夫：トゥ・シューズをはかないバレーも自由な感じがして、いいものだね。
妻：でも、はじめは風あたりが強かったと思うわ。
Kaze-atari ga Tsuyoi
(Nyuuyooku de modan baree wo mite)
Otto: Tou shuuzu wo hakanai baree mo jiyuu na kanji ga shite, ii mono da ne.
Tsuma: Demo, hajime wa kaze-atari ga tsuyokatta to omou wa.
(After watching some modern ballet in New York)
Husband: I quite like this ballet where the dancers don't wear toe shoes. It has a loose and free feeling about it.
Wife: In the beginning, though, I imagine it was harshly criticized.
* * *
Kaze-atari ga tsuyoi literally refers to the wind being strong. Idiomatically, it means "to come under intense pressure," "to receive harsh treatment or severe criticism. " When you hear the word "ballet" what comes to mind? Tchaikovsky's Swan La fee with its ballerinas in white tutus and toe shoes? That wouldn't be surprising. Classical ballet in all its beauty was perfected in that work.
The first woman to dance "ballet" without wearing shoes is said to have been San Fransisco-born Isadora Duncan (1878-1927). The first time she appeared on stage in a free-fitting costume, the criticism she received from the public was very severe (seken no kaze-atari ga totemo tsuyokatta).
It is said to have been the loose-fitting garments worn by women depicted in paintings on Greek pottery that inspired Duncan to forsake the traditional ballet costume. (Duncan had been studying the pottery at the Louvre in Paris.) At first people called it immoral; kanojo wa kore hodo kaze-atari ga tsuyoi to wa omowanakatta (Duncan herself hadn't expected the criticism to be so harsh, so severe). At the time, she was not welcomed by American audiences; in Europe, however, her reception was much warmer, especially in Berlin where she became very popular. Koko de wa kaze-atari wa amari tsuyokunakatta (There the treatment she received was not very harsh). In 1905 she performed in St. Petersburg and in 1917 she was a sjtrong supporter of the Russian Revolution.
Today in New York it's very easy to see some wonderful freestyle ballet. If Isadora were alive she might say, "Seken no kaze-atari nado ki ni suru hitsu- yo wa nakatta (I guess I needn't have worried over the severe criticism I received from the public [back then])." In the 1920s Isadora found herself suffering under the weight of loan repayments. She died tragically in 1927 when the scarf she was wearing got caught in the wheel of a car.
Whenever someone tries out something new or opposes the opinions of others, one is bound to hear someone say, "Sonna koto wo iu to kaze-atari ga tsuyoi desu yo (You're going to get some pretty harsh criticism by saying that)." Sometimes we need to bear up under such criticism and continue on with pur own plans and ideas. I think that's what Isadora Duncan's advice would be.