Balanchine and the Elephants

Homo Academicus

Who’d have thought of choreographing a ballet for fifty elephants?  George Balanchine, apparently.  I can’t comment on the merits of the performance, but it certainly provided an intriguing basis for Professor Deborah Philips’ inaugural lecture at the University of Brighton.  She spoke eloquently and entertainingly on the conflict between high and low culture, and argued persuasively that it is dangerous to make a dinstinction between the two.  As Helene Cicoux wrote, establishing binary opposites often results in a hierarchy.  Professor Philips agrees with Raymond Williams’ assertion that “we must at all costs avoid the polarisation of our culture”, and rejects Matthew Arnold’s belief that popular culture is not good for the soul.  I suspect Arnold would have taken a dim view of the elephants.  The fact that the existence of Circus Polka is known by only very few people rather supports Cicoux’s hierarchy theory.  Fortunately, some contemporary reviews do survive and we learn that the elephants “performed their routine flawlessly, which is more than can be said about the band’s playing of Stravinsky.”

In acknowledgement of her recent elevation, Professor Philips also talked generally about the role of the Professor, or Homo Academicus,  and examined Bordieu’s assertation that “there is nothing on which he [sic] cannot speak.”  Having been to a few lectures in my time, I would venture that there are many subjects on which some of them can’t speak.  Fortunately, the Professor on the podium was a fine example of the form and will no doubt prove a valuable asset to the University.

Tagged as: academic