Final Work (Ballet and Body, Object and Body)

Ballet and Body, Object and Body

This work is highly influenced by classical ballet and the key principles of suspension, symmetry, balance and coordination. I am actively practising ballet and have been training for over 5 years. The main contributor that drove this work is my interest in the relationship between Ballet and Body and Object and Body: how can ballet conventions be translated into sculptures without it being a representation of ballet itself. Classical ballet is stereotypically deemed as dainty, soft, graceful and fragile. However, there is a great deal of hard work and discipline that is attached to being a successful ballet dancer. One must also undergo gruelling training and is required to have strong physicality to be able to perform and execute key ballet movements. These qualities are explored in these artworks through the materiality of steel and wood, which are hard and strong materials that don’t easily wear. (This relates to the idea of Human body’s capacity for performing labour.) There is also often an aspect of masculinity attached to it, something that society will never associate classical ballet with. These works are not intended to be representations of the selected objects but instead the central objects (fan covers and the shovel) are used to configure conforming key ballet principles through sculptural conventions. The movements present in the works are pre calculated and set in the same way a choreographer would direct and design routines for dance performances. Objects that have been chosen to feature in the works are selected based on their utilitarian functionality- mainly for their related motion. Circular movements are associated with fans and a swinging motion with the shovel. The principle of circular motion is frequently seen in classical ballet. The swinging motion is based on a ballet step, Grand Battement en Cloche, a swinging action with the legs.