`If I see another Black Swan pas-de-deux I will kill myself," was putting it fairly bluntly. Yet when Roy Galvin bemoaned the prevalence of the "Ballet Spectacular" in a 1994 article in Dance News Ireland he gave voice to the frustration of many. Year after year, the Bolshoi and Kirov ballet companies were performing divertissement programmes of short favourites and never offered full-length productions from their ballet repertory.
Six years on, we are afflicted by another scourge: the yearly Nutcracker production coupled with another Tchaikovsky ballet. This year the Russian Stanislavski Ballet is offering Swan Lake with The Nutcracker in Dublin's Point Theatre. With its popular child-friendly Christmas theme, The Nutcracker is performed by most major ballet companies at this time of year, a sure-fire way of generating extra income to balance the less commercial productions during the year.
The so-called "Russian Ballet Spectacular" at the Point, however is a one-off (until next year) so we won't have the opportunity of enjoying other productions during the year. It is also unashamedly commercial. "The answer for all your Christmas entertainment problems," the publicity roars. "A perfect opportunity for both corporate entertainment and individuals looking for a Christmas treat for family and friends."
Ballet does indeed make good corporate entertainment and The Nutcracker is the perfect middle-class panto. You can dress your children up, enjoy a refined performance free of the coarseness of traditional panto and, with ticket prices from £20 to £45, be assured that you'll be mixing with the right social class. In Ballet Beyond Borders Helena Wulff writes: "Because of historical and contemporary connections to European court milieux and high strata in Western society ballet is perceived as `high culture', even as an elite pastime."
The problem is that ballet is more than an elite pastime, but that is a very difficult argument to make in Ireland when the yardstick is a commercial venture "for all the family". Worldwide, ballet is thriving. Faced with perennial funding crises, most international companies are still managing to revise and update repertory. Many historic works have been reconstructed by dance historians and new choreographers are continually emerging. Ballet International magazine recently included a series of articles on "Innovation in Ballet" featuring choreographers who are pushing the boundaries of form and vocabulary. Drawing on examples from all over the world, it convincingly challenged the notion of ballet as a stagnant artform.
Yet audiences in Ireland continue to devour the lollipop programmes at the expense of more interesting productions. And as long as the divertissements and spectaculars are served up, it is less likely these companies will ever visit. Also, with RTE providing the National Symphony Orchestra for the yearly Point performances, the likelihood of another company securing its services at any other time of the year is slim.
The Belfast Festival remains the only beacon, programming visiting companies in full-length works with the Ulster Orchestra. Crucially it has a suitable venue in the Grand Opera House which provides a more empathetic environment than The Point.
But leaving aside the need for an opera house, there is maybe a more fundamental problem with ballet in Irish culture. Have we still got post-colonial hang-ups about a form of dance associated with the ruling classes? We only speak of ballet with pride when we talk of Yeats and de Valois in the Abbey. The element of "Irishness" is crucial. Musing on the notion of an Irish ballet company, Patrick Murray (former director of Irish National Ballet) said: "It should be Irish composers and Irish choreographers doing something that means something to us."
Successive policy statements by the Arts Council refer to ballet and contemporary dance reflecting the heritage of traditional dance. Yet if we straightjacket ballet (or contemporary dance) with the limits of our own imagination we suffocate its true power of expression. A broader perspective is needed and the richness and variety of European practices should be absorbed with the same vigour as in other artforms.
If we are to honestly grapple with ballet and connect with it, then we need to move beyond corporate culture. Productions based on artistic rationales need to replace those based on commercial rationales. Most importantly, we need to question our own motivation in attending Tchaikovsky's ballets. By moving beyond the social trappings and middle-class values and engaging directly with the power of the dance, we can develop a hunger that can be sated only by other, fresher ballet offerings.
The Russian Stanislavski Ballet will be performing Swan Lake and The Nutcracker at the Point Theatre from December 14th to 17th.
Reponses welcome on e-mail at commentbox@irish-times.ie; responses may be published, with the author's permission, from time to time
