Romanticism legacy in postmodernity

1. ROMANTICISM
Legacy In the performing arts

2. ARE THESE THEMES STILL PREVALENT
TODAY
• Glorification of Nature
• Interest in ancient times
• Instinct more important than reason
• Equality-Giving voice to the poor and the oppressed
• Individual feeling
• Individual detail as revealing ‘truth’
• The quest for ultimate truth (which is always beyond reach)
• The special role of the artist

3. WHAT ABOUT THE ROLE OF THE
ARTIST?
The Romantic Artist
• The seeker of ultimate truth
• The misunderstood genius
• Heightened sensitivity –
perceives and understand what
others cannot
• The challenger of outdated
convention
Today’s Artist

4. ROMANTICISM IN DANCE
• How much is the image of the female
dancer today influenced by
Romanticism?
Marie Taglioni mid C19
Marianela Nunez 2018 as Giselle
© Helen Maybanks | ROH, 2018

5. IS IT ONLY BALLET THAT IS STILL
INFLUENCED?

6. WHERE DO YOU STILL SEE THE
STRUCTURE OF THE ROMANTIC
MELODRAMA?
Melodrama
• provocation something that leads to
the villain to do evil to the hero;
• Suffering of the hero, heroine and other
good characters suffer as a result of
villain’s actions
• penalty in the last part of the play the
villain gets the punishment he or she
deserves.

7. HOW HAVE ROMANTIC WORKS
BEEN REVISED FOR C21?
What has changed /not changed and why?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cyqURSNx-
KY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1q82twrdr0U

8. ROMANTIC BALLET IN C21
• While many companies still perform
traditional versions of Romantic ballets
such as La Sylphide and Giselle others
have reworked them. Eg Bourne’s
Highland Fling 1994 Mats Ek Giselle
1982
• More recently Akram Khan has re-
envisioned Giselle 2016 with the title
character being a migrant factory
worker
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Am
lg-vPC9xU

9. ROMANTIC BALLET IN C21
• and some others perform the ballets with a key difference
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SDCvrOkFaro
• Longer version here
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8pgiBoN_HU&list=RD_V7_DsnKarE&index=5

10. SUMMARY
• Romanticism in the arts related to a historic period from late C18 to mid C19 in
which old conventions and hierarchies were challenged and emphasis put on nature,
feeling and the experience of individuals
• It remains an influence in western performance today
• The Romantics were often radical and we can wonder what they would have made
of issues such as global warming and continued inequalities
• But many Romantic artists came from privileged backgrounds, mostly they were
male (not Mary Shelley!) and all were European and thus assumptions regarding
gender and cultural differences may also be part of their influence