skip to main content
 

Ballet Going Global

By Jenny Stevenson and Dr. Tania Kopytko

RNZB

Classical Ballet is one of the premier elite art forms being practised in the world today. For a dancer to achieve success in this fi eld, it is accepted that training must commence early and be rigorous - involving countless hours of selfpractice that require a steely dedication. Only the most determined can ever become the chosen “athletes of God” as Albert Einstein so rightly called them - in the full knowledge that it is not only technique that makes a dancer, but also the ability to dance from the heart, drawing the audience in, to experience emotion at a very high level. 

In examining the last two decades of ballet in New Zealand, major factors have had an impact on the world of ballet in this country; globalisation, the influence of contemporary dance and a broadening out of approaches to dance.Globalisation, led by developments in information technology, communications and easy travel, has changed the nature of ballet companies. In the last 20 years the Royal New Zealand Ballet (RNZB) has been led by four Artistic Directors from very different international backgrounds - Ashley Killar, Matz Skoog, Gary Harris and Ethan Stiefel - all contributing to direction and repertoire that has taken the company forward to hold its own outside the confines of this island nation. 

Read the full article (Iss. 34)Ballet Going Global

Ballet going Global

 
 
+ Text Size -