The classical dancer and his bodily spheres towards a systemic body

Abstract

This study is based on seven approaches with which classical ballet dancers engage, referred to in this essay as corporal spheres: the soul; emotions and sensations; spirit and beliefs; intellect; the body disciplined by classical ballet technique; the body shaped by modern society; and the physical body. These spheres are not equally developed, and the body shaped by ballet technique significantly influences the other areas of the dancer’s life. This research emphasizes the harmony of the dancer’s body in order to foster artistic creation from a holistic and conscious perspective and to develop a concept of the systemic body for the classical ballet dancer. To achieve this body awareness, the study proposes a strategy for understanding the body through embodied experience itself. This involves reflecting on dance, internalizing it through analytical thought, and cultivating awareness of how ballet inhabits the dancer’s body. Considering its rules, principles, and theoretical foundations, this research advocates for the development of a poetics of ballet that prevents bodily fragmentation. The aim is to promote an integral dancing body and to address the forms of violence inflicted upon the dancer’s body, both in theory and in practice.