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Sociological Analysis of Dancers and Dance Culture

For this analysis, I chose a long-time passion of mine to write about. I have been a dancer since I

was in the 7th grade, and have found more pleasure in this form of activity than in any other aspect of

my life. There are several things that you can identify a (current) dancer by, in what they carry, what

they listen to, and what they spend their free time doing. I am going to cover the history of dance, my

involvement in this group, and my general observations about this group. Then, I will apply the

sociological theory of functionalism to explore how each part of dance is an interconnected piece of a

whole that works beautifully, organically, and synergistically.

History of Dance

The earliest recorded dancing was

ritualistic. It was an important part of ancient

religion to dance before the religion’s God as a

tribute, and for high priests and priestesses to

reenact or imitate rhythms that were sacred.

Although the ancient Egyptian civilization was

the first recorded to have dance, it is believed

that dance has been around since the beginning

of time as either an act of spirituality, or celebration. (Gascoigne, n.d.)

Next, in the 8th century BC, the Greeks were known to have dance performances at their

temple, as a sacred tribute. Also, dance was performed at the games of Olympia which were

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inaugurated by temple virgins. By the 6th century BC, dance became a centerpiece of Greek theater, and

became a standard for Greek plays.

In a very different part of the world, India had a form of dance in the form of hand movements.

Priestesses in Hindu temples dating back to the 1st Century AD performed precise gestures and hand

movements that held a large spiritual significance, and many of these same movements are still

performed today. (Gascoigne, n.d.)

The types and variations of dance evolved throughout the centuries to form the types of dance

that we know of today (here in the United States); Ballet, Modern, Lyrical, Jazz, Hip-Hop, and Tap. These

are just to name a few of the forms of dance that are practiced, performed, and competed with as forms

of entertainment. Due to the fact that there are hundreds of types of dance that exist throughout the

world, and in several different cultures, there will only be one type of dance I will talk about, which is

Ballet.

Ballet originated in Europe, and is

traced back to the Italian Renaissance

(sometime between the 14th and 16th

Century AD.) It was developed as a type of

entertainment that was used for royalty,

and was also taught to nobility for their

inclusion in the performance. This form of

dance was used in times of celebration and

festivities. In the 16th Century, the noble-

woman turned royalty, Catherine de Medici, who married King Henry II of France, quite enjoyed the art

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of ballet and began funding ballet to be performed in her court. Her elaborate festivals encouraged the

growth of Ballet de Cour, a program that included dance, decor, costume, song, music and poetry.

(Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre, n.d.) About a century later, Louis XIII, son of Marie de Medici performed in

these ballets, thus inspiring his son Louis XIV to perform as well, and starting a royal ballet academy

called Académie Royale de Danse. (Guest & Kant, 2006) This academy of ballet was much more technical

than its origins, and thus began the first technical ballet school.

Up until this point, ballet had been male dominated, and all principal dancers were males. The

first female principal dancer came along in 1681 by the name of Mlle de Lafontaine. She was a French

woman who earned the title “the Queen of Dance.” (The Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica, 2009)

Although there wasn’t much technique or movement for women at this point in time, this was a defining

moment in ballet history.

Lafontaine was a revolutionary in the eyes of ballet, and because of

her, several more women came to dominate the stage as principal dancers,

and technique became standard across the genders. In the early 1800’s

ballerinas overtook the stage, and male dancers had fallen behind due to the

evolution of ballet into “pointe.” Pointe is ballet done on a hard, flat toed

shoe, in which one stands on the tips of their toes to perform ballet

technique. These ballet shoes are still used today by todays ballerinas, and

are now the standard shoe for women to wear in classical ballet

performances.

Since the 1600’s, hundreds of ballets have been created, performed, and used at dance

companies and studios all over the world. Ballet is a unique style of dance in comparison to the other

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types of dance, in that it hasn’t changed in style or technique, (although technique may have been

added to the general ballet repertoire) the only changes that have been made throughout the centuries

is that of costuming. Tutus and ballet tights along with pointe shoes are standard attire for women,

while tights, leotards, and ballet slippers are the standard attire for men.

My History in Dance

Unlike many other dancers (who typically start dancing at the age of 3,) I did not become a

dancer until the age of 11. It all started in the seventh grade when I took my first dance class. The class

was about the technique and history of modern dance. I found it fascinating to learn about this type of

movement that seemed so unusual, yet flowed beautifully out of one’s body as if the body was singing a

song.

Up until this point, I had been involved in many different extracurricular activities such as

Karate, horseback riding, gymnastics, and swimming. And although I had found these things to bring me

pleasure, I had never had the excitement that dance was soon to bring me. It wasn’t until I had been in

dance for a little over a month that I decided that I wanted to branch out of modern dance and try

something new. After begging my parents to enroll me into a dance studio, I was given a well-rounded

dance schedule, and ended up trying out for the junior competition team.

The classes I began taking were Jazz, Tap (which I quit shortly after my first class,) Modern,

Ballet, Hip- Hop and Lyrical. All my dance classes were new and fun to me, presenting a new challenge

that I was excited to begin learning. However, out of all my classes, Ballet presented the biggest

challenge for me. I remember my first class, and thinking that it was so hard that I never wanted to do it

again! Due to my past in gymnastics, I had been taught to hyper extend my back and create an arch that

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forced my ribcage forward, and my pelvis backward in what’s considered a “landing” or “final” position. I

learned very quickly that this was the exact opposite of what proper form was in ballet. I remember the

proper torso form being explained to me as a metal rectangle connecting your hip bones to each other,

your shoulders to each other, and your hips and shoulders in the same line.

After I had been training my body for months in ballet trying to achieve proper turn out from

both my feet, and my hips, and learning to control any torso movement keeping a flat back and an

elongated posture, I really began to enjoy ballet. I ended up switching dance studios to a ballet focused

dance studio, rather than a competition based one, and began to focus on every aspect of ballet.

In this dance studio, I became familiar with other girls in my class who I became close with, and

we became a strong group (both mentally and physically.) We all began pointe class around the same

time, and this helped us to understand the necessities we needed for dance class every day, and every

class. These items included ballet slippers, pointe shoe inserts, (which may be composed of lamb’s

wool, jelly inserts, soft padding, or some other type of toe protectant) hair ties, ballet tights, leotards,

medical tape and band- aids (for your toes if they began to bleed) snacks, and a water bottle. These

things were absolutely necessary for each and every class, or you would find yourself underprepared.

Other things that became second nature to me, and to the other dancers in my class, was when any of

us had free time, you would find us listening to a ballet warm up song, and practicing our technique or

stretching, or rehearsing for an upcoming recital or performance.

Due to my history in dance, I still recognize dancers by the things they carry in their bags (usually

leotards, tights, both flat and pointe shoes, water bottles, etc.) and the music they listen to which

normally includes the songs they’re currently learning dances to, or warm up songs to improve upon

their technique. What I notice a dancer by is how their free time is spent, by rehearsing and practicing to

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make themselves better, and to familiarize themselves with choreography that they must know for an

upcoming performance.

Functionalism of Dance Studios/ Companies

Functionalism places importance on the way a group or society interacts with one another. In

fact, the English philosopher and biologist, Hebert Spence theorized that society functions like a body’s

parts; all of the internal organs must work together to make a healthy and properly functioning body.

(Mooney, Knox, & Schacht, 2007) This sociological perspective is appropriate because the workings of a

dance all must work together to tell the story, the dancers must work together to make the dance, and

the technique must be perfected to come across as being effortless and flawless.

In deconstructing a dance studio/ group’s

inner workings, through a functionalist perspective,

it is common to see dancers stretching, talking

about a choreography, practicing technique or

warming up for class. In each company, or studio

(the only difference being, a studio is being paid for

training dancers, and a company is for professional

dancers being paid for their talents) there are dance classes and warm ups that each class must go

through to improve their technique and keep their form in perfect shape. Each class consists of barre

work (working on flexibility, turn out, extension, and muscular tone) and floor work (which consists of

ballet technique sequences) which are essential to creating the perfect line from head to toe with well-

practiced technique and choreography.

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The dance itself is very rarely a company made ballet, but one that has been around since the

1800’s such as Giselle, the Nutcracker, La Sylphide and Swan Lake to name a few. Each dancer plays a

part in the ballet, consisting of a solo, a pas de deux, (meaning step for two) a trio, a quartet, or the

corps de ballet (meaning ballet body, referring to the entire dance cast performing, usually in unison),

yet all pieces of the dance must work together to tell important parts of the story. (Babylon Translation

Software)

Every step in ballet has a French name that comes from its origins, and there is a name for every

position of the arms, the legs, the bend in the knee or of the ankle, and so on and so forth. And although

this ballet terminology is vast and quite extensive, the knowledge of it creates a sense of unity and

belonging to each member of a studio/ company. In performing these steps, a dancer must (eventually)

reach the proper positioning of the body, that becomes a natural second nature to the performer. And

with practice and dedication, each dancer will become a mirror image of their ballet neighbor, fitting the

mold of the ideal ballet turnout, positioning, extension, etc.

Any group of dancers (at the same skill level) will have the sense of fellowship and acceptance

into the family of ballet dancers due to their performance and knowledge of ballet terminology, making

these dancers as a group interact like a society. This is how functionalism is related, in that “society is a

system of interconnected parts that work together in harmony to maintain a state of balance and social

equilibrium for the whole.” (Mooney, Knox, & Schacht, 2007)

Race, Age and Discrimination of Ballet Dancers

Ballet is a very particular form of dance in that, due to its aristocratic European history, it does

have some historic “requirements” of its dancers. The “ideal” ballerina is small (both in height and

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width) enough to be lifted by her male counterpart in a ballet, and is usually shorter than her partner.

Another unfortunate stereotype of ballet dancers, is that of race. Because of the origination of ballet,

the historically white roles which have been referred to as “lilly- white” of principal dancers has left

many talented African American, Mexican and Asian dancers out of a leading role. Due to this

discrimination, this does leave some widespread repercussions. There have also been many dancers

who may be considered not to have the right athletic figure, or may be considered “big- boned” that

may have been turned down from receiving a prestigious part as well, however this is becoming

something of the past.

A prima ballerina for the American Ballet

Theatre, a prestigious ballet company in New York, by

the name of Gillian Murphy was one of the first to have

worked her way up in a well-known company and to

have been considered “big- boned,” breaking the petit

and delicate stereotype. (Tobias, 2003) There have been

others who have broken the unrealistic “lilly- white”

stereotypes as well, including the famous dancer Misty

Copeland. Misty is a prima ballerina, who was not the

first African American ballerina, but the first to ever

dance for a professional company such as ABT as a

principal dancer, and she has been reforming the ballet industry’s standards since she was hired in 2000.

In 2000, Misty joined the corps de ballet, and in 2007 she became the second African American ballerina

to have ever been hired as a soloist. Then in 2015, the first ever African American in the company’s

history to become a prima ballerina. (Laczo, n.d.)

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Another thing that ballet, and dance in general has put discrimination limitations on, is age. Age

can become an issue if the dancer is too young to perform (as a requirement, a young dancer is usually

at least 3 years old to be taught for a studio) or if the dancer is older than their early 40’s, they may not

be hired to perform for a professional dance company (although adult classes are still offered to any age

group.) The reasoning behind these age specifications is, if the dancer is too young, the young dancer’s

body may not be fully developed enough to start working on building their muscles and working on hip-

flexor turnout. If the dancer is too old, fear and risk of injury increases, but if the dancer is in good

enough shape, a ballet company will usually not discriminate against excellent form and technique.

However, all in all, the decision is left up to the company/ studio to make.

Conclusion

Ballet is an art form that has been around for centuries, and has seen multiple variations of

dances that have arisen out of each time period, yet with the same technique defining each dance

making it easily recognizable as ballet. Each step has a French term that originated from the 1500s in

which ballet came about, and each step and technique has stayed the same since its origination, with

variations only existing in which way steps are combined with technique in whatever order a

choreographer may choose.

In this form of dance, ballet is evolving to become a non- discriminatory art form which does not

exclude people based on their race, body type, nor age, as long as one’s technique and ability to

perform are in company acceptable condition. However, ballet’s originations did not allow such things.

The industry’s standards for ballerinas continues to evolve, accepting more and more body types, races,

and continually growing to break away from being stereotypical. There are more African American

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dancers, along with other races than there ever have been, and this type of influence on ballet has

become overwhelmingly positive in its results.

As a functionalist society, a group of dancers while performing, or even just practicing or

rehearsing, has a key factor that each person contributes. Each person has a solo, or dance with another

person(s) that incorporates a piece of the story, yet interweaves a portion that is vital to the whole like

an organ to the body. In which each person, although potentially doing something vastly different than

what other members of the cast do, has their part that becomes just as important as the dance as a

whole. This is what makes ballet dancers a family, they work on themselves becoming better, making

the group better, making the organism whole, and making the ballet a synergistic perfection.

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References

Babylon Translation Software. (n.d.). Translation. Retrieved November 30, 2016, from http://translation.babylon-software.com/english/pas de deux/

Gascoigne, B. (n.d.). History of Dance. Retrieved November 30, 2016, from http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/PlainTextHistories.asp?historyid=ab82

Guest, I., & Kant, M. (2006, October 26). Ballet. Retrieved November 30, 2016, from https://www.britannica.com/art/ballet

Mooney, Knox, & Schacht. (2007). Understanding Social Problems (5th ed.). Retrieved November 30, 2016, from https://laulima.hawaii.edu/access/content/user/kfrench/sociology/The Three Main Sociological Perspectives.pdf

Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre. (n.d.). A Brief History of Ballet. Retrieved November 30, 2016, from http://www.pbt.org/community-engagement/brief-history-ballet

The Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica. (2009, August 20). La Fontaine. Retrieved November 30, 2016, from https://www.britannica.com/biography/La-Fontaine

Tobias, T. (2003, August 13). The Ballerina — A Swan Song? Retrieved December 6, 2016, from http://www.artsjournal.com/tobias/2003/08/the_ballerina_a_swan_song.html

Laczo, L. (n.d.). Discover Misty's Journey- About. Retrieved December 6, 2016, from http://mistycopeland.com/about/

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