Through her cultural influence on dance, as well as her impact on reinventing dance itself, Anna Sokolow has gone down in history as one of the great modern dancers. Her Jewish roots were a huge basis for the dances she would perform and the messages that she would try to get across, which is significant to me and my own similar religious views. It was important for dancers and choreographers to speak up for what they believe in and disseminate their message throughout the world of the arts, and Sokolow was one of those who did this with great success. Through her unique style of movement, her eye-opening piece Rooms, and her own personal connection to Judaism, Anna Sokolow’s inspirations and works come together to address a powerful issue in Jewish society and culture during her time. Anna Sokolow was born on February 9, 1910, in Hartford, Connecticut. Her mother, Sarah, and her father, Samuel, were hardworking immigrants from Belarus. At about the age of ten, she started going to dance classes at the Emanuel Sisterhood of Personal Service. Anna devoted all of her time to dance training and grew to fall in love with dance. She had such an innate talent for dance that she eventually decided to leave the Sisterhood and begin training at the Neighborhood Playhouse. Here, dancers were receiving first class, hands on training from some of the top choreographers and names in dance such as Blanche Talmud, Bird Larson, Martha Graham, and Lois Horst. Sokolow really began to develop her ideas of movement and how it could be emphasized and use to portray different things in different ways (Warren). In 1929 Sokolow began her career in dance by joining Martha Graham’s dance company. She spent a lot of time learning and studying under Graham o... ... middle of paper ... ...and importance of the Jewish culture. She, along with many other protest choreographers of the time, used dance as a means to spread their message to the world while others simply treated dance as a form of beauty and entertainment. Modern dance was a great means of political protest and speaking to injustice; and she was a key player in spreading the awareness of Judaism throughout the dance world as well as exposing some of its horrors during her time to the world. Sokolow was able to do this because of her ability to really connect with her Jewish influences and inspirations in order to choreograph unique, precise movements in pieces that allowed the viewer to establish some sort of connection with these powerful issues in Jewish culture and society; whether those connections be personal or simply brought about by Sokolow’s creative ingenuity in her choreography.
Katherine Dunham died on May 21, 2006. (Katherine) “As artist, educator, anthropologist, and activist, Katherine Dunham transformed the field of the twentieth-century dance” (Das
Dance is an ever evolving form of art; in much the same way that one can categorize and differentiate between eras and styles of architecture one can also do so with dance. These eras at times have sharp delineations separating them from their antecedents, other times the distinction is far more subtle. Traditional forms of dance were challenged by choreographers attempting to expand the breadth and increase the depth of performance; preeminent among such visionaries was Seattle born dancer and choreographer Mark Morris. Mark Morris' began as one of the millions of hopeful individuals attempting to simply make a career in dance; he not only succeeded but managed to have a lasting effect on the entire landscape of dance.
In the dance world a staggering number of choreographers have made a lasting impact on the way dance is seen to its audience. Alonzo King’s exceptional oeuvre of work includes him in this great history of significant choreographers. He not only created the link between modern and ballet in the twentieth century, but he bridged the ...
Her goal was to move, not dance. She challenged the notions of what a quote on quote “female dancer” was and could do. Dance to her was an exploration, a celebration of life, and religious calling that required an absolute devotion (pg. 11, Freedman). She considered her dancers “acrobats of God”. An example of a dance which symbolized the “essentialized” body was Martha Graham’s Lamentation, choreographed in 1930, which served as an expression of what person’s grief, with Graham as the solo dancer in the piece. The costume, a tube-like stretchy piece of fabric, only allowed her face, hands, and feet to be seen, and, as Graham stated, “The garment that is worn is just a tube of material, but it is as though you were stretching inside your own skin.” In the beginning of the piece, she started out by sitting on a bench with her legs wide spread and arms held tight. Her head was going back and forth as if she was feeling sadness or maybe replaying thoughts in her head. By the way she was holding her hands so tight and close to her body, it symbolized the deep pain within her––the essence of her piece was grief, and she danced it from inside out. Russel Freedman, the author of Martha Graham A Dancers Life, stated, “She did not dance about grief, but sought “the thing itself”- the very embodiment of grief (p. 61).” Graham, dancing with strength and power, was encapsulated with her movement and was completely surrendered
Katherine Dunham led a rich and full life not only as a dancer, but as someone who studied the people she loved, wrote extensively, and stood for causes that meant so much to her. Her legacy lives on not only in the great anthropological studies she did or the important political and social stances she took, but in the modern dance of today. Modern dance, or dance in general for that matter, wouldn’t be what it is today without her studies and influence.
At the beginning of the twentieth century, European powers were in the process of mobilizing for the first world war after years of global imperialism, and the United States, after temporarily resolving the problems of Reconstruction and Industrialization, began to resume the course of expansion reaching out toward Asia and the Pacific. This era was consumed by limited choices in popular culture and dance, yet several dances began to emerge as a dominant form of art other than ballet. Born in 1878 to 1968, Ruth St. Denis was an American dancer renowned as a founder of modern dance, a sensational performer, and influential teacher. St. Denis was a pioneer in American modern dance and was able to successfully explore dance forms from diverse world religious and spiritual expression. She became very interested in the dancing techniques and emotions of Eastern cultures and created her own theory of dance based upon all of her early training, performers she worked with, and her reading on mythology and various cultures. She was equally influenced by philosophy, cultural history, and contemporary art. In particular, St. Denis was enamored with spirituality and the orient. For example, St. Denis learned about Buddhism, and the immediate context of spirituality inspired her to translate this energy in to choreographic practices that merged spiritual rituals with dance and movement . One of her earliest pieces, Incense, was first performed in 1906 in New York’s Hudson Theater. Incense is based upon the Hindu ritual of puja, in which an individual worships the deities with offerings of flowers, fruit and incense . Although her choices in dance were limited at the time of the turn of the 20th century, Ruth St. Denis was able to incorporate ...
Undoubtedly one of the unique dancers and choreographers in the 20th century was Martha Graham. He was born in the suburb of Allegheny (now Pittsburgh), Pennsylvania, on May 11, 1894 ("Martha Graham Biography."). Martha mentioned that her first dance lesson was when her father told her always remembers that movement never lies (Aoki et al). Martha Graham trained and inspired a generation of performers and choreographers, including diverse artists as Alvin Ailey, Twyla Tharp, Paul Taylor, and Merce Cunningham (Tenaglia). She had an idea that movement should be "fraught with inner meaning, with excitement and surge." Thus in 1926, as an entrepreneur she established her own dance company in New York City. At the same time, she had developed her own unique, highly innovative style that reflected other influences and a unique dance vocabulary that we can define any movement in modern dance (Tenaglia). In fact, Martha Graham revolutionized modern dance.
Considering descendants’ effort to bring this culture back in society, this entire dancing performance, masks, and the idea of interacting with the outside world must not have been merely correlated to their religious and spiritual ritual. It might have been their identity; a symbolic of their society which their ancestors had built and passed down to them.
Light / The Holocaust & Humanity Project wass a full-length contemporary ballet and Holocaust education partnership directed by Stephen Mills. This project “promoted the protection of human rights against bigotry and hate through arts, education, and public dialogue” turning the spotlight on discrimination and the ultimate triumph of the human spirit. The music aspect of the work was set to five infamous choreographers and the Ballet Austin first company performed the ballet aspect of the work. Together under Stephen Mills’ artistic direction, the music and the movement depict the story of a Holocaust survivor over seventy-five minutes (without an intermission). ("Light / The Holocaust & Humanity Project."). This paper specifically focuses
Overall, a legendary woman of many traits had known for her many remarkable achievements throughout her life. Changed and impressed the world for over fifty years with her fabulous work choreographed over ninety pieces. Exposed the world to the awareness of different fusions of cultures, mainly African culture though her amazingchoreographies. Revolutionized modern dance by recreating a whole new dance form. Katherine brought innovation to the world of dance. Her love for the art of dance was really shown by her ideals and terrific ways of creating. Katherine Believe that dance was much more dance just movements, one must know that roots of those movements to truly express the
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 ...
Cunningham was born on April 16, 1919, in Centralia, Washington. At the age of twelve, Cunningham became interested in dance and started informal instruction. Upon graduation from high school, Cunningham began his formal dance instruction at the Cornish School of Fine and Applied Arts. After two years at the Cornish School, he studied at Mills College and at Bennington College; this is where he was invited to join Martha Graham?s dance company in 1939. Graham was an incredible dancer who also choreographed during her career. While dancing for Graham, Cunningham began to make a name for himself in the dancing community. It was with Graham?s encouragement that Cunningham started to choreograph on his own. His decision to start choreographing can be looked at as one of the most important decisions in the history of dance.
Born January 5th, 1931 in Texas, Alvin Ailey was an African-American dancer and choreographer. Leaving Texas to move to Los Angeles, he studied dance under modern choreographer Lester Horton, a teacher and choreographer of a modern dance school and company. He then moved on to pursue broadway, making his debut in Truman Capote’s House of Flowers in 1954, in New York (Alvin Ailey Biography n.d). It was here that he also had to opportunity to study dance with Martha Graham and in 1958 Ailey founded his own dance company, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre (Alvin Ailey Biography n.d). Over the course of his career Ailey both choreographed and danced in his pieces until his death in 1989. Ailey’s pieces include influence of African culture, most evident in his piece Revelations (1960). Studying this particular piece of work over the course of five weeks I saw that it
The fine art of modern dance is like many other fields in that it is based on the actions and deeds of those who were pioneers in the field. These pioneers helped to mold modern dance into what it is today. Of the many people who are partially responsible for this accomplishment is Isadora Duncan. Duncan, often referred to as the “mother of modern dance,” inspired many other dancers to the extent that the art of dance would not be the same today without her many contributions.
Trisha Brown is considered to be one of the most pivotal choreographers of the 1960’s as her work and practice shifted away from historically considered “appropriate” movement for choreography. This ideology references the modern era of choreographers, moving away from the aesthetics of Martha Graham and Merce Cunningham who worked with codified techniques, virtuosity and expressionism, whereas Brown saw dance as being of greater importance to the physical and mental process of the performer. Born in Aberdeen, Washington and studying dance at Mills College in California, Brown took improvisational workshops with Anna Halprin, discovering the concept of task orientated work. This knowledge would become central to her later experiments and work. She then shifted her life to New York to study composition with Robert Dunn to further her knowledge of movement and choreography. Physical research that was undertaken in these classes became publically presented programs, eventually leading to the evolvement of Judson Dance Theatre. In the late 1960’s, Brown constructed experiments to play with the dynamics and stability of gravity, using props such as ropes and harnesses to extend the dancers past their physical limitations. These experiments went on to become a working method for the work she created throughout her career and with her company which she founded in the 1970’s.