Dance is a type of recreation that is great fun, exercise and sport. Dance is the movement of the body usually to rhythms or music. It is a form of expression and can even be considered a way of non verbal communication. What exactly dance is, depends on which culture you are speaking of. Dance can be competitive, ceremonial or even sensuous. But whatever you consider dance, all types had a beginning someplace, probably back in the time of the earliest humans. Back in 3300 BC artifacts have been found which depict dancing in tomb paintings. During early times in history dance was seen as a way to heal sickness, a way to break a spell, or perhaps to put a spell on someone. Ballet dance is considered a template for all other forms of dance. …show more content…
Although I enjoyed doing ballet, tap and toe dance, I really enjoyed being in school plays and dancing with the local Light Opera Company. A few of the plays I danced in were West Side Story, Hello Dolly with the Light Opera Company, Mame in high school and Flower Drum Song in eighth grade Dance gear we wore were the costumes of the time period, for the plays I was in. The clothes were pretty basic for West Side Story with the men wearing jackets ( yellow for gang leader Riff) with either khaki’s for the Jets and black jeans for the Sharks and t-shirts.The ladies wore skirts that fell below the knees, with matching top with dark shoes. Maria wore a white dress down to the knees. In Mame the men wore top coats and black boots; the women long dresses or skirts and floppy hats and carried parasols. In Hello Dolly, the men wore suit jackets and vests with their pants. The women wore long dresses and carried parasols. West Side Story was one of the plays I did with the Light Opera Company while in high school. This play follows the lives of Maria and Tony a couple whose background in significantly different and takes place in the 1950′s in New York City. It follows the love of the couple, Tony a man from the Polish American working class gang and Maria the sister of Bernardo the leader of a Puerto Rican …show more content…
My roll consisted of dancing with the rest of the dance ensemble. West Side Story was based on a book by Arthur Laurents, with music by Leonard Bernstein and coreographed by Jerome Robbins. It was based on the Shakespeare play Romeo and Juliet. The film version won 10 Academy Awards including Best Picture.The film starred Natalie Wood, Richard Beymer,Russ Tamblyn & Rita Moreno. Mame is a play about the rich Mame Dennis whose life is turned upside down by the arrival of her nephew ( her deceased brother’s son) and Mame lifestyle is thrust upon her nephew as they embark on numerous adventures. The major characters in Mame were: "Auntie Mame"- main character Vera- Mame 's best friend Beau- Mame 's love interest Patrick- Mame 's nephew Agnes- Patrick 's
As it is with any work that is based on something else, it is the differences as well as the similarities that make both the original and the inspired appealing. Romeo and Juliet and West Side Story continue to portray the common themes of hatred and violence. However, because Juliet and Romeo’s relationship is so altered by fate, they are less affected by the violence in their society than Tony and Maria are.
New fashions were surfacing in both men’s and women’s fashions. Men were wearing Bermuda pants, baggy pants that were cut off at the knee, while women were wearing capris, tight pants that cut off just below the knee. Men were wearing tailored jackets and making a slight move towards the casual dress of today’s workplace. Women were wearing natural shoulders as opposed to the heavily padded ones of the war years. Flat, neck-hugging collars replaced the mannish collars of the late 1940’s. Waists were tightly fitted and skirts were long (Melinkoff 46). The jeans of the time were often lined with plaid flanel and dungarees were worn to the most casual occasions. The sandals of the fifties were not much different than the sandals of today.
For the dancer, music and choreography are paramount. The music guides the dancer, and the moves express the music. However, the dance has to start from somewhere.
Her costuming would vary from era to era, but it often involved long flowy ankle length skirts or gauchos for the women with leotard like tops to the costumes, depending on the piece. Men would often wear tights, suit like costumes or little to nothing (i.e. dance shorts).
The period between early 1940s to mid-1960s or so, alternatively, the period between when the musical Oklahoma! (1943) was produced till the time when Hair (1968) was produced, is usually referred to as the Golden Age of the American musical (Kantor, 2010). It is during this period, that most of the noted titles such as “Carousel”, “South Pacific” etc. were produced. 1940s and early 1950s were dominated thoroughly by MGM musicals, while the late 1950s and 1960s belonged to Broadway. Initially, the musicals of this era had simple plots, unchallenging themes, with romantic or comedic characters and lots of singing and dancing. But towards the end of it, the plots were sophisticated, serious with singing, dancing as well as dialogue. In this paper, I choose to elaborate more on the musical – Arthur Laurents’s West Side Story. In the first part of this paper, I discuss the plot, songs and other aspects of the musical such as the awards etc. Later on, I explain how this musical revolutionized the theatre and the cultural effects it had on Americans. Finally, I conclude in the end the historical importance of this musical piece.
Love is a beautiful thing, it always works out in the end. Everyone is always happy and no problems occur. West Side Story, a musical by Leonard Bornstein based on Shakespeare 's Romeo and Juliet parallels a love story of two star-crossed lovers. The play takes place in 1961 in New York City. This musical displays importance because it shows that nothing can overcome the power of love. This play is based on a love story between the main characters of Maria and Tony. Theses two are from different gangs that trouble to get along. They are from different gangs that do not get along at all. Roughly two hundred blocks make up Manhattan’s West Side, which stretches from Central Park West to the Hudson River. For the most part, the street youths
The history behind ballet began in the Italian Renaissance courts of the fifteenth century. The word ‘ballet’ stemmed from masked ball. Noblemen and women in the Italian Renaissance were treated to lavish events such as wedding celebrations were ballet dancing and music was incorporated to be an elaborate spectacle. During this time in the fifteenth century, dancing masters aka ballet teachers (instructors) as we call them nowadays would teach the court who participated in the performances. Also during the Italian Renaissance, the wife of King Henry II of France, Catherine de Medici adored ballet and began to fund ballet in the French court. With funding the French Ballet court, Cathering de Medici added to the elaborate festivals which she included to have the ballet have a theme meaning costumes, music, poetry, and décor that went along with it. A century passed, King Louis XIV also contributed into popularizing the form of dance. During King Louis XIV’s reign, he was a passionate dancer and danced many roles himself....
The weather was humid and dry. The men usually wore a cloth around their waist. More elite men dressed in robes tying from their shoulders down to their kneecaps (Laughton p.37). These robes also contained elaborate designs. The women dressed in dresses that wrapped around their shoulders almost like a toga (Sharer p.103).
Dance became used mostly before the existence of movie (Ellenberger). This is became people did not have any other way of relieving themselves. With the movie and film, dance became less common. There was however change in the dancing styles as the film provided the people with several alternatives of
As Jackie Joyner Kersee once said, “The rewards are going to come, but my happiness is just loving the sport and having fun performing” (“Sports Quotes,” 2013). Sports play a major role in entertainment all across the world. Sports can range from driving in NASCAR to playing in the NBA (Careers in Pro Sports, 1999). Sports usually involve teamwork and is fun for everyone. Although sports are supposed to be fun, there is natural competition. Being a feminine art, dance is considered to be just about anything other than a sport. Dancers are trained to the height of their ability, just like other athletes in other sports. Even though the dancer might not perform with their whole dance studio on stage at the same time, the dancers are all apart of the same team. Dancing is not an easy sport to participate in, so if you are looking for a sport that does not require practice then you might want to look into a different sport. There are hour-long practices, healthy diets, and several routines to remember. Normally, if someone is convinced that dance is not a sport, they have not fully engaged or experienced dance. In order to better understand dance, it is important to understand the history of dance, the competition of dance, and the comparison of dance to other sports.
Dance therapy is a versatile form of therapy founded on the idea that motion and emotion are connected, this type of therapy is beneficial for both physical and mental health using movement to help individuals achieve emotional, cognitive, physical and social integration
Dance developed in many different ways and all around the world. Some people would dance for certain reasons. Egyptians farmers would dance to give thanks for a good harvest. Women dancers would dance after almost every meal for entertainment. Men would dance at funerals; they would wear tall head dresses made out of reeds.
Like many Indian arts, Indian dance also has its root in religion. Without the religious and cultural background of India, the growth and beauty of Indian dance is not possible. In ‘Natya Shastra’, there is a small story about the origin of Indian dance. According to Hindu mythology, dance first existed in heaven. There was always a constant conflict between the Asuras and the Devas for wealth and power. The Devas were tired of the Asuras’ greediness and jealousy.
“Dance, the art of precise, expressive, and graceful human movement, traditionally, but not necessarily, performed in accord with musical accompaniment. Dancing developed as a natural expression of united feeling and action.”