An interpretation of Balanchine's “Apollo”, or Discourse

on Silence

APOLLON MUSAGETE

Theatre Sarah Bernhardt, June 12, 1929.

Music: Igor Stravinsky

Choteography: George Balanchine

Sets: Andre Bauchant

Apollon Musagete was commissioned by the Library of Congress in

Washington in 1927. Stravinsky was asked to compose a ballet for a

Contemporary Music Festival organised under the patronage of

Elisabeth Coolidge. (Vlad, 1967, p.91)

A version with choreography by Adolph Bolm had been performed at

the Library of Congress on April 27, 1928.

In this video-production:

Apollo: Jacques d' Amboise

Terpsichore: Susanne Farrell

Calliope: Gloria Govrin

Polyhymnia: Patricia Neary

1

INTRODUCTION:

George Balanchine was born in 1904 in Saint Petersbourg and died

in the U.S. in 1983. He was the second child of Meliton

Balanchivadze, a Georgian, from his second marriage. Georgi

Balanchivadze, or George Balanchine as he changed his name after

he decided to make a career in Western Europe, came from a family

which praised music very much; not only was his father a composer,

but his mother was a skillful player, and she encouraged her

children in their musical studies. At the age of ten Balanchine

succeeded in entering the Imperial School of Dance, together with

his sister Tamara. He graduated in 1921 and started to work

wherever this was possible, during the difficult period that

followed the October Revolution (1917). By that time he had formed

his own group, the “Young Ballet”.

The chance to work in the West came with a contract which hired

his troupe along with singers for appearances in Germany. They

left Russia in 1924. When their contract expired, they were asked

to return. Among those who did not return was George Balanchine.

After a period of great difficulties, Serge Diaghilev, the

2

legendary founder of the equally famous Ballets Russes came along

and gave him the opportunity to work with his company. At that

period Diaghilev was having problems with Bronislava Nijinska who

was the choreographer of Ballets Russes at that time, and

Balanchine seemed to be the solution out of the situation.

Indeed the young choreographer remained with the Ballets Russes

from the fall of 1924 until the dissolution of the company after

Diaghilev's death the summer of 1929. Then, he worked in different

places and with different companies: in London, with the Royal

Danish Ballet, at the Paris Opera. In 1931 he joined a group which

was to be called the “Ballets de Monte Carlo”, initially under the

direction of Rene Blum. Then Colonel de Basil joined as well and

as he gradually took over the direction of the company, Balanchine

left because he disagreed with his methods. He formed “Les

Ballets”, a group which made its debut in 1933 but shortly after

disbanded. At that moment, Lincoln Kirstein, the rich and

ambitious Bostonian came into the scene. His ambition was to bring

ballet to America. Their co-operation gave to Balanchine a secure

and stable position and a school where he could teach his own

dancers his technique and choreographies. He left for the U.S. in

1933 and remained there. The school he formed opened in 1934 as

“the School of American Ballet”. Balanchine became very successful

and kept creating ballets until he was quite old.

As a dancer, in his youth, unlike his predecessor at the Imperial

School and at the Ballets Russes, Vaslav Nijinsky, he was not of

the same rank. However, he was considered to be acrobatic, quick

and strong, in contrast to his appearance; he was also very good

in characterization, but no review referred to him as an

3

outstanding performer. His major interest was in choreographing.

His dances included complicated combinations of steps, often at

great speed. Balanchine used the balletic vocabulary, but he

altered it as well; he preferred sharp, quick and precise movement

too. He also set new standards for the bodily structure of the

ballerina: tall, with long legs and small head, the “pin-headed”

as they were called, were the ideal dancers for him. The woman for

Balanchine had to look like a girl in her early adolescence, to

behave like a woman and to show a tremendous loyalty to him. The

words of Felia Doubrovska who worked with Balanchine for years may

give an idea of his autocratic manners:

I am comfortable with Balanchine because I never did something wrong to him. He has an elephant's memory if you do something to wrong him. Felia Doubrovska quoted in Tracey, 1983, p. 45

4

APOLLON MUSAGETE:

Abstraction and the representation of the female:

The Ballets Russes gave to the world two choreographies with a

Greek mythological god for their subject-matter: Nijinsky's

Faune and Balanchine's Apollo.

The first before the war (WW I), the second after it. Their

chronological order sufficiently explains many of their

differences in terms of movement and treatment. The rest is

explained by the opposite positions the two choreographers

occupy if examined in terms of their personality, background

and artistic choices. Nijinsky, created a Dionysiac figure

while Balanchine created a ballet about Apollo himself, thus

“stepping”, with his new style and his subject-matter itself,

into the other side, namely of the restraint of emotions.

Apollo was the turning point in the work of Georges Balanchine.

He was never an extrovert, and the neo-classical, non-narrative

way of choreographing, gave him the perfect opportunity to

“express himself”: he kept sets to the minimum, he dressed his

5

men dancers almost always with simple leotards and white T-

shirts and short black skirts for the women, and created his

ballets without using any specific story-line.

However, Apollo was his first work to be choreographed in this

restraint style and it is apparent that the then-young artist

had not yet control over his new style. It only included the

marks of his personal signature in embryonic form and this is

more apparent in the development of the subject-matter in which

abstraction has not yet reached the high point it later

acquired.

In his choreographies Balanchine developed two different ways

of presenting the female dancer. In some of them, the more

“academic”, the “distortions” of the body, for example the

movement of the hips or the quick changes from the pointed en

dehors held leg to the flexed and turned-in that he used, are

kept at a moderate level, as an attempt at a more lyrical

result is made. These works are the most faithful to his

education at the Imperial School and the reminders of the

Petipa tradition, although narrative is abandoned in these

works as well. The corps de ballet is equally used to surround

the principal dancers; it is in these choreograhies that the

ballerina is presented as an innocent, aethereal being. It is

not unusual though to also have this young girlish quality

infused with elements of a sexually mature woman, behaving in a

serene and delicate manner. Something like the fire under ice

type that had been the ideal of cinema directors such as

Hitchcock and were personified on the silver screen by the

likes of Grace Kelly or Tippi Hendren et al. In Balanchine, an

6

example may be provided by his work titled Jewels, and more

specifically the pas de deux from the section of the

“Emeralds” .

The “purifyied” exaltation of the Emeralds is then swept over

in the section of “Rubies”, in which the red colour situates the

woman into her “devilish” attire and she becomes a powerful

witch, sexy, omnipotent. Consequently, the man seems to be

there to manipulate and tame her, in the pas de deux in

question. (The term “witch” is used as a metaphor because it is

considered as encompassing all controversial feelings of

patriarchal societies towards women.) Balanchine, ambivalent,

in masochistic (?) excitement or in a symbolically mediated

erotic phantasy, on the one hand requires from his ballerinas

speed, high kicks, strong legs, and then put his male dancers

to “mutilate” the strength of the “witch” as if it had crossed

an invisible line of “decency”.

Apollo does not absolutely belong to the one or the other

strand of work, but it bares strong similarities with the

latter in terms of movement. However the major difference from

his later works is that there is a simple story-line and that

the dancers do interpret certain characters. For Stravinsky,

Apollon Musagete was a chance to create a

so-called “white ballet”, i.e. a ballet basedentirely on the abstract choreography ofclassical ballet without any psychological,narrative or expressive intent, and not usingelaborate scenery or costumes, but danced onlyin monochrome ballet-skirts.

Vlad, 1967, p 91

7

Apollo is about the birth of the god of light, music and

prophecy on the island of Delos, his introduction to his

destiny to protect art, and his acquaintance with the (lesser)

godesses who became his major assistants and his most loyal

“servants”, the Muses.

The ballet is 30 minutes and 20 seconds long. It can be divided

into two sections. The first is the shorter and lasts for two

minutes and 45 seconds. It can be called “The Birth”; its first

sub-section which describes the actual birth, may be called

“Leto” and lasts for 1 minute. The second sub-section is about

the young god and his introduction to his art; it lasts 1

minute and 45 seconds and it title might be “The young god”.

The second section lasts 28 minutes and 15 seconds. Its

structure is quite conventional (with the dancers appearing to

dance pas de deux, their variations et.c.) The title of this

section may be “Apollo with the Muses” according to the

subject-matter and its development. This part has seven sub-

sections. The first, “Apollo”, lasts 2 minutes and 30 seconds

and it is a solo. The second, called “First acquaintance”, is 4

minutes and 20 seconds long and is about the first meeting of

the god with the Muses, who are represented in this ballet by

three of them, those who were more closely associated with

Apollo: Calliope, the Muse of heroic poetry, Polyhymnia, the

muse of mime, and Terpsichore, the Muse of dance and rhythm.

Then comes the time of the preparation for the contest between

the Muses in order to discover whose art is more closely linked

to the god Apollo. The process of distributing to each on the

specific symbol of her art lasts 30 seconds and the sub-section

8

which follows can be called “The contest” (It will not be the

first time that Balanchine will stage a contest. His

masterpiece “Agon” (1957), centres around exactly this, a

contest, using the Greek word to describe the act). Calliope

dances first and her scene is the first division of this sub-

section, and is one minute and 30 seconds long. The next two

solos of the other Muses, are equally the second and third

scene, may be titled after the name od each one of the two;

their duration I 1 minute and 10 seconds for Polyhymnia and 1

minute and 25 seconds for Terpsichore.

Then Apollo dances another solo for 2 minutes and 15 seconds,

the “Solo of the god”. Then for 4 minutes “Apollo and

Terpsichore” dance together. After this, another gathering

takes place. This new sub-section lasts for 3 minutes and 25

seconds. It is also divided in scenes; the very brief first

scene, only five seconds long, is right “After the Dance”; the

second, with “Calliope and Polyhymnia” dancing is 45 seconds

long. The third, is 25 seconds long and “The Muses” dance

together. Finally, Apollo joins in “The quartet”, and they

dance altogether for 2 minutes and 5 seconds. The last sub-

section finds them on their way “To Parnassus” and is 3 minutes

and 15 seconds long, with Apollo leading them in the end up to

the sacred mount Parnassus, represented on stage by stairs in

the side of his birthplace. The nymphs who first took care of

him, join them as well.

9

APOLLON MUSAGETE

CHOREOGRAPHIC OUTLINE:

Duration: 30':20''

SECTION I

The Birth 2':45”

Sub-sections:

Leto 1':00''

The young god 1':45''

SECTION II

Apollo with the Muses 28':15''

Sub-sections:

Apollo 2':30''

10

Apollo with his Muses 4':20''

The contest- Preparation 0':30''

Scenes: Calliope 1':30''

Polyhymnia 1':10''

Terpsichore 1':25''

Sub-sections:

Solo of the god 2':15''

Apollo and Terpsichore 4':00''

Another gathering 3':25''

Scenes:

After the dance 0':05''

Calliope and Polyhymnia 0':45''

The Muses 0':25''

The Quartet 2':05''

Sub-sections:

To Parnassus 3':15''

Choreography and Music:

Balanchine came from a musical family and had himself

completed his studies in the conservatory. In all his

choreographies he proved his tremendous musicality and his

knowledge in that field. Apollo is no exception. The score,

written for a string orchestra only, is quite difficult in its

choreographic realization. However this first collaboration

was the beginning of a long and happy one betwwen Mr B. and

11

Stravinsky, the latter having a passion and a strong desire to

work with a choreographer who would deeply respect and fully

understand a musical score; Stravinsky had found Nijinsky

impossible to work with and he referred to him as being

unmusical after their collaboration for the staging of the

Sacre du printemps. For Balanchine music was the fundamental

element: “you have to have a sound in order to dance. I need

music that's possible to dance to” (Ballet review, 1983, p.

76).

What he does working with the music of Apollo, is to pick-up

certain dynamics from different instruments each time. If for

example the first sub-section of the first section, Leto, is

examined, it is apparent that he follows the rhythmic line of

the viola. The movement is in harmony with the music and it

seems as if he just follows the melody-line, that is, the main

melody of the main violins, but he does not. (Appendix B). On

the contrary, he plays and he picks the emphasis from various

instruments. Therefore, it is evident that he goes into the

structure of the music and that he analyses it. This

assumption I proved by examining another section, for example

Apollo's first solo (Appendix B). The dance starts following

the violin only. Then he accentuates the “pizzicato” using the

“pose-fondu” movement reinforced by the walk on the heel. For

a while he keeps picking-up the bottom rhythm (Appendix B), he

then passes onto moving according to the overall melody, when

Apollo does a skating movement, and by the end of the grand-

jete, the quality of the arm movement is changed, introducing

the spectator to the next phase during which he puts the

12

emphasis in the first violin again. It is the moment in which

he stops dancing to the “pizzicato”. In Polyhymnia's solo

(Appenix B), in the Contest (sub-section three, scene two), he

decides to follow the music and pick-up the dynamics which it

has to offer. Consequently, in Balanchine's choreography the

music is dominant and fully respected.

Narrative, ideology and background of an era:

In Apollo the narrative has a linear development. It is the

exact and literal representation of the subject-matter which

is a quite loose gathering of elements from god Apollo's life.

It seems possible that the aim was to make a spectacle similar

to those presented in the court of Louis XIV in which the most

preferred god was Apollo, and actually Louis XIV presented

himself a the sun-god in le Ballet de la Nuit, giving the

clear message that he is and will continue to be the centre of

the country's universe, and will illuminate all subjects loyal

and “orbiting” around him. The king showed to potential

usurpers that he was the absolute ruler, a message to be

understood literally and yet, conveyed metaphorically.

Balanchine goes back to he hegemony of Louis XIV and he

filters his new movement through the demands of a regained

narcissistic ideal, close also to his education and tradition.

Artistically and politically Apollo may also be seen as a

13

statement: Balanchine may embraced the american way of life

from the '30s onwards, but already from the early '20s he

showed that he would never become a “Soviet” artist. He might

strip his dancers and movement from ornamental elements down

to basics according to the modernist tradition and early

American myth of survival in the wild, but he would keep all

clarity, precision and delicacy of an art which no matter how

modified he would pass it on to the next generations, he would

nonetheless never negate his knowledge of its origins and

beliefs.

It is true that Balanchine created his ballet in a rather

difficult period and his style with the return to the

conservatism is one aspect of the era in which he first

started his creative career. Europe had known many changes in

the decade preceding the year of the making of this ballet.

The WW I and then the October Revolution in Russia had

repercussions in many countries on a financial as well as on a

political level. New tensions and new dynamics appeared. The

world situation was not quite settled; regimes and borders in

various countries changed. The rise of nationalist movements

and the establishment of fascism in Italy in the early '20s

were signs of the difficult period that would follow from the

mid-'30s onward. Germany suffered from heavy post-war

reparations imposed primarily by France, the decline of the

Weimar republic and inflation, while the Wall Street crash

would soon sweep over optimism of the early years of the

decade. The changes which occurred in various parts of life,

were of different nature from those of the pre-war era. There

14

was now bitterness and awareness of the meaning of the turmoil

of war. The financial recovery was only superficial and the

disaster soon to occur was temporarily postponed. In Germany

for example, “the large middle and professional classes were

ruined as savings and pensions became worthless” (Thomson,

1963, p. 107). The world economic crisis reached its peak in

1929, the year in which Serge Diaghilev co-incidentally died.

A symbolic death, closure of an era never to return.

Artistically it was an equally restless period. The war and

its tremendous turmoil and aftermath gave birth -among other

currents and phenomena- to expressionistic works. They sought

to explore the human being under the new dimension discovered

by the war: its destructiveness and fear. Massive death at the

front, the wounds of the war, economic and political

insecurity, fear and the confrontation of the human certainty

by the discovered and publicized aspects of the “inner life”

(as in the Freudian theory of the Unconscious, for example)

was their subject-matter. In painting, Edvard Munch and Oscar

Kokoschka were among the main representatives. Other artistic

currents included artists who wanted to experiment with the

possible uses of the tools and the organisation of the new

ways of industrial production, obtaining a decorative and

architectural style suitable to the "modern times"; that was

the work of the artists of the Bauhaus group, namely

Kandinsky, Gropius, Klee and many others. One of them, Oskar

Schlemmer combined the elements of his experience from his

work at the Bauhaus and his interest in dance to produce

interesting works (but largely misunderstood in his time)

15

among which the Triadic ballet was the most famous. In the

dance world experimentation was taking place as well: Humphrey

and Weidman started to perform in 1928 in the U.S., and Mary

Wigman the German expressionist had started to create her

works from the early twenties. The Surrealist movement focused

on the new psychological profile of man and his sexuality,

while the Russian avant-garde would cease and convert into

soviet artistic prerequisites and stereotypes under Stalin,

towards the end of the '20s. Βy 1928 the relation of the dance

to music was disputed and experiments with new movement

patterns were carried out; a little later, artists like Holm

and Martha Graham would start to perform. They were the

founders of modern dance and in their works they sought to

find new ways of expression within the medium of the body, and

they also shifted the focus of their interest to the human

condition, aspects of the female, and profound issues of

universal appeal, such as death, love et.c.

This was not the best or the most glorious period for the

Ballets Russes, but they had not lost their appeal to the

audience. While this was the case for some of the artists of

that time,

Others, realising sadly that the faithin the realisation of the humanistic ideals of the 19th c. wasweakened, tried to stand au dessus de la melee, though in manycases their belief in those ideals was badly undermined.

Andriessen, 1989, Ρ 75.

Hellenism stood once more as an alternative and as the source of

16

inspiration for another artistic stream. Only now it was balance

and restraint that the artists were looking for, as a means to

pass over the excess of the past. It was not Dionysus they were

after, but Αpοl1o and his symbolism of rationality. It was a quite

conservative perception of the past and very close, as a sign, to

the frustration which brought extremely conservative regimes in

power. Starting from this ideological stream, Ba1anchine brought

great alterations to the classical vocabu1ary. He almost displaced

the main rules which govern the bodily action of classical dancer.

Ιn Apollo these changes are apparent:

the palms are flexed, the feet are turned-in quite often (Appendix

C, pl. 10, 28, 32, 37, 40, 41). The dancers also step οn the hee1

instead οf the toe like in Apol1o's first so1o when he dances to

the "pizzicato". The male dancer exhibits his virility; his

movement is very simp1e and clear, matching the traditional notion

of the "masculine" characteristics which require from the man the

least possible externalisation of his emotions. He does a lot of

movements with his arms, like raising and 1owering them, which

accentuate more his unornated dance. He looks decisive and he does

not execute spectacular leaps or raise his legs high (Appendix C,

pl. 19, 20, 21, 33, 37, 43). Furthermore, his movement sometimes

does not seem balletic at all; the body is not always held

upright, the dancer is allowed to bend back and front or tilt to

the side. (Appendix C, pl. 50, 53, 59). The man in Apollo appears to

be in control of the group, arranging the space in which the women

are going to move, or even arranging them in space (Appendix C,

pl. 26,27, 32,67). He is the centre and to him their movement is

addressed (Appendix C, pl. 25, 26). Οn the contrary, the women in

17

spite of the turned-in legs,the walk οη the heels and the tilts of

the body, remain classical.

They are al1owed to extend their motion range υρ to tilts

(Appendix C, Ρ 48,ρΙ. 31), or to make circular movements with the

hips (Appendix C, pl. 48); they also lean back with their legs in

the sixth position οn point (Appendix C, pl. 41), but they always

return to exhibit their virtuosity in the classical technique

(Appendix C, pl. 22, 46, 64, 66). Their combinations are

complicated and the speed required together with precision, is

remarkable. Nevertheless, in spite of the virtuosity and agility,

his female dancers do not convey any real emotion or lyrical

quality. Their performance looks like a display of technique which

becomes a little tiring as the dance unfolds.

Another important feature of Apollo is the unconventional mimicry

which explains the story-line to the detail (Appendix C, pl. 1-7,

19, 44). Ιn this ballet, there are also marks of the later works

as mentioned above: the overextensions of the legs, the abrupt

endings of the continuous manipulation of the woman in many

different combinations (Appendix C, p1. 29, 34, 66-68, 71, 76). Αn

unconventiona1 e1ement, which is characterised so because it is

put in a ba11et, is the movement. which seems to be taken from a

fashionab1e socia1 dance of that period and which is a1ternative1y

used with the classica1. It imp1ies a 1ift οί the shoulders and a

turn-in οf one 1eg so that the knees touch (Appendix C, p1. 39,

72, 75). Leto's movement in the beginning is not ba11etic. The

dancer is bare footed, her hair loose; she executes continuus

circu1ar movement.s wi th the arms whi1e the entire body contracts

and arches. Neverthe1ess, Leto's part ho1ds a c1oser simi1arity to

18

a 1itera1 mimicry of the 1abours of birth than to modern dance

vocabu1ary (Appendix C, Ρ 39-41, p1. 1-7).

In a first reading, Apollo is about the young god's coming to

maturity and the re1ation of music, poetry and dance, e1ements οf

which Apo11o was the main representative and protector. But in

another reading Apo11o is the "key" to Balanchine.

He once said that as the Pope representedChrist he represented Terpsichore, the goddessοί dance, and he expected from his dancers thekind οί commitment that is proper to such amission. Tracey, 1983, p 11.

Indeed in every 1anguage there is a metaphor about the "creator"

and the object οί his inspiration which is often ca11ed the

”Μιιse”. There is no equiva1ent for the reverse situation. For

Ba1anchine women "were the inspiration for his ba11ets, his

companions, the instruments οf his work" (Tracey, 1983, p 10).

Αpοllο was an ideal theme for the young choreographer; it gave him

the opportunity to create a work in which the conventions of the

narrative fitted exactly to the personal scenario. Naturally the

"real" myth is altered, and the dance has only kept the elements

which are νital for the choreographer's personal needs and

therefore it is evident that it is rather useless to search for

the "meaning" of the dance in the sphere of the "purely" abstract

and theoretical research on music and poetry, unless these arts

could be substituted by their equivalent symbolic content drawn

out of the life of George Balanchine.

Α closer examination of Balanchine's interpretation and

manipulation of the myth in connection with elements from his life

19

might be able to explain his further identification with Apollo.

Coming to the original myth, Apollo was the illegitimate chiΙd of

the stronger of all the gods, Zeus. His mother Leto, gave birth to

her children, Diana and Αpοllο οn the island of Delos chased by

the rage of the legitimate wife of Zeus', Hera. Ιn the

choreography, the sister is eliminated. By this symbolic denial it

is not illogical to suppose that the existence of the siblings is

denied, and "Georgi" is the only child to exist (The name of

Balanchine is used in its original linguistic version in order to

connect his present identification and psychic process to the

unconscious desires and the psychic life of the choreographer as a

child.) It should be noticed that George Balanchine was younger

than his sister Tamara like the siblings of the myth. Furthermore,

Zeus being caught commiting adultery

with Leto and having τ.ο stay wit.h his legitimat.e wife Hera, is

obliged to withdraw from the scene, leaving this way the young son

responsible for his mother.

"Because Meliton was oft.en away, traveling with his choir, the

children saw less of him than of their mother" (Buckle, 1988, p

7). The unconscious wish of the little child finds a jυstified

gratification and eases the sentiments of discontent since the

absence of the father is absοlυtely necessary out of the

obligations of reality. Therefore, the myth provides Balanchine

with a powerful scenario. His identification with the main

character, could be seen as reinforced by strong narcissistic

elements as well; there is no qυestiοn whether Balanchine was

aware or not of his identification and of the unconscious process

which was taking place while he was creating his ballet. Another

20

important element that Balanchine with his ballet creates an

image, his image, of the woman and the man which does not

challenge any traditional notion. He provides the audience with an

artistic work which is suitable to the existing tools of the

dominant ideology.

Apollo at a symbolic level, represents control over the senses,

the balance, the rationality, the mind.

This idea of the belief in the absolute reign of rationality as

the symbol of the hυman dignity springs from the Cartesian

undivided subject and to the phrase which expressed his faith ίη

the entity of the human being and its possible knowledge of the

self: "cogito ergo sum'". The illusory wholeness of the human

being. The claim of the existence of the wholeness of an absolute,

infinite rationality as the only and major manifestation of the

human being stands closely to the traditional power relations

between the sexes, and this is the aspect which is perpetuated in

the ballets of Balanchine.

The notiοn of of the "absence" which exists since

The reperesentation of the "being" through thelanguage is the de1ivery of the subject but, atthe same time, it is the moment of the creationof the "gap", of the split, of the crack, whichalways refers to a non-rea1ised and where psychoanalysisdiscovered the existence of the unconscious. Markidis, 1984, Ρ 30.

finds a justified outlet at the illusory reflection of the of the

“castrated” being known as the "woman".

21

(In his choreographies the victory of the male is not a direct

result; it is only perceived through the submission of the

female). Apollo seems like a suitable story to both compensate the

choreographer for his personal “sufferings”, but also, through the

relationship of the god and his Muses, is a manifestation of

Balanchine's ideology on men and women. In this ballet man is the

centre of creation with women as the subordinate and necessary

elements for the man to create and expand. The piece starts

showing Leto on top of a square construction moving in a way

indicates the sufferings of the birth h (Appendix C, Ρ 39-41.) As

Αpοllο appears in the square frame underneath the place οn which

she is seated, Leto remains immobile and the focus withdraws from

her (Appendix C, pl. 8). He is tied-up in a long cloth but the two

nympl1s who come to take care οf him, will eventually undo it

(Appendix C, pl. 9). His first steps are uncertain, a strong

contrast to the certainty which is tο come.

Finally the two nymphs bring to him a musical instrument, a lute,

and help him to pluck its chords for the first time. The lute by

appearance is a phallic symbol (Appendix C, pl. 11) and indeed the

spectator is introduced not to Apollo's relation with the music,

but to the identification of his dominance in the arts, as a

position given to him by fate, as well as to his dominance as he

is a representative of the male sex. Balanchine is doubly

powerful: he is the very representative οf his art a position

reinforced by the fact that he is a man. Biology and religion have

long sustained the inevitable superiority which is here celebrated

by the choreographer without the slightest suspicion of its

illusory nature.

22

In the second section, his solo is about his apprenticeship in his

art. His continuus manipulation of the instrument while dancing

with it, is to indicate his astonishment at the discovery of the

capacities it offers to him. (Appendix C, pl. 13-15). After he

puts the lute down, he starts to dance with his head slightly

leaning back as if he hears some calling from the music that he

only can perceive (Appendix C, pl. 16). His steps, uneasy in the

beginning, quick1y attain strength as he dances around the stage.

His leaps are low, his attitude is of a “careful explorer”; his

legs are turned-in and his palms, even when he does a classical

grand-jete en tournant, are flexed. Then, the Muses arrive with

their arms flexed and open sidewards. They approach him with

grand-battement sur pointes indicating pride and superiority. His

position in the centre of the circle which they form as they move

towards him makes him look powerful and l1nderlies the fact that

he is the centre and the reason of their dance (Appendix C, pl.

17). Even when he turns his back the effect is not weakened and

he does not become vulnerable (Appendix C, pl..18). The Muses

finally stop their grands-battements as they are close to him now,

and show the first sign of their respect to him: stay in degage

derriere, their one arm is raised close to his face and the head

is leaning slightly back. The gesture implies feelings of great

respect and recognition of a distance existing between them and

the god. The feeling of the distance is underlined by Apollo's

remoteness and straight upright position (Appendix C, pl.19). The

veneration of the man and the submission takes various forms in

its expression ίη motion as the choreography develops.

It is interesting that the effect is not based simply on what the

23

Muses do, but on what Apollo does not do as well. While the women

are always in motion bowing (Appendix C, pl. 20-21) or seemingly

taking an oath over the symbol of Αροllo to serve him with loyalty

(Appendix C, pl.22), he only seems to direct their movement and to

supervise its execution in order to be done properly (Appendix C,

pl. 24-27). He looks like the conductor of an orchestra or the

choreographer of a company, like Balanchine himself was. Αροllo

keeps rearranging his women in space and playing with them as the

dance unfolds; his presence is dominant as the Muses willingly

follow his orders (Appendix C, pl. 26-27). Therefore there is an

amount of submittance within the women equal to his authority.

He even seems to "fly" around them to try to maintain the order of

his creation (Appendix C, pl. 31). The unconscious wish of

Apollo-Balanchine has the opportunity to be the "only man" for

these women around him. It is true that he was indispensable for

his dancers who "called him "mother" (Royce, 1987, p 327) and it

is also true that the Muses could not exist without the god who

was superior to them "by the nature of things" (Appendix C, pl.

32-34). ("The nature of things" stands for the often heard phrase

referring to a set meaning and culturally accepted “truth” in

regard to the order of the relations between men and women;

various myths which function as a basis of accepted values and

beliefs also present them in this particular way: two worlds

apart, man out-woman in, woman passive, patient, giving and so

on.)

It is interesting that the rest of the dance just before the

contest begins, shows the Muses arranged in patterns displaying

uniformity and avoiding any individuality. They are guided by

24

Apollo and they move in linear patterns often in one line which

indicates soldier's unison (Appendix C, pl 35-41). The Muses,

execute a short solo afterwards. Each one is supposed to show the

characteristics of her art through it and it is danced for the

god to choose his favourite one. Each solo is a strong is a strong

mimic dance. Cal1iope for example, keeps dancing opening her mouth

from time to time whi1e dancing, for examp1e in a scissonne en

avant, or in a pose in arabesque (Appendix C, pl. 41). The meaning

of t.he mimicry 1ies in the f1amboyance of the heroic poetry.

Ca11iope does not gain Apo11o's approval so Po1yhymnia tries to

attract Apollo's attention with a vivid dance (Appendix C, p1.

46). Her gestura1 sign is the index finger he1d on the mouth

throughout the piece to indicate si1ence. After Ca11iope's failure

because of her pompous rhetoric, it is apparent that the god did

not 1ike speech very much.

Discourse on silence:

It is true that Balanchine did not believe in the power of the

words: "eyerything that doesn't belong to the world of words you

cannot explain" (Ba1let Review, 1983, Ρ 76). Polyhymnia's dance is

fu1l of turns, poses and high attitudes which end in circular

wa1king movement. of the feet which then leads to bourres with

turned-in 1egs and finally to an arabesque. However, she does not

impress Apo1lo either, since she proves unab1e to retain her

silence. Terpsichore dances last. Her virtuosity does not make her

more impressive, but nevertheless her movement seems more easy and

fluent; she does not use her arms to cover the strange features οι

an unworthy art, but to dance and to reveal the quality of it

(Appendix C, p1. 47-48). Apollo shows his full approva1 to the

25

woman who could express best his points of preference (Appendix C,

pl. 49). His next solo has no hesitant movement; Apo11o is

positive, decisive. He repeats the open, low arabesque with the

f1exed hands (Appendix C, p1. 52,60), but now the dynamic is

different. He fina11y finishes his dance in the famous pose of

Adam in the Sistine Chappe1 with his index finger stretched out,

1ying οτι his side. In the prototype, it is god and Adam who

participate; now it is man and woman. With the e1ements co11ected

sofar, οne wou1d dare substitute the old participants putting in

each position the one more seeming1y suitab1e for the present

situation: Apo1lo Ba1anchine-Man is the god and the Muse-

Terpsichore-Woman is the "lower" being waiting for the supreme

being to b1ow life into her. The duet of Apollo and Terpsichore,

his preferred Muse, is a manipu1ation into splits and arabesques.

Finally they wil1 a1l gather together once more.

Polyhymnia and Ca11iope come to interrupt the dance of the couple;

a few seconds later they are 1eft alone οn stage, and they

initiate a movement which is 1ater οτι to be repeated: with the

right leg bent and pointed and the 1eft arm in the waist, they

move their pelvis outwards and inwards a1ternative1y five times.

Each time the movement becomes bigger υnti1 they have the right

impetus το go. Their movement requires virtuosity, but they do not

possess the qua1ity of Terpsichore and their dance has a certain

uniformity. Ιt is possibly an allusion το the subordinate position

of these arts in comparison to dance (Appendix C, p1. 72).

Terpsichore arrives after a whi1e and she executes a short solo

using some of the hip-movement that she had used in her dance at

the contest (Appendix C, pl. 48). With Apol1o's new entrance οn

26

stage the Muses' dance stops as unimportant and they gather

backstage in a pose of fear and surprise (Appendix C, pl. 73).

They continue to be frightened as he jumps vividly near them

(Appendix C, pl. 74-75). Ca11iope and Po1yhymnia catch his arms at

one point and he turns around with them both hanging on him in an

exhibition of strength and vigour (Appendix C, pl.76). When

Terpsichore joins them, the formation changes and they al1 execute

the same movements together: they lean over the 1eft and the right

leg a1ternatively, whi1e they bend and stretch both. They bend at

the height of the chest the arm which is the same with the leg

which bends more, and the other is extended sidewards.

This way they trave1 υρ to the furthest point backstage and then

they start to execute fouettes en tournant in an accel1erating

rhythm which 1eads to their wild run around the stage. The three

of them run with a series of chasses-poses ίη front, and Αρο11o

ho1ds them by one arm which they have extended back to him

(Appendix C, pl. 77-79). It seems to be an allusion to the horse

of inspiration, Pegasus. Nevertheless, they are tamed and eager to

take him everywhwre, so Apollo, 1ike the god he is, has to pul1

their strings sometimes ίη order to make them slow-down or change

direction when he does not approve of the one they have taken. He

is in charge and he should be, since the situation itse1f proves

the need for someone who knows how to control and give orders.

As the dance finishes the Muses come close to hirn at the mornent

in which it seems that he might need them and then, they offer him

their arms as a pillow, which looks like a syrnbolic scene: the

wornan who was the source of the inspiration and the erotic

companion becomes "inevitably" a rnaternal figure which is a

27

widely used cliche of the male ideology (Appendix C, pl. 82-83).

This scheme, consequently, requires frorn any woman the kind of

characteristics which are traditionally expected to be in a

parental, mother-child relationship, namely infinite patience,

forgiveness and loyalty. This type of thinking continues in Apollo

with the god remernbering again his important rnission and leaving

the ernbrace of the Muses to go and meet his destiny, which he

finds in his identification with the Sun. After a series of

repetitions of the original pattern of entanglements and

disentanglements of the group, finally the Muses, will be able to

come closer to the sun by being its rays (Appendix C, pl. 87).

Apollo already after his "awakening" (Appendix C, pl. 84-86),is

changed. He is solemn, and his gestures are eloquent ones of

grandeur. Finally they all ascend the mount Parnassus with Apollo

in front of them (Appendix C, pl. 89).

Nijinsky's experiment was not repeated within the context of the

Ballets Russes; his acheivement was that he started from an

equally conventional mythic subject and he created a work in which

the man dared to present himself as a sensual being, even more

sensual than the women who surrounded it. Α man was in both dances

the main figure. In the “Afternoon of of a Faune” though, his role was

subverted; the faune was an of a man whose phallocentric ideology

manipulated the attempt to present the man without his power

cover. He challenged his traditional position by being the centre

of attention and not the one who holds and carries the ballerina;

it seemed as if he wanted to share the position of the “desired”

being. Apollon Musagete is about the justification of the existent

model of relations. Watching t.his ballet the impression is that

28

it is the "manifesto" of the patriarchal ideology. The gradation

which exists is taken to be "natural" and as the basic point from

which the interpret.ation of the myth by the choreographer was

made. Even those who defend Balanchine's work, admit his

choreographies reflect "patriarchal bias" (Copeland, Dance Theatre

Journal, 1990, p 38). It is undisputable and enough is already

said about it.

Still, there is another parametre in his work, and this is

Balanchine's personality in itself. It is mentioned that the myth

of Apollo had all the elements necessary το express the

unconscious wish of a boy at the Oedipal stage. Therefore the

ballet as realised οη one hand is the product relations between

the three main characters in the most suitable way according to

his cultural pattern. Οn the other hand, this cultural pattern was

interwoven with his own psycho-sexual needs and developmental

processes.

“Ι am 1 ike .. " means, among other things, that Ιacquire all that Ι think that the other possesses and withholds.

Ροtamianοu, 1988, p 124

When Balanchine, through the accepted message of the myth,

identifies with Apollo, apart from his desire for possession, he

expresses the desire for the impossible. The "hope of the

encounter with omnipotence remains in the unconscious as a

prolongation of our infantile wishes" (Potamianou, 1988, p 125).

Being a "male" and the choreographer, that is the "leader" of a -

traditionally- submissive group of people, served his fantasy in

the best possible way. Like Calligula in the play by Albert Camus

29

he could have said:

Exactly! it is all about what is not possible, or ratherit is about how to make possible what is not .. Ι just nowrealise, at last, the usefulness of power. It gives chances to theimpossible.

Camus quoted in

Potamianou. 1988, p 124.

30

APPENDICES A, B, C

31

APPENDIX A

Detailed analysis of the movement of Section I

The birth-Sub-section I: Leto.

Αt the opening, Leto is seen sitting on top of what proves to be a

square construction; her back is arched, her head eans back and

her hair is loose. Her right 1eg is on the p1ace she is sitting,

the other hangs out, bent. Then she brings her 1eft arm to her

chest, with her body still in the previous position. With a

violent movement she contracts, and her arm comes to rest on her

stomach. Then she turns en face with her 1eft 1eg open and the

other bent; her 1eft arm is open as we11, her torso ti1ts to the

right side and she rests on her right arm. She contracts even more

turning to the right a1most ίη profi1e in a way indicating

restlessness. She turns again en face and she opens both legs. Her

head 1eans back, and her arms seem to take her weight. Then she

turns to the 1eft side and bends both her 1egs which are crossed

as we11, whi1e she contracts over them. She eventually faces front

again; her 1egs are bent, the 1eft hanging free, her shou1ders are

32

lifted and she touches her be11y with her 1eft arm. Then, sti11 en

face, she a1most 1ies to her 1eft side whi1e still ho1ding her

be11y and her head 1eaning forward. Her right 1eg is again on the

p1ace she is sitting on, bent.

From there, she stretches her body in the d1agona1 and to the

back, and stretches her right arm as we11. Then she does a

circu1ar movement with her arm and body, to end-up at the opposite

side, that is, 1eaning to the right. She sits-up, faces front and

starts to do big circ1es with her torso and her arms right and

1eft, a1ternative1y.

After she has done it for six times, she turns to face the right

diagonal front, and arches her back in a position indicating

exhaustion after all the quick, sharp movements that preceded. Her

1egs are bent, the right οn the place, the 1eft a 1itt1e more

outside it. It is the moment in which Apo11o appears. Leto is seen

for a few more seconds, unti the nymphs take him out of the square

frame.

Meanwhi1e, Leto slowly sits-up and by the time Apollo moves away

from her, she opens her 1egs turning en face, and then c1oses them

again.

APPENDIX B

33

34

35

36

37

38

APPENDIX C

39

40

41

42

43

44

45

46

47