I was a t a recent competition and it seems to me like every dance I see has power moves, tricks, flashy steps , and useless meanless steps. Now these steps i.e fuentes( hope it's spelled right), kick turns, and excessive leaps are nice to look at when done right, but they rarely are, and it just seems like they are all required. What ever happened to telling a story, expressing the artists thouhgts, or even better telling your story? Come on be original. That is what I like to watch.

Hello, tufli, welcome. Now, imagine what would happen if dance became an Olympic sport:

Ballet at the Olympics...?

You might also be interested in these threads:

competitive ballet???

Dance Competitions

The Faces of Competition

Dance Competitions (another)

Competition to the Detriment of the Intent of the Choreographer?

betraying dance

Eurovision Young Dancers competition

Gee, I didn't realize the issue of competitions is such a hot topic in the forum.

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<small>[ 08-11-2002, 05:54: Message edited by: salzberg ]</small>

Welcome to the board Tufli - it's great to have you join us. <P> Do you mean fouettés? I agree with you. In many ways dance, either in competition, or on stage has assumed the aspects of a sport.<P>But, there are many of us who still enjoy - look for - a story, artistry, subtlety in dance. I find that many of the younger dancers/students are almost consumed by the height of their extensions, or the shape of their feet. And it bothers me, it truly does.<P>Do you have any suggestions of what could be done to help alleviate this problem?

I agree with those who favour artistry and expression over mere technique. However, you don't have to have a story to have expression. Some non-narrative pieces have far more emotional power than the 19th C. spectacle ballets like 'Le Corsaire', which for me is a series of divertissements linked together with the direst of stories.

The recent Eurovision Young Dancer competition was notable as there was a lot of expressive dancing on show. Interestingly it was the new choreogrpahy where this was to the fore as opposed to the classical pieces. Here's our topic where this contest is discussed:

http://forum.criticaldance.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=17&t=000041

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<small>[ 08-11-2002, 05:57: Message edited by: salzberg ]</small>

Playing devil's advocate here..(this is how I get into a lot of trouble, but here goes anyway)....<P>Suppose we take a pirouette - at what point does it become meaningless? A single pirouette can denote many things - within the characterization of a role, or to express the music, it can be fast or slow.<P>But how about beyond a single rotation? Assuming it is within the context of the music, at what point - at how many rotations - does it get to be "meaningless"?

Dance as a sport? Why not? It's physical and emotional work, you are constantly trying to perfect your skill/game. Dance as an Art? Why not? It expresses the hidden language of the soul. It is one thing to have a triple turn to accent a beat, and another to have them every other eight count. Yes you do want to show off your movements and what you worked hard for all year, but when all you see is power moves every dance begins to look the same, and no one remembers your unique style. Kind of like this whole pop music. Every boyband starts to look the same.