The Balanchine Dilemma: 'So-Called Abstraction' and the Rhetoric of Circumvention in Black-and-White Ballets

Choreographer George Balanchine was known for rejecting the premise that his ballets were abstract. Yet, a closer look into his comments on abstraction reveals a greater degree of ambivalence toward the concept than previously noticed. His influential words found response in dance critical writing, where the term &ldquo
&rdquo
continued to circulate, but was often applied in vague ways, such as &ldquo
so-called abstraction.&rdquo
This and other softened terminological variations formed an ambiguous collection of abstractive terms, like a vague word cloud around the dance concept. This article explores abstraction in Balanchine&rsquo
s particular ballets, and makes a two-fold argument. On the one hand, by emphasizing the visual aspects of Balanchine&rsquo
s compositions, we may uncover ways to untangle his dilemma about dance abstraction. Visual theories of &ldquo
semantic abstraction&rdquo
by Harold Osborne, and of &ldquo
the gesture of abstraction&rdquo
by Blake Stimson, may help us to understand the abstractive modes in several of Balanchine&rsquo
s black-and-white ballets. On the other hand, whether discussed or not, Balanchine&rsquo
s abstractive gestures have created powerful representational shifts in some cases. In particular, by examining the interracially cast duet from the ballet Agon (1957) as a visual case study, we may see how Balanchine&rsquo
s rejections of the concept, amplified by critics&rsquo
vague terminological invocations of, or silence about, abstractive choreographic gestures, occluded the work&rsquo
s participation in the discourse of abstraction. Simultaneously, unnoticed yet potent choreographic gestures of semantic abstraction may have promoted whiteness as a normative structure, one that relies on a hegemonic &ldquo
bodily integrity&rdquo
(as discussed by Saidiya Hartman). Such an analysis leads to a recognition that Balanchine&rsquo
s abstraction could have been a subversive form of dissent similar to Kobena Mercer&rsquo
s concept of &ldquo
discrepant abstraction.&rdquo
However, I posit that, as a result of the Balanchine dilemma and its influence, the interlinked gestures of an abstract nature that have not been recognized as such promoted the self-regulative structure identified by Bojana Cvejić as &ldquo
white harmony.&rdquo
Ultimately, a more specific and clear application of the term &ldquo
in ballet is needed, as it can help to dismantle or disrupt the system of white supremacy operative in dominant ballet structures.