Pina Bausch was a German dancer, performer, and choreographer of Modern dance who was born July 27, 1940 in Solingen, Germany. At a young age, she performed in the restaurant her parents owned, which is where her parents saw her potential for dance. After performing with the children’s ballet of Solingen, she enrolled at the Folkwang School in 1955 at the age of fifteen and became a member of Kurt Jooss’s performing company. Bausch later became an exchange student at the Julliard School in New York where she studied under Limón, Horst, Tudor, and the Graham faculty. She took classes with Paul Taylor and attended Jacob’s Pillow summer school while studying in the United States. She also danced for a season with the Metropolitan Opera Ballet …show more content…
With Bausch’s neo-expressionist approach, their performances were well received by audiences, welcoming a “return to human values in dance” (McCormick and Reynolds 642). Audiences applauded their raw emotion. However, after multiple performances and visits, people became exhausted with Bausch’s obsessiveness in her choreography. During the 1980s, choreographic violence started to become an issue and some suggested that she crossed a line in portraying trauma. Anna Kisselgoff, who endorsed Bausch’s aggressiveness, said “Bausch’s realism is ultimately a form of cynicism which confirms and generalizes the evils it depicts” (McCormick and Reynolds 642). Bausch grew up in post-World War II Germany, which is shown in her works through abrupt outbursts of fear and danger. Bausch also lived in a time where people were heavily experimental in the entirety of the art world, not just in dance. German expressionism played a major role in influencing Bausch’s work (Climenhaga 45). Bausch started making work in the midst of postmodernism, in which people rejected the “ironic rethinking” of the past (Bowman and Pollock 114). There was a loss of innocence to challenge the darker side of modernity and reality during this time that Bausch presented in her …show more content…
She narrates her stories and tells them through a sequence of scenes, insofar the audience can separate themselves from the scene. In Bausch’s work, her dancers and actors usually use their real names and recount their own anecdotes, giving insight into their own lives in the real world. This dissolves the line between illusion and reality and forces the audience to observe an authentic reality instead of a “story,” as many dances tend to do. She also tends to use almost empty stages, instead relying on the dancers and their props and costumes to convey the narrative. Bausch’s works stem from “observations of the human condition where she is the observer and the storyteller, bringing to stage, themes and stories she discovers in the quotidian life” (Ebrahimian 61). Whereas most ballets focus on the storytelling of fables, Bausch focused on themes that her and her performers “wished to explore, or have discovered, in observing their society: Themes often include and tell of childhood memories, falling in and out of love, the coming together and separation between people, and stories of hope and despair between two people or groups of people” (Ebrahimian
Ballet has been an art form since the late fifteenth century, but society did not truly see the impact of ballet until the nineteenth century. Modern day thinkers possess the idea that ballet began with tutus and pointe shoes, but it wasn’t until the nineteenth century that this opinion was observed. Ballet has come a long way. It has survived the turmoil of many wars and has changed itself by accepting new ideas and impressing the audience with its unique stylistic views.
Alvin was born during the Great Depression to two working class parents in Rogers, Texas. His father abandoned the family when Alvin was a mere six months old, leaving him and his mother with the struggle of fending for themselves. The inability for Alvin’s mother to find work led to their move to California in 1942, where Alvin was introduced by a classmate to the most influential person that would be the foundation for his future successful career in modern dance, Lester Horton (DeFrantz 1). Alvin was captivated by Lester’s work, which focuses on building a strong body, and made the executive decision to start his dance training in 1949 when he was eighteen years old. Because Lester Horton’s dance company embraced diversity, and accepted dancers of all ethnicities and backgrounds, Alvin was given the opportunity to do something great with his
Throughout the years, America has pursued the performing arts in a large variety of ways. Theatre plays a dramatic and major role in the arts of our society today, and it takes great effort in all aspects. Musical Theatre, specifically, involves a concentration and strength in dance, acting, and singing. This is the base that Musical Theatre is built upon. For my Senior Project, I helped choreograph multiple scenes in a community musical “Thoroughly Modern Millie”. Choreography is a way of expressing oneself, but it has not always been thought of for that purpose. Agnes de Mille’s expressive talent has drastically affected how people see choreography today. Agnes de Mille’s influence in the world of dance has left a lasting impact in the Performing Arts Department, and her revolutionary works are still known today for their wit, lyricism, emotion, and charm.
It allowed the audience to view the body of a dancer or person in ways never portrayed before onstage as well as using movement to show larger ideas of social change. Fosse took his movement in his work to a more fantasized state through his perfectionist techniques, whereas Robbins created a heightened realism in his movement. Fosse, inspired by vaudeville, incorporates derbies and gloves as an allusion to hiding from the society we currently live in. Robbins takes society as it is and tries to find solutions to society's problems in the given moment they take place in. Both use emotions as actions as a commonality to approach their work. The core of Robbin’s work is shown in the descriptions of the action in each ballet. One can picture exactly what the dancers are doing and what makes this action unique. Fosse did this by making every movement so intense in detail that the dancer was forced into the sharpness of Fosse’s choreography. Robbins made actions and emotional intentions, his main goal for his performers as he believed in the actions in storytelling above all else. Robbin’s training at Stella Adler allowed him to see the perspective of the actor’s intentions more clearly than that of Fosse and also gained inspiration of bold and expressive movements from the teachings of Martha Graham. Stella Adler taught that “growth as an actor and
Throughout this analytical essay I will discuss, analyse and conclude the work of two contemporary modern dance pioneers, Alvin Ailey and Katherine Dunham. I will pay particular attention to the era 1935-1980 and focus on socio elements of this time period, using relevant literature to support my findings.
Katherine Dunham was an important figure in pushing for equality among all races. She became remembered through her unique twist she put on her ballet movements. Instead of pursuing traditional ballet, she choreographed ballets that incorporated African-American movements. Because of this, she has always been referred to as one of the “modern dance pioneers” (Cass 303). Even through struggles, she continued to strive to focus more on the dance traditions of other cultures and slowly help work towards the end of oppression towards particular races.
Ramsay, B. (2000). Dance theory, sociology, and aesthetics. Dance Research Journal, 32(1), 125-131. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/1478286
Li’s passion for ballet shows on and off stage through his arabesques, flexibility, fouettés, grande jeté and pirouettes that were nothing less than perfection. I understood that becoming a dancer requires commitment, passion and having a great memory as there’s many moves, routines and ballet terms that you need to learn. When I was performing on stage, I felt free and that I could own the stage as it felt like it was my second home. I also felt complete within myself just as Li felt. To perform on stage, you need to be light and graceful along with connecting to the music using precise steps, poses and formal gestures. The film used dance, music, scenery, and costumes to portray a story characterised by Li’s dance. Classical ballet dancers require the utmost grace and I’ve found that you also need a tremendous level of concentration and memory. This portrays when his choreographer Ben Stevenson asked Li Cunxin to replace the main male role due to an injury on the day of the performance to memorise new dances and perform them in front of an enormous crowd. Many of my performances have been in a group where we all need to be in sync and work together. This film highlighted that in order to become a professional ballet dancer, you have to prepare to work extremely hard no matter how gruelling the schedule is in order to
The stage that hosted the creation of illusion for those attending ballet after 1827 in its “golden age” (Guest, 1) introduced a new world, but one that could not be reached. These illusions were expressed through performance as “moods of Romanticism.” (5) The Romantic period of the early 19th century emphasized the alienation of an individual, the spectacle of that isolation, and the Romantic ideal that perfection remains mysterious and unattainable, as opposed to the late 18th century’s Enlightenment ideals that held rationality and tangible beings most profound. The spectacle of an estranged, supernatural being embodies these elements of Romanticism, as was represented in Romantic ballet. Coralli and Perrot’s 1841 ballet, Giselle, incorporated these Romantic elements into “each one of (the ballet’s) component parts - scenic design…choreography and dance style” (7), as well as with innovations in narrative. These narratives began to project women as powerful representations of the ethereal, supernatural being, as is specifically shown in the character of Giselle in Coralli and Perrot’s ballet. Through the novelties of Romantic visual presentation in scenery, movement, and narrative, the golden age of ballet was able to effectively “(reveal) the unattainable” (7) and supernatural.
I had the pleasure of being in Western Kentucky University Dance Department’s concert, An Evening of Dance. The performance took place on April 29th through May 2nd in Russel Miller Theatre. It consisted of many works from faculty and guest artists. I felt like the concert was a success and that the choreography was all unique in its own way. I enjoyed the pieces that I performed, and the ones that my fellow company members were in. Through the analysis of “Petrichor”, I found that each production and chorographic element plays a large part in the successful outcome of a dance and emotional responses can be evoked by the simplest ideas.
Learning about Dance: Dance as an Art Form and Entertainment provides visions into the many features of dance and inspires scholars to keep an open mind and think critically about the stimulating, bold, ever-changing and active world of dance. Learning about Dance is particularly useful for those who do not have a wide and diverse dance contextual, such as students in a preliminary level or survey dance course. This book consists of twelve chapters. Chapter one dance as an art form focuses on the basic structures of dance. Dance is displayed through the human body, it has the control to communicate and induce reactions. Dance can be found in many different places, it enables the participants and seekers to touch and knowledge the joy of movement. Dance is discovered as being one of the oldest art forms worldwide. Dance existed in early cultures was recognized in a sequence of rock paintings portrayed dance. Since this discovery of rock paintings, several other forms of art have been found that depict dance. People used rituals in order to worship the gods and believed that the rituals held magical and spiritual powers. During the ancient period civilizations sentient decisions began to be made with regard to dance. Other periods that had an impact on dance were the medieval period, the renaissance period, and the contemporary period. Chapter two the choreographer, the choreographer is a person who comes up with the movements created into a dance routine. The choreographer expresses themselves through choreography because this is their way of communicating with the audience. In order to be a choreographer you must have a passion for dance. Each choreographer has their own approaches and ways of making up a routine. Choreographers ...
According to Munsterberg’s film theory, the motion picture is an original medium in that it aesthetically stimulates the spectator’s senses. Although both still picture and theatrical play can possibly leave images on the spectator’s retina or brain, each element of motion picture, including camera angle and work, lighting, editing, music, and the story itself, appeals to somewhere more than just retina or brain— the element of motion picture truly operates upon the spectator’s mind. Speaking of Darren Aronofsky’s Black Swan, the film unfolds a story of physically and mentally repressed ballerina’s life. Due to the film’s effective filming and editing techniques, the film successfully increases excitement as well as suspense in the story. Since Black Swan captures not only the real world the ballerina lives in but also the other side of the world the ballerina has within her mind, its spectator would experience a fantastic world where one ballerina lives in two different worlds at the same time. Even though the still picture and the theatrical play also give the spectator either a visual or an aural image, motion picture is the one that stimulates the spectator’s senses with its story, color, sound, acting, filming, and editing.
In addition to these two works, Degas seemed to be particularly interested in the subject of ballet across many of his other works as well. He focused on elements such as its elegant scenery, costumes, and movements made by the dancers themselves. He was fascinated by the spontaneity of the performance and yet the amount of restraint that must be exercised by its participants at the same time. More often than not, Degas chose to recreate the ballerinas who were off guard. For example he chose to depicting them as they stood backstage in an ...
However, in this ballet concert, the choreographer had designed the scenes to be more like a comedy. The movement of the sisters are more amusing than cruel. For example, when they pulled each other for being eager to dance with the prince, or when they tried to hurt and bully the Cinderella, these movements are not that cruel but amusing. Even the stepmother was drunk and danced comically in the prom scene. Moreover, the movements of all the girls who wanted their feet to fit in to the ballet shoe which Cinderella had dropped in the prom are also very funny. These kinds of design successfully made the audience laugh out loud and without hurting the hearts of the little girls who went to see the performance with their
Dancing is a beautiful form of expression that reveals a good deal about a person in a matter of minutes. Characters that dance in plays and novels usually flash some sort of underlying meaning pertaining to their story, shining light on themselves, other characters, and the movement of the action. In Ibsen's A Doll's House, Nora's performance of the tarantella summarizes the plot of the entire play.