Dark Elegies: Finding Healing through Dance

IU Sophomores Colin Ellis and Raffaela Stroik

Another major reason I chose Antony Tudor as my topic was because of the impact his choreography in Dark Elegies had on me when I saw it at Indiana University Ballet Theatre's Fall Ballet.  When I first heard that the piece was about people mourning the death of all of the town's children, my first response was apprehension.  How could I come away from a piece with such a somber and depressing theme feeling anything but grief.  However, my expectations were soon proved wrong as it became clear that Dark Elegies is not about the dead, but rather those who are left behind in the wake of catastrophe.

One of the themes I found most poignant within the piece was the relation of the individual to the community.  This is particularly relevant in the first song when the corps are gathered knelt in a circle facing outwards, while the soloist performs.  It is through this one woman that the internal  tribulations of the group are made manifest while still maintaining the outward semblance of solemn mourning.  Likewise, there are points throughout the piece when the dancers act as individuals and as members of a community.  For instance, while the first song emphasized the role of the individual, the songs from the third to the last, focus on the ritual mourning of the community and the ultimate catharsis that occurs as a result.  This came to mind when I saw the third song, in which the male soloist started moving his feet in a pigeon toed manner, similar to what we saw in Rite of Spring.  It was at this point that it clicked in my mind that Tudor was tapping into this same primal theme of dance as ritual.  Also, the costuming for the piece called to mind Nijinska's Les Noces, in that both dances depict peasant life cycle events, one of bliss and the other of sorrow, yet both equally vital to the health and well-being of the community.

Another theme I found interesting was the idea that we all mourn alone, even within a group.  Going back to the first song, while the soloist is portraying the inner struggle of the townswomen, they face outward instead of inward towards each other.  Another extreme example of this isolation is during the second song, which chronicles the despair of a mother who is now contemplating suicide.  As she is being partnered by her husband, a symbol of hope, they look at each other, but they never connect.  They touch.  They bow.  They support.  At one point she even jumps into his arms in a cradle rock.  Yet throughout all of this physical contact, there is no emotional connection.  This serves to emphasize the degree to which we all suffer and experience grief alone.  Even at a funeral, surrounded by friends and family, we still feel as isolated as if we were in a room all by ourselves.