaul of our policy for the frontpage photo...

I'm available.

A related topic?