In the course of my research on Stravinsky’s Pulcinella, an idea came into my head that I should have considered before but never really needed to. How do we critique or write about ballet? It seems like nothing in academia can really train you from this apart from gaining personal experience in the matter. I have found that most criticism about ballet really focuses on the music, while there are so many other aspects to consider. There are choreography, set, writing, and sometimes theatrical aspects that I’ve found most critics seem to brush over. A music critic doesn’t have all of the necessary skills to fully deconstruct all the aspects of a ballet, though neither does an art critic, or theater critic, or literature reviewer. Bits of all of these are necessary to piece apart a ballet, much as a movie critic might comment on bits of every aspect of a film. The job of a music critic is generally much simpler, only needing their own ears, and maybe eyes to watch the performers or look at the score.
Because of this, I find it difficult to narrow my focus. In my past I’ve done a lot of writing on music, on the composer who wrote it and their personal feelings, motivations, and style. Naturally, that is what I tend to gravitate toward and that is what many people prioritize. So then, would one be able to argue that the choreography, costumes and sets, or writing are equally as important? I think the argument can be made, but it is difficult to find because so much of the scholarship around Pulcinella specifically revolves around the music, as music critics generally take on ballets.
I think when considering a ballet, one has to consider what makes a ballet unique. Ballets can be performed with many different sets, costumes and choreography, but what makes it the same ballet is the music. Maybe because of this music is the most essential aspect of a ballet. As the objective is to write a review of a ballet, focusing on the music is not much of an issue because we know what it sounds like from recordings and the many performances. The bigger issue is not knowing what the choreography or sets looked like from the premiere performance. I suppose that is the point of a pseudo-creative writing assignment, you have to make it up on your own based on the evidence you have.