BALLET IS HAVING A SUMMER MOMENT
From Timmy’s comments that tanked his Oscar hopes to Rosalia donning pointe shoes for her live concert, ballet seems to be having a moment.
From Timmy’s comments that tanked his Oscar hopes to Rosalia donning pointe shoes for her live concert, ballet seems to be having a moment. The most recent manifestation of this is in Olivia Rodrigo’s music video for ‘Stupid Song’ from her latest album You Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl So in Love; an album that perfectly encapsulates the trajectory impossible young love that inevitably unravels. The sound aesthetic that is tinged with nostalgia and celebrates the music of artists like The Cure, Liz Phair and other alternative rock and emo of that ilk, truly has scratched an itch for a closet grunge-lover like me.
Rodrigo’s concept for ‘Stupid Song’ shares an interesting connection with her debut video ‘Drop Dead’ which has the artist dancing through Versailles in a baby doll dress, at one point playfully mirroring some ballet gestures (I don’t know Rodrigo very well but it’s clear she is no stranger to a dance studio).
The use of New York City as a kind of companion piece to ‘Drop Dead’ and its Paris location is a clever concept. Most people attuned to ballet know that it was King Louis the 14th who popularized ballet in the 17th century and in fact made Versailles his home.
The video also appears to be referencing the iconic character of Carrie Bradshaw from the television series Sex and the City which made Sarah Jessica Parker a cultural and fashion icon. It’s hard not to think of New York without thinking about the significance of this show. The tumultuous romance between Carrie and Mr. Big/John reflects the kind of complicated yearnings and heartbreak that is the conceit of Rodrigo’s album.
Whoever had the foresight to use professional ballerinas, especially utilizing the talent and artistry of local working New York dancers deserves an ovation. I was worried when I first saw the first glint of pointe shoes in the video which quickly turned to both relief then glee when Tyler Peck bourréd into frame. There’s nothing worse than seeing someone who is not a ballerina act like a ballerina on the screen. Not only is it cringe it’s actually quite dangerous for the performer. On average, it takes at least a decade of consistent training to create a professional ballet dancer, someone with the artistic and athletic ability to perform, emote and push the human physical form. Imagine training to be a tennis star or basketball player but added to it you have to make it look graceful and easy.
If Chalamet brought ballet into the cultural zeitgeist as an art form on the brink of extinction, I would argue Rodrigo helped resuscitate the art form and champion it as a symbol of feminine power.
Delicate does not mean weak and in ‘Stupid Song’ the dancers featured in the video hail from two of the biggest and most acclaimed ballet companies in the United States (American Ballet Theatre and New York City Ballet). For ballet dancers everywhere, especially young teens who are beginning their professional careers seeing Tyler Peck and India Bradely in an Olivia Rodrigo video is affirming, unexpected, and kind of a big fucking deal.
Tyler Peck has been a star of the New York City Ballet for years. She’s a seasoned performer with impeccable technique and musicality. India Bradely is a rising star of the company, and is part of a new generation of artists who continue to push the art form for more diversity and inclusion. When I saw this two dancers in ‘Stupid Song’ I thought, “Okay Olivia, kudos to you. You’ve done your homework.”
Yes the video shows the women in pink and dancing on pointe, but ‘Stupid Song’ also shows the different shades and power of femininity, subverting the clichéd tropes of ballerinas. At one moment in the video, the dancers perform in the middle of the street, almost at risk of colliding with oncoming traffic. As the song reaches its climax the dancers become more wild and emotive, pink tights are stained in dirt and their hair, now released from their buns, are thrown about wildly as their bodies bounce off each other.
The symbol of hair plays an important role for a ballerina often signifying the unraveling of a tormented soul, as in Giselle, or a kind of freedom of expression as in Balanchine’s Walpurgisnacht. ‘Stupid Song’ helps de-mystify ballet for the tik-tok generation to also show that ballet is not just a “pretty girl” in a pink tutu. Ballerinas are women who are strong, powerful, frightening, exciting, human.
It’s exciting to see an artist finding creative ways to be in dialogue with other artists from different art forms. Like her latest album, Rodrigo has managed to pay homage to something in a significant way that doesn’t feel exploitative or self-serving. I can imagine a young girl somewhere not knowing anything about ballet, then seeing this video and dream of becoming one. The idea of that tickles me pink.