Isadora Duskin-Feinberg L&S Arts & Humanities
What is the Pointe of Ballet? : Varied Messages and Depictions
Dance historian Marion Kant exclaimed, “Ask any young woman on her way to a [ballet] performance…what most clearly symbolizes ballet and she will probably answer – the skirt and the pointe shoe. She will not quote sentences from the story and may recall only a few names of the characters…Has ballet no message?” The wider public focuses little on the messages of Ballet, such as academic research focusing mostly on the science of ballet.
My research focus for this project will be comparing and contrasting the messages/depictions of ballet created by the Ballet World and by the general media. My research will also focus on how ballet depictions differ when aimed toward different age demographics. Besides surveying academic studies, books, movies, television, and social media, I hope to conduct interviews with dancers, choreographers, and other professionals involved in ballet production. Ultimately, I hope people will be able to walk away from my research having increased interest in the messages of ballet, thinking more about ballet as a catalyst for social change, and thinking about how the media and systems of oppression in society could be shaping modern opinions on ballet.
Message To Sponsor
I wanted to extend a heartfelt thank you for sponsoring my summer research project. This project has helped solidify that academia is a field I am passionate about and must go into, specifically pursuing a PhD in the performing arts and becoming a professor! I have learned so much about the world of ballet and it has been so enlightening researching and re-contextualizing the stories I grew up with and have performed many times. Thank you for making such a fulfilling and illuminating experience possible and setting me on the path of research/academia!