I have to ask, what is artistic fulfillment in dance? Because it doesn't seem to be the same for other art forms. Dancers feel fulfilled when they complete triple pirouettes flawlessly or when they get to do an emilianovich, staying in the air all the way through. But is that artistic? Isn't that a skill you practice over and over until you get it right?
There is a very fine line between what is artistic and what is acrobatic. What is art and what is entertainment? What is art and what is spectacle? Of course, we first have to ask - what is art, in the first place? It is so dangerous to attempt a definition. I used to think, art is what moves you. Now that's dangerous as well. For example, when I first saw the woman with no arm and her partner with no leg in that pas de deux together, I found it hilarious. Now, people are forwarding the clip and posting it up on Facebook as so inspiring, so moving. It almost made me feel bad that I laughed at it before.
Almost.
Coming from a show by somebody who argued with me about artistic fulfillment, I find the need to stop and try to define "artistic fulfillment" first. What does this mean to a dancer? Dancers do not create the choreography, but we add in our little things. Some of us perfect the steps - we are then called virtuosic. Some of us inject so much of ourselves into the steps that we become one with the steps, that we become the dance. However, I don't think these dancers would go out and say, "I am artistically fulfilled." That would be too weird.
Instead, dancers say they are artistically fulfilled when they find themselves dancing at the company of their choice or working with a particular choreographer, or when they are given their dream role, or when they complete their 32 fouettes, or when they are bowing to a standing ovation and the moment is so big that tears just stream down their face. It has become a general catch-all phrase. And it has nothing to do with artistry, except that they are dancing.
I guess I just want to pick a fight. I'm crazy like that.
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1 comment:
i think artistic fulfillment in dance means that one is able to find oneself master of his/her body and movements in relation to one's soul. Maybe it is when the dancer ceases to just be the color/material of a creator but in essence, is the whole painting.
Sorry if this is too convoluted...I just came upon your blog and thought I'd just share a primary belief of mine. Thank you for writing about this.
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