Dance has become increasingly visible within contemporary culture: just think of reality TV shows featuring this art form. This shift brings the ballet body into renewed focus. Historically both celebrated and critiqued for its thin, flexible, and highly feminized aesthetic, the ballet body now takes on new and complex meanings at the intersections of performance art, popular culture, and fitness. The Evolving Feminine Ballet Body provides a local perspective to enrich the broader cultural narratives of ballet through historical, socio-cultural, political, and artistic lenses, redefining what many consider to be "high art." Scholars in gender studies, folklore, popular culture, and cultural studies will be interested in this collection, as well as those involved in the dance world.
Contributors: Kelsie Acton, Marianne I. Clark, Kate Z. Davies, Lindsay Eales, Pirkko Markula, Carolyn Millar, Jodie Vandekerkhove Seven essays discuss both the local perspective and the broader cultural narratives of contemporary ballet. Notes, bibliography, index "Editors and contributors examine perceptions of femininity through the magnifying lens of classical dance. They are not ballet critics; they number dancers, instructors and sociologists. Yet the conclusions are stark.... "The Evolving Feminine Ballet Body" is fresh and compelling." [Full article at https://www.blacklocks.ca/book-review-what-our-daughters-see/] "In this unique text, Markula and Clark have edited a collection of essays that explore the transformation of the ballet body alongside an inquiry into the history and meaning of ballet. In addition to being dancers themselves, the contributors are scholars from a range of backgrounds, including gender studies, occupational therapy, and kinesiology.... Of particular interest is the book's emphasis on the different ways ballet dancers experience their bodies.... A fascinating work." C. Hauff, CHOICE Magazine, November 2018 "… for dance research coming from outside a dance studies context, the dance expertise of these authors grounds the work, giving it additional credence. … Here, 'evolving' refers to certain specific and contextual mediatizations and negotiations of this oft-celebrated and sometimes vilified 'feminine ballet body' in decidedly contemporary contexts." Acknowledgements
Preface
Introduction - Pirkko Markula and Marianne I. Clark
I Ballet in the Contemporary Media
1 Reading the Ballet Body in Children's Fiction - Kate Z. Davies
2 So You Think You Can Dance: The Feminine Ballet Body in a Popular Reality Show - Pirkko Markula
3 Ballet-Inspired Workouts: Intersections of Ballet and Fitness - Pirkko Markula and Marianne I. Clark
II Lived Experiences of Ballet in Contemporary Culture
4 Multiple Bodies: In the Studio with Adolescent Ballet Dancers - Marianne I. Clark
5 "Moving for Pleasure": The Positive Experiences of Ballet Dancers Moving into Recreational Contemporary Dance - Carolyn Millar
6 At the Barre: Ethical Training for Beginner Ballet Class - Jodie Vandekerkhove
7 Ballet for All Bodies? Tensions in Teaching Ballet Technique within an Integrated Dance Context - Kelsie Acton and Lindsay Eales
Conclusion - Pirkko Markula and Marianne I. Clark
Contributors
Index
