Thursday May 17, 2012

JAPAN NEWS AND DISCUSSION

Asian dancers dominating U.S. ballet competition

Arts & Culture Jun. 22, 2010 - 05:29AM JST ( 18 )

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18 Comments

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noboritoJun. 22, 2010 - 08:48AM JST

emotionless faces, repetitive movements practiced billions of times so to attain nearly perfection, being cut out of everything for one mistake so that others with nearly perfect abilities can proceed unchallanged.... anyone wonder why Japanese are good at this?
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Damien15Jun. 22, 2010 - 09:33AM JST

Hmm are there other thin people than asians in US?
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bisoyJun. 22, 2010 - 10:07AM JST

The recent Van Cliburn international Piano competition's Top 4 finalists were all Asians. The top figure skaters were Kim Yona of S Korea and Asada of Japan. These competitions are judged almost subjectively by world class experts. Therefore, this news is something!
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MonkeyzJun. 22, 2010 - 11:41AM JST

Asians always have good technique and a good "appearance" (they look the part) but I always find that they lack soul. They're good at pretending to look like they have emotion if necessary (like in some kinds of dance or music) but it never feels genuine.

Damien15, I don't think thin or not matters in a ballet competition. They're all going to be thin. My ballet teacher was notorious for "encouraging" teenage and adult women to drop below 100 pounds if they wanted to go pro. You'll find in ballet that this is not unusual.
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womanforwomenJun. 22, 2010 - 12:37PM JST

Monkeyz, I know what you mean. Love ballet like crazy so I do feel the difference. choucreme I am not a ballerina and I am not jealous :)

It would be the same when europeans do the ancient Indian dances. The facial expressions are just way off.

This is why I love the mixed children. They help to pass on the specifics of the deep rooted cultural things.
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marushkaJun. 22, 2010 - 04:19PM JST

Monkeyz: fully agreed re good technique and lack of soul
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kyokenJun. 22, 2010 - 05:06PM JST

was this a classical or modern ballet competition?
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roughneckJun. 22, 2010 - 06:32PM JST

The Finalists

http://www.usaibc.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/RoundIIIMass.pdf
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sourpussJun. 22, 2010 - 08:47PM JST

marushka,

that's a rather soulless comment. sounds more like envy at the dancers' success than anything based on reality.
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marushkaJun. 23, 2010 - 12:22AM JST

sourpuss- sounds like everything in this life can be explained by envy :)
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bdiegoJun. 23, 2010 - 06:40AM JST

Sounds like envy talking here. Like when your team loses, your team is still better somehow.
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biculturalJun. 23, 2010 - 03:23PM JST

Noborito, the article is talking about "Asians" not only "Japanese" or are all Asians the same in your book? One reason why the Japanese are becoming successful dancers (not only ballet) is because they practice like crazy. I'm not saying it's a healthy thing, but they sure do put in a lot of effort.
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MistWizardJun. 23, 2010 - 08:04PM JST

Monkeyz said: I don't think thin or not matters in a ballet competition. They're all going to be thin. My ballet teacher was notorious for "encouraging" teenage and adult women to drop below 100 pounds if they wanted to go pro. You'll find in ballet that this is not unusual.

It sure as heck matters a great deal if the person is properly built to be that weight. A lot more Asians are. A tall, big boned person at 100 pounds is going to look horrible and not have the balance or the muscle mass to excel at ballet. Your coach was an idiot. Every adult female case is different.
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ReformedBasherJun. 25, 2010 - 09:28AM JST

I admit I am not an expert on the matter but am not surprised that Asian ballet dancers excel. I agree that their national temparements are quite different, but I recall that a lot of "Asian" countries, both East and West have a long history of dancing and it ys a large part of their respective cultures.

You seem a very refined and knowledgeable person. It's my pleasure to make your accquaintance.
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MikanojoJun. 27, 2010 - 08:30PM JST

This thread seems to be guilty of much racial profiling.. o_0 maybe there is some thing that not all here have considered? Ballet has ALWAYS sought to achieve image over substance.. there is no real 'soul' in ballet dance, as it is most often a dance that is pushed upon very young slender people who are still learning to express themselves - they are most often pushed into ballet by much older parents.. so it is THEIR dream.. THEIR soul.. being expressed in the form of the child being sent to perform a very structured, very strict form of visual poem. The very nature of ballet is strict control and death to the expression of the soul. The reasons that the Nihonjin women may well excel in ballet sadly do include the possible influence of Nihon society structure.. that they simply accept as a way of life, and physically Asian women GENERALLY are much smaller and more slender in their bodies.. even though they may be several years older than the Russian or American girls of similar size and shape - and THERE is the one racist comment that has not yet been written: The Asian women appear in the most-accepted shape and size for the abstract concept of false perfection that is ballet.. even though they are older and therefore more capable, more experienced than the majority of young rail-thin children who were made to suffer ballet by their parents. The final combination of right-shape and size, plus age and experience, (and sadly hai.. the structure of Nihon society in general) all combine to create very favorable circumstances for Asian women to excel in ballet.