On the Topic of Dream Ballets
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| That's cinema, baby |
I've been burning the candle on both ends to try to get the ACPS website ready for launch and I was tempted to write about it but then I remembered last week I promised to blog about Cinema. And this topic was eating at me, wanting to be written about and I just gotta.
The Dream Ballet! It's a surreal moment in a musical where the walls of reality melt and we get pure emotion expressed in this dreamlike setting that usually only one member of the cast remembers - being their dream. As a dream, it also is filled with exaggeration, foreshadowing, and symbolism. A recent example is from Greta Gerwig's Barbie with "I'm Just Ken" where Ryan Gosling's Ken and his cadre of other Kens go to war with Simu Liu's Ken and his own cadre of Kens.
Anyways, a pal on my favorite niche microbloging network brought up Dream Ballets and I appreciate she did it cause it reminded me how much I love the conceit of a Dream Ballet! I missed exploring the classic musicals growing up. As much as teenage me liked weird stuff - there was something a little too effeminate in musicals for me to get too into. Fortunately, older me laughs in the face of toxic masculinity and hunts down films with Dream Ballets just for the heck of it.
This is how the 1955 film version of Oklahoma! first got on my radar. A fun bit of trivia - while the concept of a Dream Ballet predates Rogers & Hammerstein's original musical in 1943, that's kind of where its been seen as brought to the attention of the "modern audience." It was probably my fourth or fifth film where I got to view one. I kind of had been avoiding Oklahoma! since it had the reputation of "Boomer media."
In Oklahoma! Laurey is having a bit of conflict between her love for Curley and the obligation of just going to a dance with Jud but in this Dream Ballet it becomes twisted as she imagines a future with Jud and it becomes a downright Nightmare Ballet.
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| Truly, this image doesn't do it justice. |
Watching Zinneman's 1955 version of Oklahoma! felt pretty milquetoast at times... until the Dream Ballet. At some point, the dream turns on Laurey and it legit becomes a stygian hellscape with an orange backdrop, staircases that go to nowhere, and gas lamps blazing at full power. Every other actor has been replaced with an actual dancer to further distance the character from reality - except Jud. Still represented by Rod Steiger at his most obstinate, he is a physical anchor back to The Real and acts as an avatar for Laurey on what the reality of growing up will mean.
And it's all wonderfully exhibited with no extra dialog. It ain't needed here. It's all exaggeration, foreshadowing, and symbolism, but that's all that's needed in this aetheric realm. But, like visual poetry, there's so much depth and meaning in every prop, every dance step, every second.
As mentioned, I only very recently started exploring the popular 20th Century musicals in cinema and my responses have ranged from "wow I love it" with Singing In the Rain to "wow this is not for me" with Hello, Dolly! And for the first half the viewing, I was sure Oklahoma! was going to land in the latter category. And then this film revealed that there was more beneath the surface.
Another friend of mine on my favorite niche microblogging network has convinced me that there's always been a little bit of subversion and criticism of America and Americana baked into this white bread classic of a musical, and that's definitely supported by Daniel Fish's performance a few years back.
That's neither here nor there on the topic of Dream Ballets, though. I don't really know where this is going other than to say "here's a bit of history about Dream Ballets and I think they're neat."
Anyways, I'm probably gonna go rewatch the '55 Oklahoma! tonight.
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