Is Dance Making a Comeback?

Dance, especially classical ballet, has never seemed extremely popular in my lifetime. Boring and outdated were usually the general descriptors applied to the art form. And the recession in the pasts few years has not helped the situation. People no longer have excess money to spend on tickets to see the ballet, or any dance performance for that matter, and so dance companies are not making enough to stay afloat. It's not just dance companies, either. The San Jose Symphony Orchestra, one of the oldest symphony orchestras in California, dissolved in 2001 from lack of funds. I find it sad that a city of about 1 million people cannot keep one symphony orchestra funded. Is it just that people no longer have an interest in these art forms? Or is it all to blame on the recession?

Dance does seem to be making a comeback in popular culture, though mostly in television and film. With shows such as So You Think You Can Dance, Dancing with the Stars, America's Best Dance Crew, etc, more and more people are coming out to show off their dancing skills. And, even more recently, the newest dance movie hit theaters: Black Swan. Unlike movies like Step Up or Take the Lead, which are focused to the younger generations with more popular dance forms, Black Swan takes us back to the days of The Red Shoes and Center Stage, bringing ballet to the forefront. Black Swan was not only a major grosser and big hit among audiences, it was also nominated for a variety of awards. So, is dance making a comeback? Should we expect fuller audiences and increased ticket sales during the upcoming dance seasons? I sincerely hope so.

*photos of American Ballet Theatre's Swan Lake and the third is myself