Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Despite the success of TV shows such as "Dance Moms" and "Dancing With the Stars," ballet still gets only a small piece of the audience pie in America.
That's not the case in Japan, where ballet is big business and local competitions set the barre. Japanese dancers now populate every major ballet company on the planet, and Japanese students are taking top prizes at highly rated competitions such as the Prix de Lausanne in Switzerland and Youth America Grand Prix in New York.
7 comments:
I think it is amazing that that ballet has become so popular in japan and yet they are paid so little when they become professionals. I wonder what it is that drives them so much to take up this art form in the first place. I wish that this article talked a bit more about why ballet has become so popular in japan. What is it that draws people to this art form? I think it is amazing that these students are so dedicated to learn that sometimes they are forced to learn from youtube videos and in tiny rooms.
I took ballet classes all of about two years, up until i was maybe six, when I decided I did not like it- I was unfortunately pretty bad! My sister stuck with dancing though, and from her experience over the many years and even up until now- I have always seen ballet to be not just demanding physically, but strict in so many other aspects, perfection is everything. For these Japanese students, to be so dedicated, like Kerry had mentioned- to go overseas to study dance, and not just that but work tremendously in order to become the best they can be, says so much about Japanese culture, and even our culture versus others. Though some of the great, world renowned ballet dancers are American born, and their are so many hardworking ABT students who dedicate their lives to dance, I understand why a lot of dancers from Japan pursue ballet. It requires a great amount of work ethic, practice, technical skill improvement, something I feel that countries other than America take into importance- not saying we don't. I'd also like to learn more about the culture and reason of why it became so popular mainly in Japan out of any other country, and as for the dancers, I hope they're liking the burgh!
"Japanese ballet students work like demons. They are completely dedicated. It's part of their heritage, their backgrounds, their schooling. They're driven. They don't do anything else. They want to be dancers."
There are some parts of this article that made me cringe. That quote was one of them. I wonder how it would have been written from the point of view of a Japanese dancer and not someone from the outside looking in. Commitment to something that you want to have as a career or that you are passionate about is called dedication. That is what these ballet dancers are, they are dedicated. Especially when you are doing it in the hopes of being able to provide for your family. It isn't that they don't do anything else. Yes they are a few children who may be like that, due to parenting styles, however it is not that way for many.
Ballet like theatre, music or any other art form really is a risk and done for either the love of it or the off chance possibility of actually being able to make a good living from it. Also like any other art forms some people make money from it and some people struggle and have to take low paying jobs just to get by. This also isn't just a scenario that occurs in Japan, it is worldwide. Most of the dancers are also in the US with the aim of being signed to a well known dance company.
It seems to me that ballet dancers are by nature extremely self-critical of themselves and constantly go to great lengths to achieve perfection. Similarly, the Japanese culture is also know for it's high efficiency and low tolerance for failure. So the life of a Japanese ballet dancer is something that leaves me in complete awe. I don't feel I could ever achieve the level of discipline that these great artists consistently perform at, but that's not to say I won't continue to strive for my own best.
I wonder what it is about Japanese culture that causes it to be interested in ballet. I feel it's interesting how you can see parallels between the constant demands for perfection ballet as an art form has, and the strict cultural demands to seem perfect the Japanese demand. I also find it interesting that there doesn't appear to be all that much demand for ballet dancers in Japan itself, as evidenced by the only 10 professional theatres, which begs the question of why so many people wish to study ballet.
I think it's so interesting to read about the japanese in ballet. I knew that they have always been big on ballet, but I never truly understood until this article. I've always loved ballet and I love to continue to learn new things about it whenever I get the chance. I constantly watch ballet videos on youtube to learn more, however, I like how this article gave me more of the perspective of culture on this art form. It was a great ay to open up my knowledge more on the discipline and nature of a japanese ballet dancer.
It is actually very interesting to see how so many Japanese are fascinated in ballet. I never knew that the ballet industry was growing in Japan and also the size of dancers. On the other side, I could totally see them practicing like "demons" since I went to art school in Asia and saw bunch of dancers practicing every day until mid-night. Some of my friends were hired by famous ballet company in US and that would be their biggest goal. Relating back to my own observation, it is sad to see how those Japanese dancers are paid little, but at the same time, I am very happy to see how a lot of talented Japanese dancers are getting a major role in a show. It is amazing to see how much the dancers in Pittsburgh are dedicated to what they are doing when they can be so distracted from all those fun things that can be done in PA. I really hope that the condition of the ballet industry becomes better, so that the dancers gets as much as the effort that they are putting into. Also, I also hope that ballet industry in general be more famous and general to people, so that everyone can freely enjoy attending.
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