The hindquarters of male ballet dancers resemble nothing so much as those of horses. This is accentuated by their light brown tights stretching taught across every expanse of muscle, plunging into every crevice, and shiny as a thoroughbred’s coat. For the first dance, the Brahms-Haydn Variations choreographed by Twyla Tharp, the five principal couples all wear outfits made of this tight pale brown material—the men in the aforementioned tights and matching tees, the women in fitted tanks and tiny, flimsy skirts. The company wears the same cuts but in off-white, like apartment walls. The stage is accented only with golden light, and the dancers pair off and commence a series of deceptively effortless lifts, spins and leaps. In most modern forms of entertainment, rarely are we asked to choose where we focus our attention. For much of this dance, a majority of the company is onstage simultaneously, and the audience must choose either to concentrate on a specific couple, or view the entire stage as a teeming and swelling amorphous organism. Narrowing in on one couple, however, allows the sharply muscled physiques to become apparent. These bodies are anatomy guides—each leg and arm curving as the muscles dictate. Watching them, my companion and I later agree, makes us want to be better people—to stand up straighter, to drink more water, to possibly starve ourselves? The simplicity of this routine is beautiful—it allows viewers to see the innate elegance of the dancers and their movements. The costumes in the later dances, On the Dnieper and Fancy Free, are more elaborate, accessorized constructions—longer skirts and thicker material accompanied by bags and hats. Oddly, the men look more masculine, intimidating almost, in their tights, rather than dressed as soldiers, knaves or flirtatious sailors. Dressing them in common clothing, however unusual these particular clothes may be, invites the comparison to other soldiers, knaves, and simply ordinary men, and ordinary men don’t leap and twirl through the air or fill out their jeans like Beyoncé.
