Dancing is poetry composed of arms and legs -Theophile Gautier
One of the Odeon's patrons is said to be Theophile Gautier, a poet and lover of the ballet. He was an influential critic of the Romantic movement, and the first notable ballet critic in the history of dance. As such, he was largely responsible for effecting changes in the perception and performance of dance, helping to launch the "golden age" of ballet, in which ballet began to evolve from mere displays of technique into a dramatic and expressive art form.
The Romantic era revolved around five ballerinas: Marie Taglioni, Fanny Elssler, Carlotta Grisi, Fanny Cerrito, and Lucile Grahn. Together, they represent both the focus and expanse of the romantic aesthetic for dance. Taglioni, for example, who was the first to dance "sur les pointes", embodied the mystical side of Romanticism, while Elssler, who stayed closer to the ground, was considered pagan and sensual.
Many of the qualities Gautier applauded in ballet have close parallels to what was seen and liked by the audience of the 1827 Hamlet.
Breaking away from classicism
Gautier admired naturalness and simplicity of expression, as well as the use of mime. Deirdre Priddin, historian, calls him "the first apostle of the so-called "modern" or "free" dance, whose ideal seemed to be "a Taglioni with the points of a La Fuoco, the impassioned mime of an Elssler, and the suppleness of a professional acrobat, the whole aided by the use of a springboard" (51) - a far jump from the usual formality of ballet.
Emphasis on the visual
For Gautier, visual pleasure was the only one possible for ballet. He often compared dance to friezes or statues, viewing it more as a pointing than as movement. Physical beauty was a prerequisite for the ballerina, as it was for actresses: "It must not be forgotten that the first condition required in a dancer is beauty; she has no excuse for not being beautiful, and she can be blamed for her plainness as an actress can be blamed for her bad pronunciation." (20)
Idolization of female stars
Gautier was a significant factor in the growing idolization of ballerina stars, by focusing his criticism on the leading dancer and not on the ballet as a whole. As a result, male dancers were rendered as clumsy, unattractive objects on stage, and the corps de ballet was deprived of all personality, so as not to detract from the ballerina. Gautier says of the corps, "A few pretty faces and some nice legs would not be amiss in the corps de ballet. It would be easy to find girls who dance as badly but who are less unsightly." Priddin calls this philosophy "the origin of the general prejudice against the morality and intelligence of dancers."(43)
In 1841, Gautier wrote a libretto for a ballet, creating the role of Giselle for Carlotta Grisi. Giselle has been called "the Hamlet of ballet," and the character Giselle is similar to Ophelia: deceived by the man she loved, she goes mad and dies. Giselle is still performed today, and interpreting the famous "mad scene" has been a hallmark in the careers of several 20th century ballerinas.Click here for more information about Gautier and Giselle.
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The "mad scene" from Giselle with various modern ballerinas. Note the long, unkempt hair and extreme hand gestures that characterize the hysterical madness that the character Ophelia has come to represent. (See Psychology).
