This piece choreographed by Brooke, Abby, and myself is entitled “We Are Not”. “We Are Not” makes a statement about independence and not conforming to societal norms to show the audience that you do not have to be what society expects you to be. The aesthetic of this dance is very introspective and intense. I feel very proud of the finished product that we have created, and I thoroughly enjoyed working with my classmates on this project. Our group had a great spirit of collaboration, and every group member put a great amount of effort into the dance. I am honestly astounded by what we have created. At the beginning of the semester I was unsure how I was ever going to be able to help choreograph a dance, because I had never had experience choreographing before. Performing this dance has been a very cathartic experience for me this past week and has been an amazing way for me to deal with the stress of the end of the semester. I feel a sense of accomplishment whenever we perform this dance because I know how hard we worked to create it. …show more content…
My assessment of the assignment was partially correct; in my opinion the hardest part of the assignment was coming up with choreography that helped the audience understand the message that we were trying to communicate through this dance. I was quite worried that our dance would not have a clear enough theme because it was so abstract and we are not experienced in choreography. My fears were relieved when my group was able to go in for feedback and the theme of our dance was easily
Different Dance Styles by Doris Humphrey and Maud Allen that Presented New Dances that Displayed Innovative Movements.
As stated before, we began by breaking apart the stages of life and assigning each individual solos depending on the individual’s preference. Then, due to our time constraints, we opted to create our solos on our own time and to work on the movements that all of us must do together, together. The primary strategy of creating our movements and choreography for the dance was to correspond our movements to the meaning behind the lyrics being sung and the stage of life currently occurring. For example, before my solo as the three of us are playing together as children, the lyrics being sung were, “Are you going to age with grace? Are you going to age without mistakes…?” Because the lyrics were talking about the mistakes and blundering made as one matures, I took begin my solo, angrily kicked down the Jenga tower to show my frustration at my own personal faults. The kick both exhibits my balance as I kick and move my leg into an uncomfortable position and fits into the storyline and music shown, producing a stronger effect on the viewer. This is just one notable example of the many that displayed our
On November 8th, 2016 at 6:30 p.m. at University Theatre Shasta Hall in Sacramento State University, a dance performance called “Dance Sites 2016” was performed by the University Dance Company members and Guest Alumni Company members. The dance contained eight shorter works with one intermission and wide varieties of genres. Each of the pieces were unique and interesting because they all contained a different and meaningful message to the audiences. In any case, there was one exclusive piece called “Unfabricated” choreographed by Nhan Ho. This piece was truly impressive and interesting because it was classic yet modern at the same time. Every artist of the piece truly understood their own character and moved to their own heart content. This
Victoria Marks’ most recent contemporary dance pieces all were fascinating, but the two that drew me in the most were “Men” and “Mothers And Daughters”. Both of these pieces made in the spring of 2014, focus on the idea of celebrating the life you have been given, leaving your mark on the world, and getting the most out of every opportunity you have to be with someone you care about. Victoria Marks is a dance professor at UCLA, who also choreographs dances for the stage, and films. “Marks’ recent work has considered the politics of citizenship, as well as the representation of both virtuosity and disability. These themes are part of her ongoing commitment to locating dance-making within the sphere of political meaning.” Marks in both films “Men” and “Mothers And Daughters” believes that , "Your Dancing ability does not matter because we are all differently-abled", which is why she used both trained and untrained actors to create these two pieces of art.
New Dance is described as a developing art form; this dance was articulated in the early 20th century. According to Chapter 8 in History of Dance book, “the new dance emerged as a response to the ballet that populated the variety shows and music halls, which had a rigid formula of steps and poses” (Kassing). The New Dance was a product of several strands that interlaced together dancers’ studies and backgrounds; these strands and others were woven together in a historical, political, and societal framework. For instance, one strand of New Dance consisted of the concepts, techniques, costumes, and stage settings from around the world. These strands influenced major dancers and choreographers, such as, Isadora Duncan, Loie Fuller, Ruth St. Denis, and Ted Shawn.
Hope, desperation, relief, and joy were the emotional aspects that I grasped onto during the piece. While there was not a literal story, it was relatable and real. The dance was visually beautiful, because the lighting, costumes, silk, and choreography worked together to create a picture of water. Yet, the music and idea behind the dance gave the intense and emotional aspect. Each of these elements worked together to create a piece that was mesmerizing and light
“Who knows only his own generation remains always a child.” This quote from George Norlin echoes the edification that cultural exposure can offer. How does African dance relate to do modern dance? The two are so heterogeneous in their make-up that one would not think of them as having similarities. The truth, however, is that all dance forms are linked in some way or another; they all strengthen and sharpen each other. Modern dance has its roots in African dance with the emphasis placed on the connection of weight and gravity. Brenda Dixon Gottschild names five aesthetics that are present in African dance. A particular piece that draws attention to the relation of the five aesthetics to modern dance is “Split Sides”, choreographed by Merce Cunningham.
This piece was based slightly on swing dancing as apparent in the costumes and choreography. The choreographer of this was Joshua L. Peugh. The composers of the music used are Tommy Duncan, Dorothy Fields, Jimmy McHugh, and Bob Wills. My favorite part of the piece was when one of the performers walked across the stage carrying a cactus that would get bigger each time she walked across the stage. This both helped separate each small dance from each other but also added a sense of comedy and a familiar transition throughout the piece for the audience. The performer did this five times and by the final entrance the cactus was easily clearing her head. I liked how this piece from group dances to couple dances and flowed very well. The overall mood of this dance was lively and fun. Another moment that stood out was when the strings of lights came out at the final of the piece. This added a touch of warmth and added to the swing, country feel of the dance. Because I am classically trained in ballet, I appreciate turn out and piles between steps; however, I thought that this piece successfully told a story. It seemed very well rehearsed and the effort put in showed. The dancers portrayed the emotions of the piece as well. I especially thought the costumes were very fitting to the theme as well as the
Feelings can twist reality in the most peculiar ways. Emotions push the mind to the most stunning conclusions, and stir within the soul the strangest storms. In fact, senses reach their peak in David Wagoner’s poetic work “The Best Slow Dancer”. In the poem, Wagoner brings out the height of sentiment through the eyes of a teenage boy at a school dance, who overcomes the teenage social hierarchy and his own fear to share in the longed-for dance with one special girl. All the while Wagoner takes his readers into depths of wafting dreaminess, romance, and intimacy they are projected through an unbroken flow of words uninterrupted by punctuation, rhythm, or strict lines.
The fact that we can only be who we are and fight for what we believe in, carries over to generation to generation is truly amazing. Julia L Foulkes may not have known that when she wrote this piece that she definitely was recreating the future of modern dance as well as revisiting the beginning of paving the way for modern dance, yet she wrote the book and it had such vast impact on the culture. One that I hope everyone who inspires to be a dancer will have the chance to read one day, or maybe even to be. With that being said I hope you enjoyed my review and will be able to feel what I felt while reading the book and writing my review to know that I as a dancer grasp entirely where she was coming from first
“Sex and the Social Dance” was a streaming video which examined the sexuality of social dances around the world. Regardless of geographical location or decade of popularity, dance conveyed social values. In particular, the sexuality was expressed through physical contact or lack thereof, in the gender roles of the dance, and in the purpose of the dance.
The Northern Territory is known for its culturally diverse population and some would say it is the ‘multicultural hub’ of Australia. With all of these cultures comes distinctive customs and traditions. Throughout history dance has been used to help people develop a sense of identity, the younger generations are also taught social patterns and values through the different dances. The significance of these traditional dances was to reinforce and celebrate cultural law and practices including the celebration of the passage from child to adulthood or spiritual worship. The predominantly Western culture in Australia often causes minority groups to struggle for recognition regarding their beliefs and traditions. This is parallel to the Australian dance industry, where many cultural dance groups feel they have to justify who they are and are often
Dance is a part of every culture. Whether it is the fire dances of the native Hawaiians, or the Tango from Spain, dance is a part of every culture. This event is not an event I would usually attend. I am not into art of any kind except music. At first, there were two reasons I went to this performance.
“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.”
Also, the performers are constituted with same number of men and women. They imply the importance of equality through the performance. The female and male dancers use the same movements to show that they are equal. The message being conveyed here is important, on the grounds of its social influence and giving the whole performance a deeper meaning. The thing makes dancing different and odd to other occupations is the fact that most famous and well known dancers are mostly females, since on other social circumstances males tend to dominate more realms. Here, besides all the female masters, the male dancers appear as much as the female artists do and they also showcase what they are capable of. As I watched more of the performance, the interactions between dancers and the LED lights became more appealing to me. Dancers use their bodies to interpret the connections between human beings and technology. Moreover, the background music also plays a vital role in the production of this whole piece of art. The tempo of the music, the dance movements, as well as the frequency of the lights going on and off together appeared to the audience as a desirable combination. I love how the dancers do every movements according to the rhythm of the music and how they two fit perfectly. All of those things together made a great show to watch and