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Neoclassical ballet is a ballet style that uses traditional ballet vocabulary, but is less rigid than the classical ballet. For example, dancers often dance at more extreme tempos and perform more technical feats.. Although organization in neoclassical ballet is more varied, the focus on structure is a defining characteristic of neoclassical ballet.Balanchine used flexed hands (and occasionally feet), turned-in legs, off-centered positions and non-classical costumes (such as leotards and tunics instead of tutus) to distance himself from the classical and romantic ballet traditions. What is left is the dance itself, sophisticated but sleekly modern, retaining the pointe shoe aesthetic, but eschewing the well upholstered drama and mime of the full length story ballet.
Balanchine also worked with modern dance choreographer Martha Graham, expanding his exposure to modern techniques and ideas. Also during this period, choreographers such as John Butler and Glen Tetley began to consciously combine ballet and mApollo represented a return to form in response to Serge Diaghilev's abstract ballets.
odern techniques in experimentation.
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