Here is an essay I wrote for my Master's application. It is in response to a statement that culture affects art.
Dance as art reflects and affects society (Banes 1994, 43). As society's philosophical view changes, so does the aesthetic form in dance (Banes 1994, 44). Indeed recent practices in ballet disrupt the classical body and push the boundaries of the philosophical heritage associated with ballet, challenging the ideals surrounding classicism (Parsons 2011, 2). In an article for the New York Times, dance critic Alistair Macaulay comments on the impact of costuming (or lack thereof) on aesthetic changes in dance.
When
tights are removed from ballet, the art itself is changed…The look of the bare
leg drastically changes the entire aesthetics of the form. Muscular details of
thigh, knee, calf become suddenly distracting. The leg becomes real, the
arabesque not.
Macaulay
2012, online
