Which is the preferred Ballet style?
from Wendy (South Africa)Wendy's question: Regarding the Ballet World Cup: In the childrens section, are classical or demi character dances preferred?
Bill's answer: This is a question that I have been waiting for in "Ask The President," because in many disciplines it is a major concern.
Using Wendy's question as a base, we have many variations of what is considered "Ballet":
- Classical
- Contemporary
- Soft Shoe
- Hard Toe
- Pointe (toe shoes)
How do we judge one against the other and the answer is quite simple: EXECUTION or PERFORMANCE! Not one type of discipline is better than the other. If a dancer dances a beautiful "Chinese Dance" (demi-character) from the
Nutcracker its PERFORMANCE value needs to be judges against the performance value of a pas deux from Swan Lake, (classical) of course PERFORMANCE or EXECUTION would be the final judgement.
In a nutshell, whichever performs the best will prevail.