Barbra Milberg
Encyclopedia
Barbra Milberg Fisher is widely credited with significantly altering the art form of dance
. Milberg’s collection of memoirs In Balanchine’s Company shares her rise to stardom and the troubles she faced along the way.
, a voracious reader, and a student of piano. By the age of six, she had suffered through dysentery
and a serious bout of pneumonia
, and began taking dance lessons —despite the strain on the family finances—to build her strength. In school, Milberg continued to study classical piano and ballet despite her parents wishing her career to involve a profession in physical education.
to join The Ballet Society
. The Ballet Society was defined as a non-for-profit research lab for the arts. Created as an “experimental enterprise” for examining new ideas by Balanchine and Kirstein, the school offered bold imagination and a sense of audacity. At this time, Milberg, at the young age of fifteen, was beginning to make a name for herself. Her first performance was in "Mozart’s Symphony Concert: Corps de ballet" with the Ballet Society. That same year, Milberg was accepted into the well-known high school of Music and Art, and notably promoted from the intermediate to advanced classes at the School of American Ballet
. Her life revolved around dance; during the week Milberg would travel between different schools and different classes. On the weekends, she used empty studios to practice. Just two years after the Ballet Society was formed, 1948 would mark the beginning of what would always be known as the New York City Ballet
. Soon after in 1950 and 1951, Balanchine took the company on their first overseas trip to London for almost two months. The following year, 1952, the company departed for their first European grand tour. On May 10, 1952, they opened in Paris. A few years later, 1957 would mark the last ballet Milberg would appear in for that company. The year after, 1958, she left Balanchine's company and joined Jerome Robbins
' newly formed ballets as a principal dancer. This was the peak of her career.
.
. High culture is defined as “whose most common meaning is the set of cultural products, mainly in the arts, held in the highest esteem by a culture, or denoting the culture of ruling social groups” (High culture
-Wikipedia). In recent years though, there have been Hollywood movies such as Centerstage
(2000) and Step-Up (2006) that have incorporated ballet into the popular culture audience. Reflecting her devoted fan base, Barbra Milberg has become a part of American popular culture through bring ballet into modern hearts and minds.
According to John Storey, the second definition of popular culture is that pop culture is not high culture by stating “Popular culture, in this definition, is a residual category, there to accommodate culture texts and practices which fail to meet the required standards to qualify as high culture” (Storey, 8).
Dance
Dance is an art form that generally refers to movement of the body, usually rhythmic and to music, used as a form of expression, social interaction or presented in a spiritual or performance setting....
. Milberg’s collection of memoirs In Balanchine’s Company shares her rise to stardom and the troubles she faced along the way.
Pre-Ballet Career
Barbra Milberg was born in 1931. Milberg was the daughter of immigrant Ukrainian Jews; she grew up in Brooklyn during the Great DepressionGreat Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
, a voracious reader, and a student of piano. By the age of six, she had suffered through dysentery
Dysentery
Dysentery is an inflammatory disorder of the intestine, especially of the colon, that results in severe diarrhea containing mucus and/or blood in the faeces with fever and abdominal pain. If left untreated, dysentery can be fatal.There are differences between dysentery and normal bloody diarrhoea...
and a serious bout of pneumonia
Pneumonia
Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung—especially affecting the microscopic air sacs —associated with fever, chest symptoms, and a lack of air space on a chest X-ray. Pneumonia is typically caused by an infection but there are a number of other causes...
, and began taking dance lessons —despite the strain on the family finances—to build her strength. In school, Milberg continued to study classical piano and ballet despite her parents wishing her career to involve a profession in physical education.
Background of her memoir “In Balanchine’s Company”
Throughout Milberg’s memoir, she shares her personal experiences growing with the company, the lifestyles dancers had to acquire, and her own vivid memories of touring around the world. While Milberg was given the opportunity to dance for a world-renowned ballet company, she also shared experiences with some of the most memorable choreographers, composers, dancers, and designers of that time.Road to success
Her career took flight in the fall of 1946. Milberg was invited by George BalanchineGeorge Balanchine
George Balanchine , born Giorgi Balanchivadze in Saint Petersburg, Russia, to a Georgian father and a Russian mother, was one of the 20th century's most famous choreographers, a developer of ballet in the United States, co-founder and balletmaster of New York City Ballet...
to join The Ballet Society
New York City Ballet
New York City Ballet is a ballet company founded in 1948 by choreographer George Balanchine and Lincoln Kirstein. Leon Barzin was the company's first music director. Balanchine and Jerome Robbins are considered the founding choreographers of the company...
. The Ballet Society was defined as a non-for-profit research lab for the arts. Created as an “experimental enterprise” for examining new ideas by Balanchine and Kirstein, the school offered bold imagination and a sense of audacity. At this time, Milberg, at the young age of fifteen, was beginning to make a name for herself. Her first performance was in "Mozart’s Symphony Concert: Corps de ballet" with the Ballet Society. That same year, Milberg was accepted into the well-known high school of Music and Art, and notably promoted from the intermediate to advanced classes at the School of American Ballet
School of American Ballet
The School of American Ballet is one of the most famous classical ballet schools in the world and is the associate school of the New York City Ballet, a leading international ballet company based at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City. The school trains students from the...
. Her life revolved around dance; during the week Milberg would travel between different schools and different classes. On the weekends, she used empty studios to practice. Just two years after the Ballet Society was formed, 1948 would mark the beginning of what would always be known as the New York City Ballet
New York City Ballet
New York City Ballet is a ballet company founded in 1948 by choreographer George Balanchine and Lincoln Kirstein. Leon Barzin was the company's first music director. Balanchine and Jerome Robbins are considered the founding choreographers of the company...
. Soon after in 1950 and 1951, Balanchine took the company on their first overseas trip to London for almost two months. The following year, 1952, the company departed for their first European grand tour. On May 10, 1952, they opened in Paris. A few years later, 1957 would mark the last ballet Milberg would appear in for that company. The year after, 1958, she left Balanchine's company and joined Jerome Robbins
Jerome Robbins
Jerome Robbins was an American theater producer, director, and choreographer known primarily for Broadway Theater and Ballet/Dance, but who also occasionally directed films and directed/produced for television. His work has included everything from classical ballet to contemporary musical theater...
' newly formed ballets as a principal dancer. This was the peak of her career.
Post career
After her dancing career came to a close, Milberg became a professor of English at the City College of New YorkCity College of New York
The City College of the City University of New York is a senior college of the City University of New York , in New York City. It is also the oldest of the City University's twenty-three institutions of higher learning...
.
Significance to Popular Culture
Ballet, as well as ballet production, has always been associated with high cultureHigh culture
High culture is a term, now used in a number of different ways in academic discourse, whose most common meaning is the set of cultural products, mainly in the arts, held in the highest esteem by a culture...
. High culture is defined as “whose most common meaning is the set of cultural products, mainly in the arts, held in the highest esteem by a culture, or denoting the culture of ruling social groups” (High culture
High culture
High culture is a term, now used in a number of different ways in academic discourse, whose most common meaning is the set of cultural products, mainly in the arts, held in the highest esteem by a culture...
-Wikipedia). In recent years though, there have been Hollywood movies such as Centerstage
Centerstage
CenterStage, now obsolete, was a media center software application with a 10-foot user interface design for the living-room TV that allows digital content stored on an Apple Macintosh computer running Mac OS X to be played on a standard television set....
(2000) and Step-Up (2006) that have incorporated ballet into the popular culture audience. Reflecting her devoted fan base, Barbra Milberg has become a part of American popular culture through bring ballet into modern hearts and minds.
According to John Storey, the second definition of popular culture is that pop culture is not high culture by stating “Popular culture, in this definition, is a residual category, there to accommodate culture texts and practices which fail to meet the required standards to qualify as high culture” (Storey, 8).
External links and references
- Aloff, Mindy. The Moscow Times Arts & Ideas. Published March 2, 2007
- Milberg, Barbra F. (2006). In Balanchine’s Company. Middletown, Connecticut: Wesleyan University Press.
- Storey, John. "What is Popular Culture?" The University of Georgia. Abstract. An Introduction to Cultural Theory and Popular Culture 2: 1-21