Ballet’s integration into the mainstream and its cultural perception in the U.S

One, two, jump over the puddle, was the first real ballet “step” my mother taught me at the age of 2 and a half. Later, I would learn that the ‘grand jete‘ would be much more than a step, but a stepping stone that would shape both my personal and professional future. Growing up as a ballet dancer, it’s difficult to explain to your peers the commitment that ballet entails. What your girlfriends remember about your ballet commitment is that you skipped out on the last get-together because of rehearsal. The choices you made to attend rehearsals over having a social life was the beginnings of what we would later know as discipline.Despite the fact that your peers may have been envisioning you twirling around on your tippy toes, your training was in fact as equally demanding as any soccer player, basketball player, or gymnast. Nonetheless, I didn’t think to try to correct or educate my peers because I felt that they just simply wouldn’t understand. Without overwhelming myself with the cultural responsibility to educate others about ballet, it’s stereotypes, and lack of exposure to the arts in our culture, I just accepted it, moved on, and took refuge in my own intrinsic, artistic world.

Thinking back to my teenage years, I was far too busy worrying about my own little world of balancing ballet and high school to even fathom convincing the public about the importance of the arts and developing an appreciation for ballet. Perhaps this is the reason that I am so passionate about marketing ballet today. Working for a world-class ballet company is really the first opportunity I’ve ever had to share my passion with such a wide audience and share this passion in a community that understands and appreciates ballet. It is truly fulfilling to take on the challenge of ballet education and awareness, not just for a single company, but as a cultural necessity.

As I had felt disconnected to my peers in the past, the future of dance is more promising, due to its more steady exposure in the media. Dance education and awareness should continue to be promoted through various media channels hitting the mainstream: film, TV, and digital media. However, I do want to note that it has been a struggle for networks like Ovation TV to continue airing arts television. (I, along with many other arts supporters had signed a petition in recent months to keep the network running).Besides The Turning Point (1977), it wasn’t until Y2K, or the year 2000 that my friends (both dancers and non-dancers alike) connected to ballet in the mainstream for the first time. As a young teenager, Center Stage (2000) was the first glimpse into the life of a ballet dancer that some of my peers had ever seen. Some of my pals even nicknamed me ‘Jody Turner‘ and asked me to demonstrate my fouetté turns as if ballet had suddenly entered the land of cool. Regardless, it was a great feeling to finally be recognized by my peers, which leads me to think that every generation should have its “ballet coolness.” Whether it’s ballet legend Mikhail Baryshnikov starring in The Turning Point, Ethan Stiefel in Center Stage, or the thrilling Black Swan (2010), each audience needs a way to connect and understand dance, even if the portrayal of a real dancers life is bit more dramatized than in real life. Besides, what tv show do you know that is 100% accurate?Since Y2K and even in the past year alone, I am continuing to see ballet exposed in the media in tv shows like Bunheads, So You Think You Can Dance, Breaking Pointe (featuring Ballet West), and A Chance to Dance. With this recent exposure, I’ve also noticed an increase in ticket sales for professional ballet companies across the country (SF ballet, Boston Ballet, and The Joffrey Ballet in Chicago). Coincidence? Maybe. But, let’s look at additional portrayals of ballet in the media and culture: