Timothée Chalamet’s response, which was that he would not want to be part of “dying art forms” like ballet or opera because “no one cares about them anymore”, was not really a shocking comment. It was not met with indignation but with frustration‚ by dancers‚ opera singers, and performing arts advocates․ The comment was a variation of a long-held myth that people in the classical performing arts have been hearing for decades: that the art forms are dead․
But the truth is more complicated than that․ Ballet and opera are not dying․ In fact‚ they remain influential‚ adaptable, and embedded in the culture in which we routinely operate․
The “Dying Art Form” Narrative Isn’t Anything New
For a few decades‚ there have been claims that ballet and opera as art forms have been in a period of decline‚ during which a newly developed range of media (like television and streaming services) also began to have a dramatic impact on attendance․ The participation rates for attending classical arts events have changed over time according to the NEA series of studies‚ as audiences have diversified their sources of entertainment (National Endowment for the Arts‚ 2023)․
But fluctuation does not mean disappearance‚ and cultural participation has always come to terms with new technologies and new ways of living․ The performing arts underwent some of their most radical disruptions during the COVID-19 pandemic‚ as theatres around the world were forced to close (Dance Australia‚ 2022)․ But many ballet companies and opera houses have rebuilt audiences through livestreams‚ broadcasts and programming meant to attract new audiences․
These art forms have instead adapted and evolved over time․
Young Audiences Are Still Engaging
Another stereotype applied to ballet and opera is that these disciplines are popular mainly among older adults․ But research on arts attendance has found large shares of young adults attending dance․ Some studies indicate that more young people report attending ballet than opera or classical music concerts (National Endowment for the Arts‚ 2023)․
Other arts organizations have started making their performances available to younger audiences through student discount tickets‚ partnerships with universities‚ and social media presence․ Opera houses have started recording broadcasts of their performances‚ and ballet companies post rehearsals and choreography on the internet․
For many students today‚ it has never been easier to learn classical performance styles․
How Ballet and Opera Shape Modern Culture
People who’ve never been to the ballet or the opera are influenced by them․
The performance styles of film scoring, theater acting, orchestral performance, and choreography have much in common with the centuries-old practice of opera and ballet. So many of the dramatic orchestral scores and stage techniques used in Hollywood films are a natural artistic extension of the operatic and balletic arts․
Apart from that, contemporary fashion designers continue to use ballet references in runway shows and dance pieces that combine ballet and other dance styles․
In other words‚ ballet and opera are not separate from modern culture‚ they are part of it․
Many devices used in the film industry‚ such as the dramatic structure of narrative film featuring actors like Chalamet‚ were established in the theater before the advent of cinema․
Accessibility Is The Real Challenge
That said‚ for this record‚ we should not forget the access barriers that these art forms sometimes present․ Ballet and opera can be hard to come by․ The high prices of tickets‚ the fact that performances are most commonly put on in a few major cities‚ and the elitism associated with these art forms may be factors․
Answers to these barriers have been debated in the performing arts community‚ and many companies have adopted ideas such as student rush tickets‚ educational outreach programs‚ community outreach performances‚ and digital broadcasts․
This is where Chalamet’s comment gets a bit cloudy. If he had said something more critical‚ about how not everybody has easy access to these art forms‚ either because they’re expensive‚ or because younger people aren’t necessarily going to be clued into it‚ then we’d be somewhere else․ This seemed to imply that ballet and opera were superfluous․
After spending years in a profession with such high training standards‚ the label of “dying art form” was less about its accessibility and more about its negative perception in the art world․
Why This Conversation Matters
Likewise‚ Chalamet’s comment is part of a broader trend in which art’s worth is increasingly seen as determined by whether it is seen on social media feeds or streaming charts: if it is not‚ it is said to have lost relevance․
However‚ artistic traditions that have persisted for centuries rarely die out just because they are less visible online․
Ballet from Renaissance Europe‚ and opera from seventeenth-century Italy‚ survived wars‚ technological revolutions‚ and the disappearance of the mass audiences which were once essential to their existence․
What makes them relevant‚ even as our digital culture grows‚ is the ability to tell a story musically‚ through movement and presence․
The Stage Is Still Alive
There are still dancers rehearsing daily in studios around the world‚ and there are still opera singers on the stages of theaters with audiences who want the magic․
Ballet and opera may not be the top trending hashtags on social media‚ but they are still dynamic art forms․
Chalamet’s comment‚ though‚ is an unforgiving reminder of the reality of art that lives outside the algorithm: it’s easy to forget it still matters․
But the stage has never been dependent on algorithms to survive․
Ballet and opera are not dying․ They are simply waiting for new audiences (like college students) to discover them․
References
Arts Participation Patterns in 2022: Highlights from the Survey of Public Participation in the Arts. (n.d.). National Endowment for the Arts. https://www.arts.gov/impact/research/publications/arts-participation-patterns-2022-highlights-survey-public-participation-arts
Is that a shrink wrap? – Dance Australia. (n.d.). https://www.danceaustralia.com.au/news/is-that-a-shrink-wrap