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ETD Abstract Container

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Shapes of American Ballet: Classical Traditions, Teachers, and Training in New York City, 1909-1934

Zeller, Jessica Rachel
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1336152425

Abstract Details

2012, Doctor of Philosophy, Ohio State University, Dance Studies.
In this historical study, I examine the ballet pedagogy in New York City from the opening of the Metropolitan Opera Ballet School in 1909 to the founding of George Balanchine’s School of American Ballet in 1934. Challenging the widely propagated view that Balanchine is the sole founder of American ballet, I argue that the first generation of American ballet dancers emerged during the research period under the tutelage of numerous Italian and Russian immigrant ballet teachers. I illuminate the individual histories and contributions of these noteworthy yet largely overlooked instructors, whose contributions set the development of American ballet in motion. In addition, I tease apart the context for ballet during this period. I look at the impact of capitalism, commercialism, democracy, and immigration on ballet teachers, their students, and their approaches, and I survey the effects of vaudeville and revue, the burgeoning film industry, and Progressive Era movement trends like aesthetic barefoot dance and the Delsarte System of Expression on ballet, its people, and its pedagogy. Broad theories of nationalism, internationalism, and Americanism undergird my study of this rich and underexamined period in ballet history.
Karen Eliot, PhD (Committee Chair)
Melanie Bales (Committee Member)
Candace Feck, PhD (Committee Member)
Susan Hadley (Committee Member)
331 p.
Dance
ballet; pedagogy; early twentieth century; American ballet; Cavallazzi; Galli; Albertieri; Mascagno; Mordkin; Vestoff; Serova; Chalif; capitalism; democracy; Americanism; Metropolitan Opera Ballet; national identity; internationalism; Balanchine

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Zeller, J. R. (2012). Shapes of American Ballet: Classical Traditions, Teachers, and Training in New York City, 1909-1934 [Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1336152425

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Zeller, Jessica. Shapes of American Ballet: Classical Traditions, Teachers, and Training in New York City, 1909-1934. 2012. Ohio State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1336152425.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Zeller, Jessica. "Shapes of American Ballet: Classical Traditions, Teachers, and Training in New York City, 1909-1934." Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University, 2012. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1336152425

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

osu1336152425
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© 2012, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by The Ohio State University and OhioLINK.